VZCZCXRO7234
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0763/01 1400509
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 190509Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0854
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0223
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000763 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/SPG, S/CRS, SE WILLIAMSON, DRL, NSC FOR BPITTMAN AND 
CHUDSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF PHUM KPKO SOCI UNSC SU
SUBJECT: DARFUR HUMAN RIGHTS TRENDS 
 
REF: A) KHARTOUM 749 
B) KHARTOUM 719 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Recent bombings targeting civilians in rebel-held 
areas of North Darfur have accompanied a deteriorating human rights 
situation throughout the region.  Human rights advocates have also 
noted an increase in the incidence of rape, as well as domestic 
violence, often taking place inside the camps for internally 
displaced persons (IDPs). This is violence within and among IDPs as 
camps become more lawless and traditions break down. Freedom of 
movement, both of UNAMID teams and humanitarian workers, has 
increasingly been restricted, especially because of banditry, and 
Human Rights non-governmental organizations (NGOS) are routinely 
harassed by government officials.  Despite an existing agreement 
with the Government of Sudan (GoS), UNAMID's access to detention 
centers in Darfur is still spotty, and NGOs receive regular 
complaints regarding unlawful detentions.  The UNAMID Human Rights 
Office will continue to track trends in the Darfur region, and will 
produce its first bi-annual report on the human rights situation in 
Darfur in July 2008. END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Sexual Violence "Unintended Consequence" in IDP Camps 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Amel Center, a Sudanese NGO with offices in El Fasher, 
Khartoum and Nyala, provides medical and legal assistance for 
victims of torture and sexual violence.  The director of the El 
Fasher office told FieldOff that he had seen a dramatic increase in 
the number of women seeking treatment for sexual assault over the 
past year.  In April, the center received seven rape victims from 
IDP camps, "that's one every four days - an important indicator of 
declining social conditions," he commented.  Amel Center had also 
seen a dramatic increase in domestic violence complaints, handling 
almost 150 over the past year.  These too were primarily from IDP 
camps. "They have nowhere else to go to escape death and hunger, so 
they obviously have nowhere to go to escape abuse either," the 
director remarked. This is largely abuse by IDPs against other IDPs 
as opposed by janjaweed and GOS forces. 
 
¶3. (SBU) UNAMID Human Rights (HR) officers supported these claims, 
adding that the most dangerous camps were in Zalingei and Nyala.  An 
increase in IDP merchant "taxes" (payments made by merchants to camp 
leaders, police, rebel movements, etc.) had forced small vendors to 
close their legitimate businesses, they explained.  Some of these 
vendors, many of whom are widows raising families, had begun brewing 
their own alcohol and selling it in makeshift "bars" inside the 
camps.  Soldiers, police, rebels and other IDPs get drunk at these 
establishments and either rape unfortunate women they cross on their 
way out of the camp, or, in the case of IDPs, abuse their wives. 
"These rapes are not acts of war, although those still continue 
outside the camps.  These victims are the unintended consequence of 
'economic development'" one officer lamented. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In addition to this newer trend, reporting by UNAMID, UNDP 
and other sources in the field indicates that rapes against IDP 
women by militia, rebels and other armed groups continue to occur 
with frequency.  Although there are no comprehensive statistics on 
these cases due to the sensitivity of the issue and the resistance 
of the GoS to admit the problem, sexual violence against women 
continues to play a damaging role in the Darfur conflict. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Sexual Exploitation on the Rise 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Prominent local human rights activist and attorney Khalil 
Tukras told FieldOffs that he had witnessed a growing trend of 
sexual exploitation, especially of "young girls."  These girls, who 
are generally very poor with no other means of livelihood, are 
recruited to work in private homes as cooks or cleaners.  Once in 
these homes, they are pressured by male occupants to engage in 
sexual acts, for which they are paid.  Tukras charged that many of 
these men were Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and UNAMID soldiers, 
whose positions of relative power were intimidating.  The girls felt 
they had no choice, he claimed, calling the situation "forced 
prostitution."  Tukras warned that this type of exploitation would 
have far reaching social consequences, including an increase in 
teenage pregnancies, and possibly the emergence of so-called honor 
killings in Darfur.  The UNAMID dimension will further stain the 
image of the international force and such abuses will be manipulated 
further by the Khartoum media machine. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
Increasing GoS Restrictions on HR Activities 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
KHARTOUM 00000763  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Both the director of Amel Center and the UNAMID HR team 
complained about restrictions on movement that had impeded 
investigations or monitoring activities.  UNAMID has faced ongoing 
difficulties with both medical evacuations and military/human rights 
investigations, with missions often canceled by GoS due to ongoing 
security operations (reftel).  Amel Center's director complained 
that the GoS sometimes shuts down roads before planned attacks, or 
after allegations of attacks, limiting Amel's access to victims, and 
victims' access to treatment and assistance.  He also said that six 
months ago the GoS requested sensitive information about all members 
of his staff, including bank account information.  The director 
claimed that this request had been made of all "independent" NGOS, 
and said that he had personally been harassed both by phone and in 
person several times by national security officers. (Note: 
Harassment of human rights and legal aid workers appears to be both 
widespread, as we have heard about it from many of our contacts. End 
Note) 
 
¶7. (SBU) The director of Amel said that unlawful detention by GoS 
authorities continued to be a problem, with reasons varying from 
ideological to personal.  The Amel Center, through its legal 
advocacy work, had managed to secure the release of 50 wrongly 
imprisoned individuals over the past year.  "It's a good average, 
but unfortunately it is by no means all of those wrongly imprisoned, 
and it does not take into account the condition in which they were 
released..." the director said grimly. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The UNAMID HR officers acknowledged that allegations of 
abuse in Sudanese detention facilities persist, and expressed 
frustration at their inability to verif9 such cliims  Visit!thoj 
rigxts8hAd!\ong"Be%n a,cjtmomnUsiqsu% `%|weg8TELaFin$$oRQQQQ~QmyQahlQymQf(!8owmvzgb d{nQ$grQi.mg$!}RefQO-hskJMQWkqryaoQQ+iOwfXd0t ~0UQQQyQ3rM)xQ2YlLQ{tz,k&EaQcation of the visit.  While this agreement 
appears to be working in West Darfur, access in North and South 
Darfur is still spotty. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
UNAMID To Begin Bi-Annual Human Rights Reporting 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶9. (SBU) The first UNAMID human rights report will be published in 
July 2008, to cover the period from UNAMID's inception through June. 
 These reports will be produced by UNAMID bi-annually, although they 
will officially be released by the Office of the High Commissioner 
for Human Rights.  The report will detail human rights abuses and 
trends, and will be based on UN investigations and interviews with 
witnesses.  HR officers stressed that information was rigorously 
cross-checked using multiple sources to ensure the highest degree of 
accuracy.  The report will be provided to GoS officials for 
corrections and comments at least two weeks ahead of its public 
release.  However, staff noted that "GoS never reacts to UN reports 
- they don't even bother to deny them.  Instead, they react in the 
press, to better reach their audience..." 
 
¶10. (SBU) COMMENT: While UNAMID Human Rights officials maintain that 
their reporting will be unbiased and unvarnished, there is 
widespread fear throughout UNAMID of being PNG'd for being too 
critical of GoS policies. Other UNAMID civilian employees prefer to 
follow the path of least resistance in any case.  The release of 
this report through the High Commissioner's office provides some 
distance between UNAMID officials and the reports' conclusions. 
Despite the Khartoum regime's terrible human rights record, there is 
no doubt that pressure and dialogue can mitigate some abuses and 
both the UN and foreign embassies need to keep pushing and working 
these issues. 
 
FERNANDEZ