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Sudan: Attack on 20 women, rape of 17 outside Kalma IDP Camp
Case SDN 280706.VAW
Violence Against Women
Attack and rape
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, that twenty women were attacked and most of them also raped by approximately 25 armed militias, some in army uniform. These events took place on 24 July 2006, outside Kalma internally displaced camp in Nyala, Southern Darfur.
According to the information received, the women were attacked whilst they were collecting firewood. They had gone outside the camp as a collective in the false belief that they would be safe from attack as a group. During the attack, the militias beat the women with the butt of their guns and flogged them before raping seventeen of the women. The women are aged between 19 and 42 years old, and they are all from the Fur tribe.
The incident has been reported to the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS) in Kalma camp. SOAT's network of lawyers in Nyala is providing legal assistance to the women.
OMCT strongly condemns the continuing sexual violence against women and girls in Darfur perpetrated by armed militias with impunity. OMCT is particularly concerned that women and girls continue to venture outside IDP camps to undertake tasks including fetching firewood to sell to subsides their income or to cook with despite the presence of AMIS, and that no escort is available to accompany them.
Background
There has been steady gathering of armed militias, reportedly the Janjaweed, in the surrounding areas of Kalma camp. These militias besides attacking humanitarian workers undertake nightly incursions into the camp for purposes of looting. The militias allege that rather than raiding the camp, they are responding to alleged theft of their cows and horses by IDPs from Kalma camp. At a recent incursion by armed militias into Kalma camp one male IDP was killed and two others injured (See OMCT Urgent Appeal SDN 040706).
Requested Action
Please write to the authorities in Sudan and to AU urging them to:
i. Ensure the physical and psychological integrity of the 20 women by guaranteeing that they be provided with adequate medical care and protection;
ii. 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;
iii. Ensure women and girls the right to be free from discrimination, including violence, in line with the international laws and standards;
iv. Guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international humanitarian law and human rights standards.
Addresses
His Excellency Field Marshal Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, President's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 783223
His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit, First Vice-President, People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 771025
Mr. Al Zubeir Beshir Taha, Minister of Interior, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 779383
Mr. Mustafa Lam Akol Ajawin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, fax : + 249 183 779 383
Dr. Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 770883
His Excellence Ambassador Mr. Mohamed Elhassan Ahmed Elhaj, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue Blanc 47, 1202 Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 731 26 56, Email: mission.sudan@bluewin.ch; mission.sudan@ties.itu.int
President of AU Peace and Security Council, P. O. Box 3243, Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA , Fax: + 251 151 9321
Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, P.O. Box 8372, El Amarat Post Office, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax + 249 183 582206, Email: aucfc_khartoum@yahoo.com
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
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Geneva, 28 July 2006
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