The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sudan.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, of the attack on 13 April 2006 by the armed militias on Karamagay village, North East Nyala, Sudan.

According to the information received, armed militias on horses and camels, numbering more than five hundred, attacked and looted Karamagay village, Southern Dafur State. Besides killing 15 people and wounding 11 others, the militias also looted over 517 cows, 850 sheep, 720 goats, 22 horses, 60 donkeys and 8 camels. According to the villagers, who belong largely to the Birgid tribe, the attackers originate from Niteaga, Shearia province, Southern Darfur state and are alleged to belong to the Janjaweed militias.

According to the information received, Shearia town emerges as the new front for confrontations between government forces and the rebel opposition groups in Darfur since November 2005. It is alleged that the government adopted a strategy to shift the war to Shearia in early September 2005, following the attack of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) on this town in which reportedly 18 civilians were killed and 1000 camels were looted. The government in response encouraged armed militias to amass in the area and implicitly allowed the Janjaweed militias to loot the local population property with impunity. In the first week of November 2005, the militias working with government forces attacked and looted the market of Shearia. Following the attack and looting, persons belonging to the Zaghawa tribe fled Shearia town to El Fahal, Otash and Dereig Internally displaced Camps, adding to the already large IDP population in Southern Darfur. The remaining population, largely from the Birgid tribe set up a camp near the African Union Camp in Shearia.

Reportedly, the Commander of the Armed Forces Commander in Shearia town is a Mr. Asim Torobora. Due to continuing fighting between government forces and the SLA and the continuing presence of armed militias, access for aid agencies to the area has been almost impossible. The population in the surrounding areas are in desperate need of food and water, shelter and medicine.

The details of the persons killed during the attack on 13 April 2006 are:

1. Mr. Adam Ibrahim Riyas, (43 yrs)
   
2. Mr. Ahmed Musa Hamdan, (32 yrs)
   
3. Mr. Alshaikh Adam Dood, (60 yrs)
   
4. Ms. Fatima Abdella Dam, (28 yrs)
   
5. Mr. Hassan Adam, (30 yrs)
   
6. Mr. Ibrahim Alzain Ahmed, (40 yrs)
   
7. Mr. Ishag Abaker, (55 yrs)
   
8. Mr. Omer Abaker Osman, (60 yrs)
   
9. Mr. Osman Ali Musa, (45 yrs)
   
10. Ms. Rasha Mohamadain Adam, (15 yrs)
    
11. Mr. Saif Aldean Abdel Rahman Hassan, (28 yrs)
    
12. Mr. Soulieman Abdella Tairab, (38 yrs)
    
13. Mr. Soulieman Musa Mohamed, (33 yrs)
    
14. Mr. Yagoub Ibrahim Hamdan, (35 yrs)
    
15. Mr. Yahya Mohamed Yahya, (28 yrs)
    

The details of the persons injured during the attack on 13 April 2006 are as follows:

1. Mr. Abdella Ali Dawood, (32 yrs)
   
2. Mr. Adam Ali Adam, (60 yrs)
   
3. Mr. Adam Ishag Abaker, (30 yrs)
   
4. Mr. Adamo Adam Dood, (14 yrs)
   
5. Mr. Ahmed Abooh Tairab, (65 yrs)
   
6. Ms. Ashia Abdella Adam, (14 yrs)
   
7. Ms. Fatima Osher Bourma, (25 yrs)
   
8. Ms. Hawa Bakheet, (33 yrs)
   
9. Mr. Mohamadain Adam Shoumo, (35 yrs)
   
10. Mr. Mohamed Alhadi Mohamed, (6 yrs)
    
11. Ms. Om Alhassan Mohamed Adam, (30 yrs)
    

The International Secretariat of OMCT stresses that the continuing attacks on the civilian population by government forces and armed militias committed with impunity is in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement, UNSC resolutions, all subsequent Abuja Agreements and international Conventions protecting non-combatants. OMCT would also like recall Sudan as a state party of the Convention on the Rights of the Child stating that under article 38.1 “States parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for rules of international humanitarian law applicable to them in armed conflicts which are relevant to children”.

Requested Action

Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:

1. Ensure the physical and psychological integrity of the injured persons and guarantee that they are provided with adequate medical care;
   
2. Order a thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
   
3. Guarantee that adequate compensation is awarded to the families of all those who were killed during the attack and to all those who got injured;
   
4. Guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
   

Addresses

His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, Presidential Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 183 783 223

First Vice-President, Mr Salva Kiir Mayardit, People’s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : + 249 11 779977 / 771025

Vice-President, Mr Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, People’s Palace PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 11 779977 / 771025

Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mr Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 780796

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Lam Akol Ajawin, Ministry of Foreign Affairs/External Relations, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax + 249 183 779 383

Minister of Internal Affairs, Major General Abdul-Rahim Muhammed Hussein, Ministry of Interior, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 774339 / 776554 / 777900 / 773046 / 770186

Minister of Federal Government, Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, Office of the Presidents People’s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : +24911 771651/783223

Dr Yasir Sid Ahmed, Head of the Advisory Council for Human Rights PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 183 770 883

Dr Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha, Advisory Council for Human Rights, Rapporteur, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 183 77 08 83

Prof. Ali Mohamed Ali Shommou, The National Press and Publications Council, P O Box 11111, Osman Digna St., Khartoum East Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 77 19 25

His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Mohamed Elhassan Ahmed Elhaj, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue Blanc 47, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Tel: +41 22 731 26 63, Fax: +41 22 731 26 56, Email: mission.sudan@bluewin.ch / mission.sudan@ties.itu.int.

The Embassy of Sudan in Brussels, Mr. Ali Yousif Ahmed, Av. F.D. Roosevelt, 124; 1050 Bruxelles. Tel.:0032 (2) 647 51 59 / 0032 (2) 647 94 94, Fax: 0032 (2) 648 34 99, Email: sudanbx@yahoo.com

Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.

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Geneva, 5 May 2006