We appreciate the motivation of the sponsors in seeking a consensus resolution in this setting. My government’s strong desire to support continuance of the mandate and the valuable work of the Special Rapporteur has caused the US Government to join consensus behind this resolution. We believe, however, that the resolution on Sudan is deeply flawed.

We would have preferred that the resolution avoid euphemisms in reference to slavery such as « enforced or involuntary disappearance » and « abduction of women and children to be subjected to forced labour or similar conditions ». This is slavery.

As the Special Rapporteur’s report points out, men, women and children inconsiderable numbers are being taken as chattel slaves, with women and children as the principle victims. This is practised By the Government of Sudan’s allies under its protection and for its ends. Indeed, slavery is used as a tactic of war by the Government of Sudan to recruit one set of tribal allies and displace one tribal enemy from its homeland in the civil war.

Religious persecution is another Sudanese Government tactic of war, as well as being a root cause of the tragic civil war that has taken the lives of nearly 2 million Sudanese. That government’s persecution of Christian, Muslim, and Animist individuals and groups for practising their religion goes much further than the language in the resolution.

As noted in the Special Rapporteur’s report, the Sudanese Government persecutes all religious groups that disagree with its policies. In areas it controls far from the war, it has jailed several Muslim and Christian religious leaders to suppress their views. Government force make special efforts to attack  churches and mosques in rebel-held areas. There are considerable restrictions on Christian practice in government-held areas in Northern Sudan, as well as to a lesser extent on Christians and Animists in government-held areas in the south.

My government would also have preferred that the resolution not welcome what the Sudanese government describes as the "peace agreement of 1997". In another place the resolution supports the IGAD peace initiative, as does the United States, but the Sudanese Government’s self-described "peace agreement" was designed to undermine the IGAD peace talks that the Sudan was then boycotting. The self-described "peace agreement" was a pact between the government and its allies in the civil war, and did not seriously attempt to include the government’s enemies;

The resolution also contains inaccuracies that could lead to misinterpretation. For example, it expresses concern for executions in the armed conflict by all sides, when the evidence points clearly to the Sudanese Government as the preponderant culprit. It is the government alone that refuses to take prisoners on the battlefield, killing them instead.

We also fear that some parts of the resolution may be used as propaganda by those violating human rights. For example, welcoming "reports of recent improvements on freedom of expression and association" seems at best misleading as a description of a Sudan that in the past months has just arrested four journalists and the country’s leading human rights lawyer. Similarly, the resolution lays blame for diverting relief supplies particularly on the rebel SPLA. Certainly the SPLA has been involved, but so has the Government of Sudan as well as its militia allies ... as the Special Rapporteur’s report points out.

In spite of these concerns, Madam Chair, my government joins consensus because we believe the Special Rapporteur’s mandate should be extended. We are especially concerned that the Special Rapporteur should submit an interim report on human rights in Sudan to the UN General Assembly’s next session. My government strongly believes such an interim report is necessary, given the continuing human rights violations by all sides in Sudan, and we deeply hope that the Special Rapporteur’s report will be reflected in the general Assembly’s resolution.
Thank you. 

1999/15. Situation of human rights in the Sudan

The commission on Human Rights,

Reaffirming that all Member State have an obligation to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms as stated in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights and other applicable human rights instruments,

Mindful that the Sudan is a party to the international Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the child and the African Charter on Human and peoples’ Rights,

Recalling previous resolutions of the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Sudan most recently Commission resolution 1998/67 of April 1998, as well as Assembly resolution 53/10 of 17 December 1998 on emergency assistance to the Sudan.

Welcoming the Peace Agreement of 1997, the acceptance of the Declaration of Principles as a basis for negotiations and the declaration of a comprehensive cease-fire on 5 April 1999, at the same time deeply concerned at the impact of the continent conflict in the Sudan between the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan people’s Liberation Movement/Army on the situation human rights and at the disregard by all parties to the conflict of relevant rules of international humanitarian law,

Condemning the recent murder of four Sudanese relief workers while in the custody of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army,

Aware of the urgent need for implementing effective measures in the field of human rights and humanitarian relief to protect the civilian population  from the effects of armed conflict,

Expressing its firm belief that progress towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict in southern Sudan within the Inter-Government Authority on Development peace initiative will greatly contribute to the creation of a better environment for the respect of human rights in the Sudan.

Pleased at the invitation extended by the Government of the Sudan to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, the Special Rapporteur on religious intolerance and on freedom of opinion and expression and the working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery,

1. Welcomes :

a - The report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan (E/CN.4/ 1999/38/Add. 1) ;

b - The recent visit by the Special Rapporteur to the Sudan at the invitation of the Government of the Sudan and the full co-operation extended by the Government of the Sudan; 

c - The expressed commitment of the Government of the Sudan to respect and promote human rights and the rule of law and its expressed commitment to a process of democratisation with a view to establishing a representative and accountable government, reflecting the aspirations of all people of the Sudan ;

d - The stipulation of a basic human rights and freedoms in the constitution of the Sudan which entered into force on 1 July 1998 ;

e - The establishment of the Constitutional Court ;

f - Reports of recent improvements regarding the freedom of expression and association ;

g - Efforts to implement the right to education ;

h - The liberation of political detainees by the Government of the Sudan ;

i - The efforts to address the problem of internally displaced persons ;

k - The recent visit by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict and the co-operation extended by the Government of the Sudan in this regard ;

l - The commitment made by the Government of the Sudan to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict not to recruit children under the age of 18 as soldiers ;

2 . Expresses its deep concern :

a - At the impact of the current conflict on the situation of human rights and its adverse effect on the civilian population, in particular women and children, and at continuing serious violations of human rights, fundamental freedoms and relevant provisions of international humanitarian law perpetrated by all parties to the conflict, in particular :

i - At the occurrence of cases of extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions resulting from armed conflicts between members of the armed forces and armed insurgent groups within the country ;

ii - At the occurrence, within the framework of the conflict in southern Sudan, of cases of enforced or involuntary disappearance, the use of children as soldiers and combatants, forced conscription, forced displacement, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of civilians ;

iii - At the abduction of women and children to be subjected to forced labour or similar conditions;

iv - At the use of weapons, including landmines, against the civilian population ;

b - At violations of Human Rights in areas under the control of the Government of the Sudan, in particular : 

i At the widespread occurrence of torture, and cases of arbitrary arrest and detention without trial, in particular of political opponents ; 

ii - At cases of severe restrictions on the freedom of religion and peaceful assembly ;

iii - At the widespread intimidation of the population by the security organs ;

3. Urges all parties to the continuing conflict in the Sudan :

a - To respect and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, to respect fully international humanitarian law, thereby facilitating the voluntary return, repatriation and  reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons to their homes, and to ensure that those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law are brought to justice ;

b - To stop immediately the use of weapons, including landmines, against the civilian population, and in particular the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, to abstain from using civilian premises for military purposes ;

c - To grant  safe and unhindered access to international agencies and humanitarian organisation in order to facilitate by all means the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all civilians in need of protection and assistance, in particular in Bahr-el-Ghazal and in the Nuba Mountains, and to continue to cooperate with the Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations and Operation Lifeline Sudan to deliver such assistance ;

d - In particular the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, to stop attacks on relief and humanitarian workers, urges the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to permit a thorough investigation into the deaths of four Sudanese relief workers and expects it to return the bodies to their families ;

e - To continue to cooperate with the peace efforts of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development ;

f - In particular the Sudan people’s Liberation Army, not to divert relief supplies, including food, from their civilian recipients ;

g - Not to use children under the age of 18 soldiers, and urges the Sudan People’s Liberation Army to undertake a similar commitment to that made by the Government of the Sudan to the special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict not to recruit children under the age of 18 soldiers, and to refrain from the practice of forced conscription ;

4.  Calls upon the Government of the Sudan :

a - To comply fully with its obligations under international human rights instruments to which the Sudan is a party and to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as to respect its obligations under international humanitarian law ;

b - To ensure the rule of law by bringing legislation more into line with the constitution and the practice of law enforcement more into line with legislation ;

c - To continue its efforts to bring its national legislation into conformity with applicable international human rights instruments to which the Sudan is a party and to ensure that all individuals in its territory and subject to its jurisdiction enjoy fully the rights recognised in those instruments.

d - To take all effective measures to end all acts of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and ensure that all accused persons are held in ordinary custody and receive prompt, just and fair trials under internationally recognised standards, and investigate all reported acts of torture brought to its attention ;

e - To investigate reports of the abduction of women and children taking place in the framework of the conflict in southern Sudan, bring to trial any persons suspected of supporting or participating in such activities and facilitate the safe return of affected children to their families as a matter of priority, and to accept inter alia, a multilateral investigation into the causes of the abduction of women and children subjected to forced labour or similar conditions, as well as ways and means to obtain the eradication of this practice ;

f - To stop immediately the indiscriminate aerial bombardment of civilian and humanitarian targets, including hospitals, which runs counter to fundamental principles of human rights and humanitarian law ;

g - To ensure full respect for freedom of opinion, expression, thought, conscience and religion, as well as freedom of association and assembly throughout the territory of the Sudan ;

h - To implement fully its commitment to the democratisation process and the rule of law and to create, in this context, conditions that would allow for a democratisation process that is genuine and wholly reflects the aspirations of the people of the country and ensures their full participation ;

i - To comply with the commitment made to the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children in armed conflict not to recruit children under the age of 18 soldiers ;

5. Encourage the Government of the Sudan to continue to pursue its dialogue with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights with a view to establishing a permanent representation of the High Commissioner in Khartoum ;

6. Calls upon the international community to expand its support for activities aimed at the improvement of respect for human rights and humanitarian law during the conflict ;

7. Decides : 

a - To extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan for a further year and requests the Special Rapporteur to submit an interim report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session and to report to the Commission at its fifty-sixth session on the situation of human rights in the Sudan and to continue to keep a gender perspective in mind in the reporting process ;

b - To request the Secretary-General to continue to give all necessary assistance to the Special Rapporteur to enable him to discharge his mandate fully ;

c - To request the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights urgently to take into consideration requests for assistance by the Government of the Sudan, including with a view to the establishment of a permanent representation of the high Commissioner for Human rights in Khartoum matter of priority ;

8. Recommends the following draft resolution to the Economic and Social Council for adoption ;

« The Economic and Social Council, taking note of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1999/ ... of... April 1999, endorses the Commission’s decision to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan for a further year and requests him to submit an interim report to the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session on the situation of human rights in the Sudan and to continue to keep a gender perspective in mind in the reporting process ».

Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary General, said that human rights were a priority in every United Nations programme and mission. He saluted the Commission on Human Right’s determination to ensure a firm foundation for the rights of future generations, and said that its work in combating violations of human rights and establishing norms to protect them made history and helped to save lives.

The Secretary-General said it was his belief that human rights were at the core of the sacred bond between the United Nations and peoples of those nations. When civilians were attacked and massacred because of their ethnicity, as in Kosovo, the world looked to the United Nations to speak up for them. When people were assaulted an mutilated, as in Sierra Leone, again the world looked to the United Nations. When women were denied equality, as in Afghanistan, the world expected the United Nations to take a stand.

Mr Annan said perhaps more than any other part of the world of the United Nations, the struggle for human rights resonated with the global constituency, and was deeply relevant to the lives of those most in need. It was vital , in order to answer that global constituency, to speak up and speak out in defence of human rights and to advocate their lasting universality.

Rights were not relative, and whatever happened within national borders was of concern to the organisation of sovereign States that was the United Nations, the Secretary-General said. Collectively, all should say no, we will not and we cannot accept a situation where people are brutalised behind national borders. This was because a United Nations that could not stand up for human rights was a United Nations that could not stand up for itself. The United Nations’ mission began and ended with the individual, and his or her universal and inalienable rights.

The Secretary-General said the United Nations’ work was never done, for with every proclaimed right, hundreds of abuses were committed every year. For every freedom secured, more were threatened. Thousands suffered from discrimination or violence, and children were denied the right to education and a peaceful childhood.

Mr Annan said the Commission on Human Rights could claim with pride to have been an architect of the international structure of rights, having created an international code of human rights. The Commission had been a pioneer in establishing norms and advancing justice. There had been great contributions towards promoting economic, social and cultural rights, and work on the Right to Development had opened up new horizons in the field of human rights. By the recognition that human rights were inter-related, indivisible and interdependent, the Commission had helped to ensure that the implementation of social and economic rights went hand in hand with political and civil rights. Human rights had been brought home to where they belonged : in the lives of the weakest and most vulnerable of our world. These were accomplishments in which the Commission could take great pride.

Gross and shocking violations of human rights continued daily around the world, offending the global conscience, outraging all people of good will, and undermining the deepest sense of a shared humanity. If there was no response to these acts, then the foundations laid elsewhere would crumble beneath the weight of these violations. The Commission on Human Rights had long recognised this. A vast array of envoys from the United Nations had travelled the world, planting the flag of human rights, extending the reach of the commission, an giving victims hope of a better, freer, less repressive future.

The achievements of the last 50 years were rooted in the universal acceptance of those rights enumerated in the universal Declaration, and in the equally universal abhorrence of practices for which there could be no excuse. Still, it was not enough to know what the world was against. The world needed to know who it was against. The United Nations should have the courage to recognise that just as there were common aims, there were common enemies. For those guilty of gross and shocking violations of human rights, impunity was not acceptable. The United Nations would never be their refuge. Only in their defeat could the promise of the great Organisation of the United Nations be redeemed.

The Secretary-General said he had chosen to dwell not only on common aims and shared accomplishments, but also on the magnitude of the human rights abuses that the United Nations was committed to ending. He had sought to draw attention to the importance of combating the most outrageous violations of human rights, including summary executions, forced displacements, massacres, and indiscriminate attacks on civilians. This was done because this Commission met under the dark cloud of the crime of genocide.

Mr Annan said that of all gross violations, genocide knew no parallel in human history. It was a tragic irony of this age of human rights, that it had been repeatedly darkened by outbursts of indiscriminate violence and organised killings. Though the United Nations did not have independent observers on the ground, the signs were that this may be happening, once again and once more, in Kosovo. The result was a humanitarian disaster throughout the region. It was deeply regretted by all that the international community, despite months of diplomatic efforts, had failed to prevent this disaster. The hope lay in that a universal sense of outrage had been provoked. Slowly emerging was an international norm against the violent repression of minorities that would and should take precedence over concerns of sovereignty.

This was a principle that protected minorities and majorities from gross violations. The rights and ideals the United Nations existed to protect were those of peoples. The United Nations as an institution would always place the human being at the centre of everything done; No government had the right to hide behind national sovereignty in order to violate the human rights or fundamental freedom of its peoples, since these were sacred.

The Secretary-general said this developing international norm would pose fundamental challenges to the United Nations. But if this challenge was not met, if the United Nations were to become the refuge of the ethnic cleanser or mass murderer, the very ideals that inspired the founding of the United Nations would be betrayed. This hope for humanity could be too late for the thousands forcibly expelled from Kosovo, and for the thousands who had been murdered simply for who they were. But it would not be too late for the United Nations, if this emboldened it to enter a new century with a renewed commitment to protecting the rights of every man, woman and child, regardless of ethnic, national or religious belonging.

She had been among those supporting creation of an International Criminal court, Mrs. Robinson said ; the debate over the court had coincided with atrocities committed by rebel forces in Sierra Leone, who had carried out a terror campaign involving systematic laceration, mutilation and severing of limbs of non-combatants ... victims not only were men but women, children, and infants ; it was clear that there was a need for such a court and the decision to establish the institution represented a commitment by Governments to end past cycles of impunity and to establish individual criminal responsibility. She urged States to ratify the Rome Statute so that the Court could begin its job.

The first need today was not that new mechanisms and laws be put in place but that what already existed be implemented, the High Commissioner said. The Commission needed to evolve its role to support that approach, and must adjust mechanisms that already did much to address prevention, protection, and reconstruction. In Kosovo, discrimination against Albanians after 1990 had been monitored with precision and impartiality by the Commission’s Special Rapporteur and then by the High Commissioner’s first field offices ; this approach was a valuable form of early warning. In general, Mrs Robinson said, the human-rights community should advocate public reporting of massacres of civilians and other serious human-rights violations ; carry out accurate and timely investigations to dispel propaganda and rumours ; illuminate the underlying causes of conflicts and human-rights violations ; deploy human-rights monitors when necessary ; and strengthen the establishment of national institutions and protect and promote human rights in the post-conflict phase.

The Commission could play a useful role by enhancing its early warning capabilities, the High Commissioner said; Special Rapporteurs should focus on this responsibility and the Commission and High Commissioner should dedicate themselves to responding quickly and effectively to such warnings. The greatest obstacle to the work of special Rapporteurs was failure and even refusal of Governments to invite their visits and to act upon their recommendations. Regional activities, such as the forthcoming Ministerial Meeting of the Organization of Africa Unity on human rights, could help the cause immeasurably, she said, and larger events, such as the upcoming World Conference on Racism, could play a major preventive role. One of the Commission’s most significant recent achievements was the Declaration of the Rights of Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December ; it would help those  who fought for human rights to do so with greater conviction and safety.

1 - The mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan was established by the Commission on Human Rights in its resolution 1993/60 of March 1993. On 30 March 1993, the Chairman of the Commission appointed Mr. Gaspar Biro (Hungary) Special Rapporteur. Mr Biro submitted five reports to the Commission on human Rights (E/CN.4.1994/48,  E/CN. 4.1995/58,  E/CN.4.1996/62,  E/CN.4.1997/58 and E/CN.4.1998/66 and five interim reports to the General Assembly (A/48/601,  A/49/539,  A/50/569,  A/51/490 and A/52/510).

2 - At its fifth-fourth session the Commission adopted resolution 1998/67 in which it decided to extend for au further period of one year the mandate of the Special Rapporteur;

3 - In the same resolution, the Commission expressed its deep concern at continued serious human rights violations in the Sudan, including summary executions, extra judicial killings, arbitrary arrests, detentions without due process, enforced or involuntary disappearances, violations of the rights of women and children, slavery an slavery-like practices, forced displacement of persons, systematic torture and denial of the freedoms of religion, expression, association and peaceful assembly. It emphasised that it was essential to put an end to such violations, and renewed its call to the Government of the Sudan to respect human rights fully and to comply with applicable international human rights instruments. It also called upon all parties to the hostilities in the Sudan to respect fully the applicable provisions of international humanitarian law, to halt the use of weapons against the civilian population and to protect all civilians from violations of human rights and humanitarian law;

4 - The Commission requested the Special Rapporteur to report to the commission on the future need for human rights field officers, on the understanding that the Commission would, at its fifty-fifth session, reassess such need. It also requested the Special Rapporteur to report his findings and recommendations to the General Assembly at its fifth-third session and to the Commission at its fifth-fifth session.

5 - Following the presentation of his report to the fifth-fourth session of the Commission on Human Rights, Mr Biro resigned. By letter dated 12 August 1998, the Chairman of the fifth-fourth session of the Commission appointed Mr Leonardo Franco (Argentina) as the new Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan.

6 - By note to the General Assembly (A/53/504), the secretary-general informed the Assembly that, owing to Mr Biro’s resignation, the interim report due to be submitted to the Assembly at its fifty-third session could not be submitted. The Secretary-General also informed the Assembly of Mr Franco’s appointment.

7 - Upon accepting his appointment, the Special Rapporteur proceeded to inform himself about the general situation in the Sudan and, in particular, on the situation of human rights and the humanitarian crisis in the country.

8 - The Special Rapporteur, aware of the complexity of the historical, social and political background of the Sudan, has bee particularly eager to learn from all sources any facts and figures which might help him in the discharge of his mandate.

9 - From 9 October to 16 October 1998, the Special Rapporteur undertook a mission to Geneva for consultations with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the staff of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the specialized agencies, as well as with diplomatic missions and independent experts. From 17 to 22 October, the Special Rapporteur visited the United Kingdom where he consulted with a wide range of international non-governmental organizations, independent expert and academics.

10 - While in Geneva, the Special Rapporteur called on the Permanent Representative of the Republic of the Sudan on 16 October 1998 and stated his wish to visit the country at the earliest opportunity. The Permanent Representative offered full co-operation and, while extending his welcome, impressed upon the Special Rapporteur that the combination of a regional conference on refugees and internally displaced persons being hosted by the Sudan and the celebration of Ramadan in January made it difficult to envisage a visit before the end of January 1999.

11 - On the occasion of the seminar on « Enriching the Universality of Human Rights  - Islamic Perspectives on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights », which the Special Rapporteur attended in Geneva on 9 an 10 November 1998, the Special Rapporteur called again on the Permanent Representative of the Sudan who renewed his assurances that the Special Rapporteur would be welcome to visit the Sudan at his convenience and would be free to visit any places of his choice subject to security constraints. The Special Rapporteur suggested early February 1999 for such a visit and this proposal appears to be agreeable to the Sudanese authorities. The Minister of External Relations of the Sudan assured the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 16 November 1998 that the Special Rapporteur would be welcome to the Sudan and that he would enjoy the full cooperation of the Sudanese Government.

12 - In view of his late appointment and the scheduling of his first mission to the Sudan, the Special Rapporteur will not be in a position to make a full report to the Commission on Human Rights at this stage. Upon satisfactory completion of his mission he plans to provide the Commission with a more substantive report.