The Government of Sudan should immediately release human rights activist Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam in the absence of valid charges against him, said Human Rights First, which has persistently opposed the intimidation of Sudanese human rights activists.
On Sunday, May 8, only hours before he was to travel to Ireland to receive a prestigious human rights award from Irish President Mary McAleese, Dr. Mudawi and his colleague and driver, Yasir Saleem and Abdalla Taha, were detained in Khartoum. No charges have yet been brought against them.
“This is the third time in the last 18 months that Dr. Mudawi has been detained in apparent reprisal for his human rights work in Darfur,” said Neil Hicks, Director of International Programs at Human Rights First. “The Government of Sudan claims that it can provide accountability for the grave crimes committed in Darfur, but it only seems willing and able to detain human rights activists like Dr. Mudawi.”
Dr. Mudawi is chairperson of the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO), a group actively monitoring human rights violations in Darfur. Some of SUDO’s recent activities include workshops on human rights and providing assistance to people made homeless by the criminal violence in Darfur.
“If the Government of Sudan were serious about justice for the victims in Darfur, it would stop detaining human rights activists and start cooperating with the International Criminal Court,” said Hicks.
“Human rights defenders, like all civilians in Darfur, would benefit greatly from rapid deployment of additional African Union police and military forces in the region,” added Hicks. “For this to happen, the United States and the countries of the European Union must provide the necessary financial and logistical support.”
Background
In the absence of support for justice by the Sudanese government, human rights defenders like Dr. Mudawi have an essential role to play in informing the world about the continuing human rights crisis and in gathering evidence that can eventually be used to hold accountable those responsible for serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law, said Human Rights First. But human rights activists need greater protection from independent forces such as those of the African Union.
During the human rights emergency in Darfur, the Sudanese government has engaged in a pattern of targeting human rights activists who expose the continuing violations in the region. Incidents have included the arrest and detention of human rights lawyers, individuals who met with Red Cross representatives and African Union personnel, and others who spoke out about the conflict in Darfur.
Since 2003, estimates indicate that more than two million people have fled their homes and nearly 400,000 people have died, largely as a result of a campaign of violence against civilians in Darfur by the Sudanese army and its proxy militia, the Janjaweed. Civilians have been victims of mass killings and rape, their villages have been burned, and they have been forced to flee for their lives. In response to reports on these serious violations, the United Nations Security Council decided in March 2005 to refer the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court, thereby authorizing the Court to hold accountable those responsible for grave crimes in the region.
