Human rights “worse than one year ago”

Human rights violations are on the rise in Sudan, marked by abductions, arbitrary arrests and the forced displacement of people, according to UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Sudan, Gerhart Baum. “The situation now is worse than one year ago,” the Associated Press agency (AP) quoted Baum as saying at a press conference in Britain on 27 June. “It is a fact that oil is fuelling the war,” the agency quoted Baum as saying. “It is not a religious war. Religion is misused... It is a power struggle.” Baum said many of the human rights violations in Sudan were happening under the cover of war, AP reported. The US and Europe had a responsibility to “help the country come to peace,” he said, criticising the approach of those who believed that Sudan should be isolated until the human rights situation improved. The UN system in Khartoum, while not involved in monitoring the human rights situation in Sudan, is engaged with the government in a technical assistance programme with a view to establishing and improving institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights. That programme will focus broadly on human rights education, national capacity building in the formal and informal sectors, the administration of justice, and legislative reform, UNHCHR rights adviser Dr Homayoun told IRIN on Friday. “The technical assistance programme is a unique opportunity for both the system and the government of Sudan to establish sustainable human rights infrastructures throughout the country for the promotion and protection of rights,” he added. UNICEF, among others, is also very active in engaging the various rebel movements in the south on a range of issues in support of women and children, according to the agency’s human rights focal point, Martin Dawes. “We are engaged with the community and the military on the protection and promotion of rights - particularly on child soldiers, and especially to prevent their re-recruitment when they have been demobilised,” he told IRIN on Tuesday. “On this issue, we are especially keen to get across the principle that the army is no place for children,” he added. [For further details, see separate “IRIN Focus on Human Rights” of 3 July]