The Sudanese Government arrests Anna's Darfur Translator

Sudan arrests Annan's Darfur translator
Tuesday May 31st, 2005 15:35.

KHARTOUM, May 31 (Reuters) -

A Sudanese translator who accompanied U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to hear rape victims in Darfur's largest refugee camp has been arrested, Sudan's top U.N. envoy said on Tuesday.

Annan visited Darfur on Saturday and heard complaints against police and government authorities from refugees in Kalma camp in South Darfur, who said they wanted guarantees from Annan that they would not be arrested for speaking with him.

The state minister of humanitarian affairs, Mohamed Yousif Abdalla, publicly assured them of their safety.

"Against that promise a Sudanese translator has been arrested," U.N. envoy Jan Pronk told reporters in Khartoum. "And I am asking them (the government) to keep their word in particular if that word is a public word to the secretary-general of the United Nations," he added.

Annan had entered a reed hut to talk with rape victims, one of whom was pre-pubescent, aid workers said. The translator accompanied him and was later arrested.

The issue of rape is sensitive in Muslim Darfur and the government denies allegations by rights groups, aid agencies and a U.N.-appointed commission of inquiry that there is widespread rape in Darfur.

Two aid workers from the Dutch Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) have been arrested for publishing a report based on medical evidence in the agency's hospitals in Darfur documenting about 500 rape cases over 4 1/2 months in the troubled region.

Pronk also accused the Sudanese media of conducting a "smear campaign" against non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and doctors and nurses.

The pro-government Sudan Vision daily published on Monday a full-page report accusing aid agency Medecins du Monde of falsely issuing a report on rape and called for the immediate deportation of the aid workers involved and the organisation to be expelled.

The English-language Sudan Vision article published the names of the rape victim and the two MDM workers involved in the report. The alleged victim was 17 years old.

Pronk said he deplored the Sudanese media for not believing the victims of rape.

"I consider (these) statements in the press ... as a smear campaign against nurses, doctors and NGOs who are helping victims," Pronk said.

He also criticised the media for not writing about the issue of rape despite his lengthy statements on the subject.

I call upon human rights organizations to follow this case

That will not surprise me ya Hala
They don't want the truth to come out. Now they are playing with fire, may be they are underestimating the man.

They want to shut up every person who attempt to speak about rape and they want to shut up women; that is disgusting!!!

Quote: Now they are playing with fire

indeed they are

thanks Kostawi

***

Salam Hala
The use of rape and sodomy is an old tactic used by Nazis, Fascists, supremacists, dictators, etc. to terrorise, subjugate and silence the victims especially in societies where the victim is criminalised.
What is happening now is an attempt to silence the victims who suffered enough and their response does not fit the torturers expectations. These women are courageous and we must all support them, otherwise we will be complicit in a heinous crime.
Darfur exposed our reality. Indifference is not an excuse and silence is support for genocide.
Let us not mince our words. If Moslems continue to support the neo-Nazis actions in Darfur then they will have no moral argument when dealing with their perceived injustices.
Regards
Zaki

Salam Zaki

Rape is used a weapon of war to spread fear and terror, to destabilize communities, to change the demographic composition of ethnic groups, to humiliate not only women but also men; it is a well calculated strategy which has been used over and over through out the hisory of humanity

Rape is a War Crime; it should not be tolerated

What is happening here is a pathetic attempt of silencing women, who have gone through enough horror and torture; women are not only courageous; they are survivors and the truth will prevail

regards

Up


Enough intimidation, enough harassment


They can’t silence women


Enough what is happening with Form 8

Quote: Until recently, Sudanese law required rape victims to file a "Form 8" with the police prior to receiving medical treatment in a public facility. Despite assurances from the Sudanese Ministry of Justice in late-2004 that the requirement for the Form 8 had been withdrawn, reports continued in this year that authorities in many states still require this from rape victims. Nongovernmental health and human rights organizations have protested that this deters women and girls from seeking medical help as needed. "The United Nations, the African Union and donor governments need to draw the line here and ensure that the intimidation stops and that aid workers and rape victims are protected," Takirambudde said. "If this harassment continues, the lives of millions of Sudanese who depend on aid will be put at even greater risk."

Form 8, the government record of shame

Quote: Sudan arrests Annan's Darfur translator Tuesday May 31st, 2005 15:35. KHARTOUM, May 31 (Reuters) - A Sudanese translator who accompanied U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to hear rape victims in Darfur's largest refugee camp has been arrested, Sudan's top U.N. envoy said on Tuesday. Annan visited Darfur on Saturday and heard complaints against police and government authorities from refugees in Kalma camp in South Darfur, who said they wanted guarantees from Annan that they would not be arrested for speaking with him. The state minister of humanitarian affairs, Mohamed Yousif Abdalla, publicly assured them of their safety. "Against that promise a Sudanese translator has been arrested," U.N. envoy Jan Pronk told reporters in Khartoum. "And I am asking them (the government) to keep their word in particular if that word is a public word to the secretary-general of the United Nations," he added. Annan had entered a reed hut to talk with rape victims, one of whom was pre-pubescent, aid workers said. The translator accompanied him and was later arrested

ترجمة مختصرة:

Quote: حكومة السودان تعتقل مترجم عنان بدارفور الخرطوم (رويترز) الثلاثاء 31 مايو 2005 لقد تم أعتقال المترجم السوداني الذي رافق السيد كوفي عنان ليستمع الي ضحايا الأغتصاب في أكبر معسكرات اللاجئين بدارفور. صرح بذلك الممثل الأول للأمم المتحدة بالسودان اليوم الثلاثاء. لقد زار عنان دارفور يوم السبت و أستمع الي شكاوي اللاجئين بمعسكر كلما بجنوب دارفور ضد البوليس و سلطات الحكومة. و قد طلب اللاجئين ضمانات من كوفي عنان بعدم تعرضهم للأعتقال بعد بث شكواهم اليه. وزير الدولة للشئون الأنسانية محمد يوسف عبدالله علنا وعد بضمان سلامتهم. " نكوصا عن ذلك الوعد تم أعتقال مترجم سوداني" صرح يان برونك ممثل الأمم المتحدة لصحفيين بالخرطوم. " و أنا أطالب الحكومة بالألتزام بذلك الوعد الذي قطعوه علنا للسيد الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة" أضاف مستر برونك. كوفي عنان دخل الي قطية مبنية من القصب للتحدث الي ضحايا أغتصاب , أحداهن فتاة لم تبلغ سن البلوغ , كما أفاد موظفو المعونة الأنسانية. المترجم رافق السيد عنان و تم أعتقاله لاحقا.

thank you indeed Mohamed Suleiman

be well

Wed, Jun 01, 2005 04:14 UT


State-led murder and rape of villagers in Darfur uncovered


Tuesday May 31st, 2005 09:21

LABADO, Sudan, May 31, 2005


Confidential African Union (AU) reports have provided damning new evidence of the involvement of Sudanese government forces and their Janjaweed militia allies in the murder and rape of civilians in the Darfur region.

African Union ceasefire monitor Maj. Panduleni Martin from Zambia, center, talks with Commander Abdul Waheed Saeed, center-left, who is in charge of a military unit calling themselves variously the Border Intelligence Division, Second Reconnaisance Brigade, believed to form part of the Janjaweed militia, at the weekly animal market in Mistiria in North Darfur, Sudan, Tuesday, Oct 5, 2004.(AP)

AU monitors have collected photographic evidence of Sudanese helicopter gunships in action attacking villages, and their reports conclude that the Sudanese government has systematically breached the peace deals that it signed to placate the United Nations Security Council.


Reports from Darfur indicate that air attacks on villages have continued amid defiance of UN resolutions calling on the Khartoum regime to disarm the Janjaweed, with the latest helicopter attack in south Darfur reported to have taken place on 13 May as the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, was preparing to visit the province.


Pictures taken by AU monitors document attacks by a Sudanese helicopter gunship on the village of Labado in December, a month after the Sudanese government gave an assurance that there would be no more such attacks. The Sudanese government markings are clearly visible on the tailfin of the helicopter.

The village was visited by Mr Annan last week as he toured the region to see for himself whether anything had changed a year after he first visited Darfur.

The government in Khartoum has consistently denied using air attacks against villagers, insisting that they have only been used defensively against attacks by rebel forces.

The US and British governments have accepted Sudanese assurances that there have been no air attacks since February, but the anti-genocide Aegis Trust - which is campaigning for an enlarged AU force to be sent to Darfur - claims it has received reports of a bombing raid involving an Antonov aircraft on 23 March and a helicopter attack in south Darfur on 13 May witnessed by AU monitors.

Yesterday, Dr James Smith, Aegis's chief executive, said: "Reports of airstrikes against civilians in Darfur highlight the urgent need for a UN mandate for peace enforcement operations in the region. The British government should show leadership on this issue and table such a resolution at the Security Council immediately."

The African Union currently has about 2,300 troops in Darfur, along with hundreds of police officers, and last week a conference of international donors pledged about $200 million in additional funding to pay for an enlargement of the force. However, there is still a significant shortfall on the $700 million the AU estimates it needs to fund a successful mission.

Since last year, the AU's ceasefire monitors have been attempting to investigate reports of attacks by government, Janjaweed and rebel forces. Their confidential reports reveal in stark detail the scale of the attacks and provide conclusive proof that Sudanese government forces have carried out illegal attacks on civilians.

A report into two attacks on the village of Marla on 8 and 16 December described how the AU team came upon Sudanese government forces in the process of attacking the village.


"The GOS [government of Sudan] forces were fire-supported by helicopter gunships which bombarded the edges of the village and flew over the area for about 30 minutes thereafter," the report said.

"The team also found some unexploded rockets in the village. During the team investigation on 16 December, the GOS soldiers were still burning houses, #####ng and harassing the citizens of Marla."

Major Omar Bashir, the GOS commander, told the monitors that his company entered Marla on 17 December at 0800 hours escorted by helicopter gunships which were used to provide protection and direction to the area.

He said he was deployed in the area to provide security and wait for the police who would be deployed there in a few days. He said that when he arrived, he saw that part of the village was burnt. There was no resistance to entering the village, he added.

But a local citizen told a different story. Adam Juma Amar said the first attack on 8 December involved troops firing and burning houses. Eight days later, he said, a group of soldiers returned.

He said: "On entering the village, they were escorted by two helicopter gunships firing at the edge of the village. They flew over the area for almost 30 minutes before they left."

He said the soldiers set fire to houses and set up a base next to a water borehole to prevent the residents using it.

"Some soldiers were within the village, #####ng, burning houses and stores," he added.

The report - marked "AU confidential" - is accompanied by pictures of Sudanese soldiers involved in the act of #####ng. It also contains an interview with a man who was shot in the head

The report concluded that Sudanese forces had attacked Marla. "This has led to #####ng, burning of houses and massive displacement of villagers," the report said. "These actions by the GOS constitute serious violations of Article 2 (2) of the ceasefire agreement of 8 April 2004 in Ndjamena and Abuja Protocol on Security of 9 November 2004."

Meanwhile, Sudan has also denied there is widespread rape in Darfur, but confidential AU reports from monitors on the ground paint a different picture. An AU team - which went to the Abushok camp to investigate the shooting in the back of a man by Sudanese soldiers on 5 January this year - reported that witnesses there had complained of widespread rape and "rampant harassment" of women.

After examining the body of Abdul Halmin Abdul and concluding that he had been killed unlawfully by Sudanese soldiers, Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmed Fouad noted: "During the investigation, cases of rape were highlighted by the witnesses. They claimed that GOS soldiers usually come to the camp and forcefully take away their girls to unknown locations and rape them.

"One of the witnesses solicited for the AU to quickly notify the Sudanese government of the atrocities being committed by GOS soldiers at the camp, especially the cases of rape."


In his report, Lt-Col Fouad recommended that the AU put pressure on the Khartoum regime to "check the menace of rape" at the camp.

During another investigation, into the killing of 12 villagers in the area of Umm-Ba'oud five days later - which the AU team also concluded was the work of the Janjaweed militia and the responsibility of the Sudanese government - more evidence emerged of the targeting of women.

The AU team concluded that "the soldiers from the GOS camp [at Shangil Tobaya] constantly harass women including female teachers in the area."

In Labado last week, Kofi Annan saw for himself the results of the Sudanese government attacks as he walked among the burned huts and spoke to survivors. One woman described to him how five government planes had bombed the town and the AU commander there told the UN secretary-general that 105 people had died in the town during an attack on 17 December.

At the time, Najib Abdulwahab, the then Sudanese government's minister of state for foreign affairs, denied AU reports that helicopters were attacking the town, claiming instead that they were fighting off an insurgent offensive.

"What the government is doing in these areas is actually within its sovereign rights," he said at the time.

But the AU's own confidential report into the attacks demonstrates the difficulties faced by the AU monitors, who accused the Sudanese army commander in the town of lying to them to keep them out.

"Team established that GOS forces supported by Janjaweed attacked the village, killing five people and burning down part of the village," the report said.

"The GOS commander said he could not guarantee their safety as rebels were still in the village. The GOS commander lied to the military observer team about the Janjaweed/armed militia on the northern area of their defensive position by saying that they were IDPs [internally displaced people]." The team found five corpses in the fields outside the village and reported that they saw about 500 Janjaweed on horses and camels. Two days after the attack, an AU helicopter came under fire as it returned to the village in an attempt to offer medical assistance. The team was again turned away.

"GOS commander said it was too dangerous to go into the village due to the presence of armed elements. Helicopter took off and flew over the village," the report said.

"They observed lots of human movement, some houses that were still burning.

"After landing at Nyala airport, the post-flight physical checks revealed that the aircraft had been shot on the tail boom; two bullet holes, the entry and the exit points."

The team concluded that the helicopter had been shot at by Janjaweed militia as it flew over Labado.


Another report records how monitors who went to the scene of an attack in the village of Solokoya on 10 January found it deserted save for a few people in the fields outside. "All witness accounts revealed that the village was attacked by armed militia supported by the GOS which resulted in the death of many civilians and damage to properties," the report said.


"Inspection revealed every house in the village to be burned and there were no possessions in the charred remains of the village."

Witnesses told the monitors that people were shot and killed in a number of locations.

"Significant quantities of blood supported this evidence and photographic evidence was taken," the report added, concluding that the presence of empty cartridges and bullet holes supported claims that high-velocity rifles and machineguns had been employed during the attack and that the attackers wanted to destroy the village as well as kill some of the inhabitants.


Yesterday, the group Human Rights Watch, which is campaigning for an enlarged AU force to be sent to Darfur, warned that attacks continued to take place.


"There is a lot of insecurity on the ground and it is still far too dangerous for people to return home," said a spokeswoman.

الأخت هالة
لك التحية
هذه أدلة دامغة و بالصور علي تورط الحكومة و الجنجويد في جرائم القتل و الأغتصاب بدارفور حتي قريبا (13 مايو).
لقد وثقت هذه القوات بالصور و طائرات الهليكوبتر الحكومة في حالة هجوم و أطلاق مقذوفات علي الأهالي:

Quote: AU monitors have collected photographic evidence of Sudanese helicopter gunships in action attacking villages, and their reports conclude that the Sudanese government has systematically breached the peace deals that it signed to placate the United Nations Security Council. Reports from Darfur indicate that air attacks on villages have continued amid defiance of UN resolutions calling on the Khartoum regime to disarm the Janjaweed, with the latest helicopter attack in south Darfur reported to have taken place on 13 May as the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, was preparing to visit the province.

شكرا يا أخت هالة علي هذا العمل النبيل.
لا بديل للاهاي أبدا.
لا بد من القصاص.

ودى اضافة لمسلسل الاعتقالات والتحقيقات ...المصدر ديموكراسى ماو

Sudan Arrests Two Officials With Doctors Without Borders Following
Report
of Widespread Rapes in Darfur *

MSF-Holland director Paul Foreman said he was arrested and interrogated
on
Monday and Vince Hoedt, Darfur co-ordinator for the Dutch section of
MSF was
arrested and questioned on Tuesday. Foreman was charged with crimes
against
the state, publishing false reports, spying and undermining Sudanese
society.



http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/01/1440251

Thanks Mohamed Sulieman and Tumadir

the aid workers were released and also the interpreter, however they were detained and this shows the level of harassment and intimidation workers are subjected to, so we can imagine how it is for survivors !!