VZCZCXRO8646
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUEHKH #0844/01 1961212
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 151212Z JUL 09 ZDK CTG NUMEROUS SERVICES
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4095
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0086
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 0011
RUEHFN/AMEMBASSY FREETOWN 0002
RUEHMV/AMEMBASSY MONROVIA 0013
RUEHSUN/USUN ROME IT
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KHARTOUM 000844 
 
DEPT FOR AF A/S CARSON, SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF/C, AF/E 
NSC FOR MGAVIN 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU 
BRUSSELS FOR PBROWN 
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH 
UN ROME FOR HSPANOS 
NEW YORK FOR DMERCADO 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL EAID SOCI KWMN KOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN - INITIAL RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INCREASED 
ENGAGEMENT ON EFFORTS TO CURB GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 
 
REFS:  A. STATE 64939 
   ¶B. KHARTOUM 736 
   ¶C. KHARTOUM 697 
 
KHARTOUM 00000844  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
 - - - 
Summary 
- - - 
 
¶1. (SBU) Protection concerns--particularly incidents of sexual and 
gender-based violence (SGBV)--persist throughout conflict-affected 
areas of Sudan.  Nearly six years after conflict erupted in Sudan's 
Darfur region, SGBV continues to negatively affect Darfuri 
communities; however, reliable statistics are unavailable due to the 
political and cultural sensitivities surrounding SGBV.  In Southern 
Sudan, child abduction and rape remain weapons utilized in 
inter-ethnic clashes and Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) attacks.  The 
Government of National Unity (GNU) recently released a Women's 
Empowerment Policy, which identifies the establishment of legal and 
public information mechanisms to combat violence against women as 
priority actions.  However, the GNU is not aggressively acting on 
these priorities.  In some cases, its agencies, including the 
Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) have impeded the work of 
humanitarian agencies involved in protection of women and children. 
The March 2009 expulsions of key non-governmental organizations 
(NGOs) running women's livelihoods programs and providing medical 
and psychosocial assistance to SGBV survivors in northern Sudan 
weakened these efforts in northern Sudan.  Despite the challenging 
operating environment, the U.S. Government (USG) continues to 
prioritize protection assistance and incorporate protection 
sensitivity into other humanitarian assistance throughout 
conflict-affected areas of Sudan.  End summary. 
 
¶2. This message provides Embassy Khartoum's initial response to ref 
¶A. request.  Post will continue to engage proactively with the GNU, 
the Government of Southern Sudan, and the UN on SBGV, and report 
developments and additional information as they become available. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
GNU Efforts to Curb SGBV - Darfur 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3. (SBU) The GNU'S Women's Empowerment Policy, released In June 
2009, includes provisions for establishment of legal and media 
mechanisms to combat violence against women and provide legal aid 
for victims, review implementation of current Sudanese laws, provide 
psycho-social rehabilitation for women affected by conflict, and 
assist with family reunification.  However, this policy includes few 
details on implementation.  Many government institutions are charged 
with working to combat SGBV and assist SGBV victims, including the 
Federal and State Ministries of Health, the Ministry of Social 
Welfare, Ministry of Education, the Violence Against Women units, 
and the State Committees to Combat Violence Against Women and 
Children.  These ministries and committees continue to require 
training and assistance in providing a range of SGBV services. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Nevertheless, in practice, protection-related programming, 
particularly related to SGBV, remains an extremely sensitive one, 
due to Sudanese government suspicion that organizations working on 
these issues provided information about SGBV incidents to the 
International Criminal Court and other international bodies.  Prior 
to the early March NGO expulsions, the HAC already had begun 
impeding NGOs that provided protection and/or SGBV support in Darfur 
through bureaucratic means.  Starting in June 2008, the HAC began 
conducting detailed assessments of NGO operations, specifically 
activities in support of SGBV victims.  In late 2008, the HAC 
refused to sign a technical agreement with a USAID partner, obliging 
the organization to close protection and rule of law programs in 
Darfur.  Subsequently, in October 2008, the HAC suspended another 
NGO's health programs in Kalma IDP camp in South Darfur, 
specifically ordering the organization to cease all SGBV counseling 
activities prior to January 2009. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Despite increased protection concerns following the early 
March expulsions of key protection implementing partners, UN 
 
KHARTOUM 00000844  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
agencies report limited capacity and/or availability for Sudanese 
government ministries or national NGOs to fill gaps in SGBV 
monitoring and protection activities due to the sensitive nature of 
these programs.  Sudanese government-supported health centers are 
not present in many rural areas of Darfur, and where they are, they 
lack SGBV emergency treatment and post-rape kits.  In non-signatory 
armed opposition group areas, the government lacks control and 
access, preventing GOS ministries or aligned national NGOs from 
providing services.  The same applies to many IDP camps, where 
displaced populations do not trust the government and do not accept 
GOS-provided services. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
GOSS Efforts to Curb SGBV -- Southern Sudan 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6. (SBU) The recent surge in ethnic-based violence and LRA attacks 
in areas of Southern Sudan has had a negative impact on civilian 
populations, particularly women and children.  According to the UN 
Children's Fund (UNICEF), the scale of child abductions between 
ethnic groups in Jonglei State is unprecedented since the signing of 
the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005.  In addition, LRA attacks 
have resulted in extensive looting, abductions, and incidents of 
rape, as well as the displacement of a total of 51,564 IDPs within 
and 12,842 Congolese refugees to Southern Sudan as of early June 
¶2009. 
 
¶7. (SBU) UNICEF and the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) - Protection 
Unit have advocated raising child protection issues related to the 
recent violence in Jonglei State in all meetings with senior 
Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) officials.  In addition, UNICEF 
has issued a statement urging proactive GoSS intervention on 
Jonglei. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Addressing SGBV 
and Mainstreaming Protection into Humanitarian Activities 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8. (SBU) In Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, the USG funded seven stand-alone 
humanitarian protection programs in Darfur.  USAID humanitarian 
protection programs work not only to respond to incidents of 
violence, but also to prevent them.  In addition to medical and 
psycho-social treatment, USAID has supported women's empowerment, 
skills building, and income-generation programs.  These programs 
aimed to provide women with safer livelihoods alternatives to 
traveling outside of IDP camps to collect firewood and fodder to 
sell, which often leaves women vulnerable to sexual violence.  This 
programming, typically located in women's centers, also provided 
venues for group discussion and general counseling for SGBV victims. 
 Other protection activities include identification of extremely 
vulnerable individuals and provision of linkages to special support 
networks, child-friendly spaces, and protection coordination and 
advocacy. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In addition, in FY 2008, 16 of 22 humanitarian NGO partners 
in Darfur identified protection as a cross-cutting theme in their 
programs.  NGOs mainstreamed protection into their programming in a 
variety of ways, including supporting protection-sensitive shelter 
in camps, offering *confidential* health care services for survivors 
of sexual and gender-based violence, referring extremely vulnerable 
persons in health or nutrition programs to psychosocial or 
income-generation programs, and consulting women and children about 
their safety preferences when establishing new water points or 
latrines. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The USG has also supported multiple activities that 
helped minimize women's exposure to violence, monitor and document 
abuses, increase safe access to victims' services, and combat 
impunity.  USAID funding provided training on SGBV to key groups, 
including judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and paralegals to improve 
awareness of how to handle SGBV cases.  In addition, USG-funded 
partners have provided trainings to IDP leaders on different forms 
of SGBV and the difficulties survivors face in accessing support 
services.  Traditional leaders (including sheiks and umdas) remain 
 
KHARTOUM 00000844  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
influential figures who are regularly consulted by SGBV survivors 
and their families.  Their involvement is vital to shoring up 
community support to address SGBV. 
 
¶11. (SBU) In the rest of Sudan, USAID has prioritized protection 
programming in response to attacks and abductions of individuals 
during LRA and inter-ethnic violence in Jonglei and Western 
Equatoria states.  These attacks have particularly affected women 
and children.  In Abyei, USAID funding supports child protection 
activities, including registration and reunification of children 
separated from their families as a result of the May 2009 clashes 
and subsequent displacement. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
Effectiveness of Programs 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶12.  USG-funded assistance programs have been effective in 
addressing the atmosphere of impunity in a number of ways.   SGBV 
sensitization programs have been very successful in changing ethnic 
leaders' attitudes and have helped unite communities around this 
issue.  In addition, USAID-funded programs have supported legal aid 
centers, educated young Darfuri lawyers, and increased the resources 
available to paralegals working on SGBV cases. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) However, of all sectors affected by the March NGO 
expulsions, the protection sector lost the most NGO capacity.   Ten 
out of the 13 expelled international organizations either directly 
or indirectly had been involved in protection-related activities, 
and two of the three dissolved national NGOs previously implemented 
protection programs.  The expulsions included key NGOs running 
women's livelihoods programs and providing medical and psycho-social 
assistance to SGBV victims.  The expulsions also undermined the 
confidence of IDP communities that SGBV services would be provided 
in the future by other NGOs.  .  In fact, many of the remaining NGOs 
either lack the technical capacity and systems to handle SGBV cases 
and/or have demonstrated reluctance to engage in protection 
activities, fearing that working in this sector will jeopardize 
their other activities. 
 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
Justice for SGBV Crimes 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶14. (SBU) Perpetrators of SGBV are generally not brought to justice, 
although there have been isolated convictions.  The constraints are 
many: those accused of SGBV are often members of the security 
forces; victims are typically afraid to come forward because for 
fear they might be charged and convicted of having illegal sexual 
relations out of wedlock; and local authorities are not willing/able 
to pursue these crimes. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Over time, however, there has been improvement in the 
willingness of the GNU to acknowledge SGBV as a reality in this 
society.  Sudanese government authorities in Khartoum and Darfur no 
longer routinely deny nearly all reports of widespread rape and 
violence against civilians in Darfur. Instead, they now publically 
acknowledge there is a   SGBV e problem, and in response have formed 
various SGBV related-committees that have prepared action plans. 
Despite these positive steps, impunity and lack of implementation of 
the plans continue to prevent effective action to counter SGBV. 
SGBV remains widespread throughout Darfur, although reliable 
statistics are hard to come by and the total number of cases is 
unknown. In the past three years, there were a total of 50 rape 
convictions in Darfur. 
 
¶16. (SBU) In the latter half of 2005, the Sudanese government began 
clarifying Form 8 procedures, which removed the requirement, in 
theory, for SGBV victims to file documentation  before seeking 
medical treatment.  [Note:  Form 8 is a one-page reporting document 
produced by the Ministry of Justice to record physical injuries 
related to criminal acts.   End note.]  In 2005, the Ministry of 
Justice established a national action plan on Form 8, with the 
message that rape victims may receive medical treatment and file 
 
KHARTOUM 00000844  004.3 OF 004 
 
 
legal charges against perpetrators without filling the form.  The 
Ministry of Justice also set up a Committee for Combating 
Gender-Based Violence in each Darfur state.  However, after nearly 
four years, application and dissemination of these reforms 
throughout police ranks and to public prosecutors, public health 
workers, and medical practitioners remains inconsistent and 
misunderstood.  Few women police officers have been recruited and 
trained to interview and assist SGBV victims.  In many cases, police 
investigations will not proceed without a Form 8.  In some 
instances, police stations claim not to have the Form 8.  In others, 
the form is not   completed correctly.  Often, police insist that 
victims fill out the form prior to receiving medical treatment and 
before launching an investigation.  Thus, Form 8 is still regarded 
as a key barrier for SGBV victims seeking medical care and access to 
justice in Darfur. 
 
¶17. (SBU) Comment:  During the May visit to Sudan of CODEL Isakson 
(ref C), the Embassy facilitated briefings and subsequent meetings 
for Senators Isakson and Corker in which they raised SGBV concerns 
with senior government officials.  The Post will continue to stress 
the need for action on this issue in its meetings with the GNU.  We 
will also work with UN agencies to promote SGBV prevention/ response 
and awareness in Sudan. 
 
 
WHITEHEAD