UN narrowly adopts human rights resolution

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights on Friday narrowly adopted a resolution expressing deep concern over the human rights situation in Sudan.

The resolution - adopted by a vote of 25 in favour and 24 opposed, with four abstentions - expressed deep concern at the negative role of undisciplined militias armed by the Sudanese government and of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), the use of children as soldiers, forced displacement, arbitrary detention, torture, and summary and arbitrary executions.

The Sudanese representative said Sudan had made progress in human rights, as well as the economic, political and social fields, and the resolution would only strengthen those who were opposed to the peace process.

"The slight margin is an indication that the issue is a political issue and [has] nothing to do with human rights, with Europe and developed countries on one side and African countries on the other," Muhammad Ahmad Dirdiery, charge d'affaires at the Sudanese embassy in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, told IRIN on Monday.

Uganda was the only African country to vote in favour of the resolution, saying that although it was committed to strengthening relations with Sudan, it was concerned about the grave human rights situation in southern Sudan.

Dirdiery told IRIN that Khartoum had requested an explanation from Uganda for its vote on the resolution. "We have approached Uganda and requested an explanation, bearing in mind we are helping them fight terrorism in their own country," he said.

The United States government in December added the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) to its "Terrorist Exclusion List", designed to protect the safety of the US and its citizens.

Improving diplomatic relations between Uganda and Sudan over the past several months have facilitated a Ugandan army offensive against LRA inside southern Sudan.

The two countries severed diplomatic ties in 1995, with Uganda accusing Khartoum of providing support to the LRA, and Sudan claiming that Kampala was assisting the SPLM/A.

The Commission welcomed recent positive moves made towards peace in Sudan, including: a cease-fire agreement covering the Nuba Mountains region of south-central Sudan, and the establishment of a Joint Military Commission and International Monitoring Unit to monitor the cease-fire; an agreement to protect civilians from military attack; and commitments by both the government and the SPLM/A to support an international commission to investigate allegations of slavery and abductions.

The commission also expressed its deep concern at the extension of a state of emergency in the country, originally declared in December 1999 and renewed for the second time in December 2001 to last until the end of 2002.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) in February said special "emergency tribunals" set up in 2001 under the state of emergency were being used to impose inhumane sentences such as death by stoning and amputations. HRW cited the cases of six men in the western states of Northern Darfur and Southern Darfur, who had been sentenced to limb amputations since December 2001 for crimes such as robbery and illegal possession of weapons.

The UN resolution also noted with concern the continuing problem of abductions of women and children by government militia and their alleged subjection to forced labour.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Sudan Gerhart Baum in April highlighted the negative role of government-sponsored militias in abductions, and expressed concern over the slow progress achieved by the Sudanese government's Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEACW).

A US-sponsored international team of experts investigating abductions ended its first fact-finding mission, saying both the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A had cooperated with the mission, AP reported on Friday. "Access and participation by the Sudanese government and opposition leaders has thus far been positive," AP quoted Penn Kemble, head of the delegation, as saying.

The eight-person delegation, made up of members from the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway, Italy, and France, had visited rebel-held and government-controlled areas from 8 April to 18 April to investigate allegations of slavery and abductions, according to Reuters.

The Commission said it had decided to extend the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Sudan for a further year.