Human Rights Council: 33rd Session Oral Statement by DefendDefenders (the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project) and the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS)
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Thursday September 29, 2016 - 20:26:17 in English News by
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28 September 2016
Delivered by Manon KaratasThank you Mr President,
Our organisations, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project and ACJPS, would like to express concern regarding the crackdown by the Government of Sudan on independent civil society, and the severe circumscription of the right to freedom of expression. The
National Intelligence and Security Services continue to detain
individuals for up to four and a half months without charge. ACJPS has
documented patterns of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, as well
as summonses and threatening phone calls. 10 staff members and
affiliates of TRACKs for Training and Development currently face
baseless charges, including capital crimes against the state, solely for
the peaceful exercise of their rights. Their offices were raided twice
over the past 18 months and three of them were held for 86 days without
charge in inhumane conditions until their transfer to prison.
A
number of Sudanese laws restrict the right to peaceful expression,
association and assembly. The NISS continues to censor the media, and
have ordered newspapers not to report on so-called "red line” issues
critical of the Government.
Authorities
continue to break up demonstrations using excessive force. There has
been no accountability for the victims of protests that took place in
2013, when Sudanese security forces fired live ammunition to disperse
protestors, causing the deaths of at least 185 individuals. In February
2016, a group of 15 women were arrested and beaten with batons during a
protest demanding accountability for those deaths.
The conflicts in South Kordofan, Blue Nile and Darfur continue to have a devastating impact on civilians.
We
welcome the report of the Independent Expert on Sudan, and would like
to emphasise the importance of engaging with independent civil society,
both inside and outside the country. However, we continue to call for an
Item 4 mandate given the gross and systematic violations of
international human rights law and humanitarian law, lack of access for
independent monitoring or reporting bodies, and clamp-down in
independent civil society.
For more information, please contact
East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
DefendDefenders seeks to strengthen the work of human rights defenders throughout the region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights.
DefendDefenders focuses its work on Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia (together with Somaliland), South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Visit us at www.defenddefenders.org
For more information, please contact
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DefendDefenders seeks to strengthen the work of human rights defenders throughout the region by reducing their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and by enhancing their capacity to effectively defend human rights.
DefendDefenders focuses its work on Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia (together with Somaliland), South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Visit us at www.defenddefenders.org
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Human Rights Council: 33rd Session Oral Statement by DefendDefenders (the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project) and the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS)
28 September 2016 Delivered by Manon KaratasThank you Mr President, Our organisations, the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project and ACJPS, would like to express concern regarding the crackdown by the Government of Sudan on indep