News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International

AI INDEX: AFR 54/045/2003 20 June 2003

Sudan: Let Sudanese civil society and political parties talk freely about peace

Amnesty International is calling on the Sudanese government and security
forces to immediately stop harassing, detaining incommunicado and impeding
Sudanese civil society activists from discussing issues related to the
peace talks on Sudan.

"At a time when the Sudanese government and the Southern People's
Liberation Movement (SPLM) are negotiating a peace agreement to end the
civil war, all Sudanese must be free to participate in discussions related
to their own future. The continuing repression of freedoms of assembly and
expression and the harassment of civil society activists and political
opponents are clear signs that the Sudanese government is intent on denying
the Northern civil society the right to prepare for a sustainable peace,"
Amnesty International said.

Within the past month alone, the Sudanese government and security forces
have forcibly interrupted meetings on the peace process by political
activists and civil society groups.

* On 19 June about 30 armed security officers raided the house of Ghazi
Suleiman, chairman of the Sudan Human Rights Group in Khartoum Two, and
arrested at least 36 political activists and civil society representatives
and confiscated some documents. They had gathered there to discuss the
"Cairo Declaration" of 24 May, a joint statement of northern political
opposition and the SPLM on the peace process and the status of the national
capital of Sudan in a future agreement. They were brought to the
headquarters of the National Security in Khartoum North where they gave
officers their names, addresses and phone numbers. They were released after
two hours. Ghazi Suleiman was interrogated until 1am and then released,
after reportedly being roughly treated and asked to stop organizing
political gatherings and activities.

* On 16 June Elhadi Tangur, a representative of the Blue Nile State was
arrested by some plain clothed security forces in Khartoum. He is detained
incommunicado, reportedly in the headquarters of the security forces.
Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience and is
calling for his immediate and unconditional release. He was arrested after
a meeting he and other members of the Blue Nile community had with General
Lazarus Sumbeiyo, the Kenyan government Special Envoy for Sudan and the
main mediator in the Sudan peace talks. General Sumbeiyo was in Khartoum to
talk to members of the government about issues stalling the peace process.

* On 2 June, the national security forces arrested 38 women from the Nuba
Mountain Women's Association in Khartoum on their way to Kauda, in the Nuba
Mountains for a conference on peace and development. They were detained
overnight and at least one has to continue reporting to police. Belongings
were confiscated and the non-governmental organizations organizing the
meeting has been shut down by the authorities ever since.

Newspapers have also been subjected to "red lines", prescribing what they
can and cannot report in regard to the peace talks. Editors who have
transgressed this effective censorship on articles on peace-related
questions have been briefly detained and interrogated by the security forces.

"Unless the basic human rights of all Sudanese are respected in law and in
practice, peace will be meaningless to them. International peace mediators
must urgently put pressure on the Sudanese government to stop violating the
rights of those who attempt to open discussions on peace issues," Amnesty
International urged.

Background

In July 2002, the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/ Army (SPLM/A) signed the Machakos Protocol in Kenya. The Protocol
promised a future peace agreement and an end to the decades-long civil war
in the country. It was signed under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental
Authority on Development, a regional grouping of governments, presided by
Kenyan General Sumbeiyo and international mediators from the United States,
the United Kingdom and Norway. Both parties have since signed a cease-fire
and held sessions to resolve contentious issues. The latest round of talks
in May 2003 stalled on the status of the capital of Sudan in the final
agreement as well as security and power-sharing issues.

Civil society and the political opposition are not included in the peace
talks. While the SPLM claims to consult with the Southern civil society,
which has had meetings and made propositions to feed into the process, the
Government of Sudan now appears to block initiatives from the Northern
civil society to get involved in peace discussions.

Although the Machakos Protocol mentions that human rights should be
guaranteed in the future peace agreement, so far peace talks have focussed
on power-sharing, borders and security issues. Amnesty International has
called on both parties to the conflict and the mediators to the peace talks
to comprehensively address human rights issues in their discussions and to
put the human rights of all Sudanese at the heart of any future agreement.

All documents on Sudan: http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabbLmaaYJQsbdxUCdb/

****************************************************************
You may repost this message onto other sources provided the main
text is not altered in any way and both the header crediting
Amnesty International and this footer remain intact. Only the
list subscription message may be removed.
**