KHARTOUM
Sudanese rights activists expect their country to be punished for violating the Fourth Geneva Convention at an upcoming meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
"Sudan needs to be placed under the supervision of the Geneva-based council [the UNHRC], even though the council's decisions are prone to pressure from powerful states," Nabil Adeeb, rights activist and director of the independent Sudanese Observatory for Human Rights, told Anadolu Agency.
A report by Mashood Baderin, the U.N.'s independent expert on human rights in Sudan, faulted the Sudanese government for failing to prosecute security officials implicated in the murder of scores of demonstrators during mass protests that swept Sudan last September.
According to official reports, around 86 people were killed during the protests, which were the largest to be organized against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir since he assumed power in 1989.
A report by Amnesty International, however, put the death toll at 200.
The protests erupted following a government decision to slash commodity subsidies – a move that sent prices skyrocketing.
In the report, which will be discussed at the upcoming UNHRC meeting in two weeks, Baderin, a Nigerian university professor, lashed out at the Sudanese government for saying it could not produce the security officials involved in the killing of demonstrators.
Baderin added that a government report on the incidents did not show that an independent investigation had been conducted.
The Sudanese government blames the fatalities on rebel movements, members of which, it claims, had infiltrated the demonstrations.
Adeeb said the report heaped blame on the Sudanese government for the most part, particularly in relation to the September 2013 demonstrations; press freedom violations; the prevention of peaceful assembly; the detention of political activists; and violations in conflict zones.
During his last visit to Sudan in February, Baderin said he had not noticed any improvement in the human rights situation.
-Deteriorating conditions-
Sudanese authorities this year have put scores of political activists – including political leaders like Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the Sudanese Umma Party, Sudan's largest opposition party – in jail.
Al-Mahdi was released one month after his detention in May. He was put in jail after criticizing the conduct of Sudan's intelligence agency in the war against rebels in the western Darfur region.
Another opposition leader, Ibrahim al-Sheikh, leader of the opposition Congress Party, was put in jail for the same reason.
Al-Sheikh, detained in June, has yet to be freed. He has yet to be presented to court.
Other political activists put in jail without trial include Mariam, al-Mahdi's daughter and deputy chief of the Umma Party. Mariam has been in jail since August.
The state-run National Commission for Human Rights conceded in its last report in November that human rights violations had occurred in Sudan, even as government officials continue to talk about respect for international human rights conventions.
According to the commission, violations included restrictions on civilian and political freedoms.
-Random killing-
In his report, Baderin also tackled the ongoing war between the government and rebel movements in South Kordofan, citing what he termed as "random aerial strikes" against civilians in the two regions.
Violations, he added, also included imposing restrictions on the press and the detention of political activists.
Darfur has been the site of intense fighting between the government and three rebel movements since 2003. The war has left 300,000 people dead so far and displaced more than 2 million others.
More than 1.2 million people have also been negatively affected by the fighting between the government and rebel movements in South Kordofan, according to the United Nations.
A U.S. mission in Geneva last week stressed the need for improved human rights conditions in Sudan.
The mission also called for an effective UNHRC response to Baderin's report.
By Mohamed al-Khatem
englishnews@aa.com.tr
www.aa.com.tr/en
