Amnesty, SERAP, others task Yar'Adua on Darfur crisis
By Bertram Nwannekanma
AMNESTY International and 12 Nigerian civil society groups have urged President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to take a strong position on Sudan's expulsion of humanitarian aid agencies from Darfur and attacks against human rights defenders.
This, according to the groups, is to prevent millions of people from dying of hunger and disease.
The Nigerian groups included Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Access to Justice, Alliances for Africa, Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS), Partnership for Justice (PJ), West African Bar Association (WABA) and Women's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON).
At a press conference in Lagos yesterday addressed on behalf of the groups by Adetokunbo Mumuni, Executive Director of SERAP, the groups declared that "the government of President Yar'Adua has not demonstrated the required leadership and authority to put pressure on the Sudanese authorities to allow expelled aid organisations to resume their operations in Darfur. This is unacceptable, especially given Nigeria's role and contributions to the African Union (AU) and its contribution of troops to Darfur."
The groups also stated that "the government of Sudan continues to harass and intimidate human rights defenders and staff of national and international aid and human rights organisations. The government has shut down the operations of 13 international and three national aid organisations, following the issuance by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of an arrest warrant against President Omer al Bashir of Sudan. The government is punishing its own people in retaliation against the arrest warrant. The most vulnerable in society - women, children, the elderly and the infirm - are the ultimate victims of the government of Sudan's decision to expel aid organisations from Darfur."
The UN estimates that some 4.7 million people will be affected by the decision of the government of Sudan. More than 300, 000 people have so far died from the conflict and some 2.7 million people have been displaced.
The aid agencies expelled from Darfur include Action Contre la Faim (ACF), CARE International, Cooperative Housing Foundation (CHF), International Rescue Committee (IRC), Mˇdecins Sans Fronti¸res France (MSF-F), Mˇdecins Sans Fronti¸res Holland (MSF-H), Mercy Corps, and Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
Others are Oxfam Great Britain, PADCO, and Save the Children. The affected local organisations are Khartoum Centre for Human Rights, Sudanese Social Development Organisation SUDO, and AMAL Centre.
"The aid organisations have been in Darfur since 2003 and have been providing water, food, shelter and medicines to the people of Darfur because the government was unable to provide these essential supplies," the groups added.
According to them, "The closing down of aid organisations by the government of Sudan and the continuing failure to put in place measures to ensure that aid supplies to civilians would be unaffected is a failure of moral and legal responsibility to protect the civilians in Darfur and to ensure that they have access to food, water, shelter, health care and other essential needs."
The groups warned that "unless influential African countries like Nigeria use their positions and influence to prevail on the government of Sudan to immediately recall expelled aid organisations and stop harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders and organisations, the situation in Darfur will continue to deteriorate."
The groups therefore called on the government of President Yar'Adua to:
- urgently send a special envoy to Sudan to urge the Sudanese authorities to recall expelled aid organisations, and to stop further harassment and intimidation of local human rights defenders and organisations; and,
- work closely with other members of the AU to put pressure on the government of Sudan to respect norms of international human rights and humanitarian law in Darfur, including ensuring unfettered access of civilian population in Darfur to food, water, medicines, and other basic necessities.
