Posted on 27-4-2004

News Blackout Hiding Sudan Atrocities
From oneworld.net (Image: © Human Rights Watch)

In Sudan, where one of the world's worst human rights crises is unfolding,
no news has become bad news. While government-supported Arab militias wage
what the United Nations calls a "scorched earth" campaign against an
estimated 870,000 people, most of them civilians, Sudanese authorities
have imposed a news blackout, report Human Rights Watch and Reporters
Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF).

The sentencing last week of Al-Jazeera reporter Islam Salih to one month
in prison and a fine of 1 million Sudanese pounds (approx. US$3,800) is
the latest example of the government's attempts to cover up the atrocities
being committed against civilians in Darfur, says RSF.

On 13 April, Salih was convicted on charges of "disseminating false
information." Prior to his conviction, authorities had threatened him with
punitive action if he did not tone down his coverage of Darfur and other
human rights issues in Sudan, RSF says. Al-Jazeera's bureau has also been
shut down by authorities. RSF is calling for Salih's immediate release
from prison.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has urged the U.N. Commission on Human
Rights to condemn "crimes against humanity" being committed by government
forces and allied militias in Sudan and to re-appoint a special rapporteur
to monitor human rights violations in the country.

The Commission was scheduled to vote on a resolution on Sudan on 22 April
but it has been delayed.

Last year, the human rights body voted to end the 10-year mandate of the
rapporteur on the grounds that government and rebel forces in southern
Sudan were working towards peace.

Human Rights Watch says government forces and allied militias have killed
thousands and forced as many as 870,000 people to flee their homes as part
of a brutal war against rebel insurgents in Darfur. At least 120,000 of
the refugees have fled across the border to neighbouring Chad.

The primary targets are civilians who share the same ethnicity as the
rebels, says Human Rights Watch. Villages have been bombed, burned and
looted, and thousands have been murdered and raped.

Last week, authorities also denied U.N. human rights experts access to
Darfur when they requested permission to visit the region. They have since
been allowed into Darfur.

Read Human Rights Watch's detailed report on Darfur:
http://hrw.org/reports/2004/sudan0404/

For updates on the situation in Sudan, visit:
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/42/