VZCZCXRO1947
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #2005/01 3481140
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141140Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9570
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 002005 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AIDAC 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W 
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP 
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
NAIROBI FOR SFO 
NSC FOR PMARCHAM, MMAGAN, AND BPITTMAN 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
USUN FOR TMALY 
BRUSSELS FOR PBROWN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI UN SU
SUBJECT: NORTHERN SUDAN - USAID-FUNDED NATIONAL NGO CPA ADVOCATES 
HARRASSED 
 
KHARTOUM 00002005  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1. (SBU) The recall of Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) 
officials from the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the 
political crisis that followed has derailed implementation of the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and CPA-related activities 
throughout Sudan.  Since mid-October, harassment of USAID-funded 
national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in northern Sudan 
that are engaged in disseminating the Comprehensive Peace Agreement 
(CPA) has significantly increased.  The NGOs have been harassed 
through various means, including detainment and interrogation on the 
premises of the Sudanese government's National Security offices, 
closure and obstruction of CPA-related activities, and intense 
monitoring of NGOs doing CPA-related activities.  While motivation 
for the heightened scrutiny of CPA-related activities is uncertain, 
it is likely linked to political crisis that began with the SPLM 
recall.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
KHARTOUM CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS STAFF DETAINED AND INTERROGATED 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶2. (U) USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) has 
given the Khartoum Center for Human Rights and Environmental 
Development (KCHRED) five grants since 2005.  The most recent was a 
grant to hold a seminar for civil society activists on transparency 
in budgeting that occurred in March 2007.  In January 2007, USAID 
funded a theatrical piece on human rights and the CPA, as well as 
funded the production of a comic book for children on human rights. 
In November 2006, USAID funded CPA awareness training for university 
students in the fine arts, who then displayed their messages in 
public parks.  In December 2005, USAID funded KCHRED to conduct a 
ratification campaign for the UN Convention Against Torture. 
 
¶3. (SBU) On December 10, USAID staff met with Mashair Abdullah Omer 
and Amir Mohamed Suleiman, KCHRED's financial officer and 
chairperson.  The staff recounted that on November 21 Omer and 
Suleiman were called into National Security offices and held during 
the day and asked to return to the office at a later date.  On 
November 28, Omer was called in again by National Security and was 
placed in an extremely cold room for a full day and was not allowed 
to use the restroom.  She was then interrogated about funding 
sources, specifically USAID funding.  They spoke to her harshly and 
told her they could make her spend the night in these conditions. 
The National Security officials told her they knew where she lived 
and could reach her at any moment.  They were also interested in 
Faisal Al-Bagir's activities, a prominent journalist in Sudan with 
whom KCHRED collaborated on several activities. 
 
¶4. (SBU) KCHRED collaborated with Faisal Al-Bagir on the recent 
Article 19 media report on Sudan entitled "Media in Sudan at a 
Crossroads," which was released in November 2007.  Faisal Al-Bagir 
is a stalwart journalist in the human rights community in Khartoum. 
On November 5 and 6, Al-Bagir was also detained and questioned along 
with other journalists Lemia el Jaili Abu Bakr and Sabah Mohamed 
Adam, who is also a USAID grantee. 
 
¶5. (SBU) KCHRED has gone publiQwith details of this harassment and 
requested USG assistance in engaging the Sudanese government to stop 
this kind of activity.  The two staff members told USAID that KCHRED 
is relatively sophisticated and does not feel threatened as an 
institution.  However, KCHRED noted that it knew of similar 
instances of National Security harassment of smaller NGOs who had 
not come forward and felt that the smaller NGOs could be much more 
threatened and at risk. 
 
¶6. (SBU) KCHRED members said they believe civil society activism in 
northern Sudan, specifically in Khartoum, had significantly 
increased after the signing of the CPA.  The staff members perceive 
this type of harassment as the Sudanese government's attempt to 
separate civil society from USAID and other donors.  This type of 
interrogation makes NGOs afraid to accept donor funding for fear of 
further harassment. 
 
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OTHER CPA ACTIVITIES STOPPED OR OBSTRUCTED 
------------------------------------------ 
 
KHARTOUM 00002005  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) Since late October, at least eight other CPA-related 
activities have been stopped or obstructed in Kassala State, Port 
Sudan in Red Sea State, Khartoum, Haj Yousif internally displaced 
person (IDP) camp outside of Khartoum, Al Fateh settlement northwest 
of Omdurman, and Wadi Halfa near the Sudan-Egypt border.  In some 
cases, authorities have stopped the activities directly and in other 
cases the grantees stop the activities out of fear after visits from 
National Security.  USAID/OTI grantees report that National Security 
has accused them of conducting political work that is 
anti-government.  In one case, when a new civic education center was 
started with USAID funding National Security moved into the building 
next door and monitored activities at the center.  As a result of 
the scrutiny, the national NGO ceased its activities for nearly a 
two-month period and has not yet resumed activities. 
 
¶8. (SBU) USAID's CPA-related activities frequently experience 
obstruction from national and local authorities.  However, the 
harassment has dramatically increased in the last 1.5 months.  While 
this spike in harassment is likely linked to the SPLM recall of 
officials from the GNU, the harassment of USAID's partners involved 
in CPA-related activities is not a new phenomenon.  With the census 
and elections nearing, USAID and its implementing partners must 
prepare for further scrutiny from government authorities. 
 
¶9. (SBU) USAID/Sudan is working with the Embassy to determine 
appropriate follow-up to KCHRED's request for USG assistance in 
preventing future harassment. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment: The SPLM-NCP cabinet crisis has weakened or 
frozen many CPA-related activities throughout the country. 
Political activity of any sort in the NCP "heartland" of northern 
Sudan is a highly sensitive issue in the best of times for a ruling 
party that sees the marginalization and poverty of that area as 
potential fertile soil for its opponents (especially its 
partner/rival in government, the SPLM) and for the United States. 
It is important for us to "push the envelope" as much as possible in 
this part of Sudan for the sake of CPA implementation and Sudan's 
transformation into a fully democratic state.  End Comment. 
 
FERNANDEZ