UN report details human rights abuses in Sudan, not including Darfour
Monday, December 1, 2008 Free Headline Alerts
LONDON — Sudan was said to illegally detain and torture dissidents.
The United Nations said Sudanese authorities have been detaining without cause dissidents and their families. A report said the detention of relatives of fugitives or dissidents has become routine by the Khartoum regime.
"Ill-treatment and torture are repeatedly used to intimidate detainees, to punish them, to extract information or to force them to incriminate themselves or others," the report by the UN High Commission for Human Rights said. "In some cases death threats are made against detainees prior to their release to prevent them from speaking out about the abuses they suffered in detention."
The 51-page report, submitted to Khartoum, cited Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services. The UN said those in Sudanese custody — including women who wore trousers — were held incommunicado and tortured.
"Even blatantly unlawful arrests rarely result in criminal or disciplinary actions against the officials involved," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said.
The report concluded that illegal detention and torture was rampant in Sudan. The UN said women and children in the autonomous south were detained on orders of husbands or fathers. The report did not address human rights in Darfour.
In Khartoum, women were arrested for wearing jeans, the report said. The women, detained in August 2008, were released after signing a pledge that they would not wear trousers.
"The problems identified this report are serious but not intractable even bearing in mind that resources are limited as Sudan emerges from decades of conflict," the report said.