VZCZCXRO4898
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0350/01 0441330
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 131330Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1427
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000350 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KWMN PHUM PREL SOCI SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN/DARFUR:  NO IMPLEMENTATION OF VAW PLAN OF 
ACTION ON THE GROUND 
 
REF: A. (A) KHARTOUM 269 
     ¶B. (B)KHARTOUM 117 
 
Classified By: Poloff L. Wahid, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
Summary 
--------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) A visit to the field reveals there is little real 
progress to date in the implementation on the ground of the 
Plan of Action to Combat Violence Against Women. Government 
officials had recently (reftel A) cited some human rights 
training for the police, the stationing of female police 
officers in IDP camps, the distribution of the Amended 
Circular 2, and an extensive media campaign as significant 
progress.  Activity in the field, however, reveals that the 
claims are overstated.  The UN, not the Sudanese government, 
has conducted whatever limited human rights training that has 
taken place to date. In fact, there were no large-scale media 
campaigns about violence against women, clinics continued to 
disregard Amended Circular 2, and government female police 
officers are not stationed in IDP camps.  Overall, written 
plans and the formation of committees have not resulted in 
significant action on the ground.  End Summary. 
 
South Darfur Visit 
------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) From February 6-9, Poloff visited Nyala, South 
Darfur, to assess progress on the plan of action.  Poloff met 
with the United Nations Human Rights Unit (UNMIS-HR), the 
Police Commissioner of South Darfur, African Union Civilian 
Female Police Officers (AU Civpol), Sudanese female police 
officers, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), the 
International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Gender-Based 
Violence (GBV) representative for the Ministry of Health, and 
the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).  Poloff also 
visited the Otash internally displaced persons camp (IDP) in 
Nyala. 
 
The State Committee on VAW: Delays 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The national plan of action to combat violence 
against women provides a general outline of the initiatives 
of the federal government; however, it is not as specific as 
the South Darfur State plan of action.  The latter requires 
weekly assessment reports with recommendations for the action 
plan; it also requires specific steps for establishing 
standard recording and referrals for GBV legal cases and 
sensitizing the community on GBV prevention and response. 
Additionally, the state plan of action aims to identify focal 
points for GBV medical services in each health facility and 
provide a UN GBV training package to health providers.  To 
address non-compliance with Amended Circular 2 (amendment 
which no longer requires legal form to receive medical 
treatment), the state action plan requires that both Sudanese 
government officials and UN representatives on the State GBV 
Committee share and address alleged incidents of 
non-compliance of Amended Circular 2. 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to Dr. Ahmed Ali Sharief, the GBV 
representative for the Ministry of Health, the national plan 
of action was incorporated in the South Darfur State plan of 
action, which was finalized on December 14 2005, although 
initially developed by decree on March 30, 2005.  Sharief 
attributed the delay in the implementation of the plan to a 
lack of funding, the rotation of government officials through 
the GBV committee, and the shuffling of staff within the 
Ministry of Health.  United Nations Human Rights Observers 
added that the State Committee met on February 9, after a 
month and a half of inactivity, although the committee was 
supposed to convene weekly. 
 
Still No Medical Treatment without Form 8 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) On October 24, 2005, the Minister of Justice signed 
Amended Circular 2 clarifying the rules of application for 
Form 8, thereby de-linking medical treatment from legal 
Action in cases of sexual assault.  All government clinics 
are able to issue Form 8; however, the federal Ministry of 
Health decided that not all private clinics could issue Form 
¶8.  There were reports that government clinics continued to 
refuse medical treatment to women without a Form 8.  UN Human 
Rights Observers confirmed the reports, citing several 
instances of non-compliance, including a January 29 incident 
in a government clinic in Manawashi, South Darfur, in which 
the victim was denied treatment because she did not have the 
form.  The observers added that no clinic had been 
 
KHARTOUM 00000350  002 OF 003 
 
 
reprimanded for non-compliance with Amended Circular 2.  Some 
officials within the UN said that the Ministry of Health 
instructed clinics not to treat women without Form 8, despite 
the Minister of Justice's decree. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Poloff spoke with Colonel Omer of the Police Station 
in Nyala, who said that despite the Minister of Justice,s 
decree, doctors might reject treating a patient without Form 
8 the form protected doctors against malpractice by legally 
documenting the patient,s diagnosis.  Omer added that the 
police could not enforce the decree, because it was not part 
of their mandate. 
 
No VAW training for Police Officers 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) In the February Sub-Joint Implementation Mechanism 
(SUB-JIM) meeting in Khartoum, Dr. Abdel Moniem Taha, 
Director of the Advisory Council for 
Human Rights, cited to Poloff that the government had 
conducted some police training on human rights and GBV in 
Darfur.  However, the UNMIS human rights observers in Nyala 
presented a different picture of events, elaborating that 
there had been some human rights and GBV police training by 
international NGOs, but no initiatives by the government to 
conduct the trainings.  Additionally, the police in Darfur 
were on short-term assignments and rotated every three 
months; therefore, police trainings could not keep up with 
the influx of new officers every three months.  Observers 
noted that the UN training was abstract in nature, and did 
not focus specifically on the GBV response by police in 
Darfur as required by the plan of action.  The Police 
Commissioner of South Darfur confirmed that there had been no 
government-sponsored human rights or GBV training for police 
officers in Nyala. 
 
Police Impunity Continues 
------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Poloff spoke with the Police Commissioner for South 
Darfur, Abdeen El Tahir, to discuss the repercussions for the 
police officer implicated in the incident involving the 
International Rescue Committee (IRC) (reftel B).  The 
Commissioner confirmed that the police officer was 
transferred to the Governor,s office after the incident.  He 
justified the transfer by saying that the police officer 
apologized for the mistake, and therefore all was forgiven. 
Poloff replied that this did not send a good message to 
police officers that those who violated a woman,s privacy 
would be promoted to the Governor,s office.  Poloff 
commented that the police officer made a large jump from a 
hit and run investigation to a vaginal exam; furthermore, she 
added, the incident suggested that other Sudanese women had 
endured this invasive abuse of privacy during routine police 
investigations.  The Commissioner replied that, because the 
women had been in a house with men to whom they were not 
related, it had appeared suspicious to the police officer, 
who subsequently sent the women to the clinic. 
 
Sudanese Female Police Officers:  Not in Camps 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶9. (SBU) According to Dr. Abdel Moniem Taha, Director of the 
Advisory Council for Human Rights, there are female police 
officers stationed in each IDP camp.  The Police Commissioner 
for South Darfur said that there were a total of 30 female 
police officers in Nyala and four female police officers in 
each camp daily.  He said that the women wrote weekly reports 
that were given to the police representative on the State 
Committee to Combat GBV.  In a February 8 meeting with 
Poloff, the female Sudanese police officers said that they 
were stationed in IDP camps around the town of Nyala. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Poloff met with all the African Union Civilian 
Police Women (AU Civpol) stationed in IDP camps in Nyala, who 
presented a different picture of the Sudanese government 
policewomen.  According to the AU Civpol and various NGOs, 
Sudanese policewomen were not stationed in the camps, but 
instead were tasked with assisting the African Union in 
conducting firewood patrols.  Poloff visited Otash IDP camp 
and confirmed that Sudanese policewomen were not stationed in 
the camp. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (C) The Sudanese government continues to create low-level 
committees for the plan of action; however, there is 
continuing lack of political will to implement the plan of 
action on the ground. 
 
KHARTOUM 00000350  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
HUME