Human rights still problematic - UN

Continued abuses by both the government and rebels means there has been no overall improvement in the human rights situation in Sudan, a UN report says. In his report to the UN General Assembly last week, Gerhart Baum, the Special Rapporteur on human rights in Sudan, said he had "continued to receive information pointing to the perpetration by all parties to the conflict of numerous serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law [IHL]". Among the main issues of concern were those related to the continued state of emergency, the "virtual impunity" enjoyed by the security services, the persistence of press censorship and the limited room for the political activities of opposition parties, the report said. The state of emergency had allowed the establishment of Special Courts in Darfur, western Sudan, which were of "deep concern" and not in keeping with relevant international standards, it said. Despite being imposed for an initial period of three months, the state of emergency has been in effect continuously since December 1999, and was extended for an additional 12 months at the end of 2001. Several reported cases were cited in the report, including that of 14 prisoners charged with armed robbery and sentenced to death by a Special Court in Nyala in July. The prisoners were reported not to have received legal representation during their trial. A second case, also conducted in Nyala, involved 88 persons sentenced to death by hanging or crucifixion, after what was reported to be an unfair trial. Two of them were reported to be 14-year-old boys. Ongoing inter-ethnic conflict in Darfur over land and pasture exacerbated by drought has led to the destruction and depopulation of villages, and high levels of displacement, the report noted. The Special Rapporteur expressed hope that ongoing peace talks between the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), underway in Kenya, could provide an opportunity to bring an end to war-related human rights abuses. For peace to be sustainable, however, it was paramount that the issue of human rights and democratisation was put at the heart of the talks, being held under the auspices of the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). The Special Rapporteur called on the rebels to develop genuine democratic structures, and urged them and their allied militias to do their utmost to prevent human rights violations. All parties to Sudan's 19-year civil war were called upon to use their influence to put an end to violations of human rights and IHL. "The burden represented by the war cannot provide any justification for human rights abuses," Baum said in his report.