Amnesty International Press release
AI Index: AFR 54/106/2004 (Public)
25 August 2004

Rather than taking decisive action to curb widespread human rights
violations in Darfur, the Sudanese government instead is seeking to gag
those who are speaking about the abuses, Amnesty International said in a
new report published today.

Under increasing international pressure, the Sudanese government is
attacking freedom of expression, so as to control information which would
reveal whether or not the government is fulfilling its commitments.

"Instead of arresting those who commit human rights violations, the
Sudanese authorities are arresting those who are exposing the
perpetrators," Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International
said.

Despite the risks attached, people are speaking and will continue to speak
out against human rights violations in Darfur because of the feeling they
have nothing more to lose.

On 30 August the UN Security Council will discuss the Secretary-General's
report on the situation in Sudan: "As long as people who want to speak out
about these violations are intimidated and arrested, the commitments of
the Government of Sudan to the international community remain hollow,"
Irene Khan said.

Freedom of expression has been notably absent in political discussions
between the Sudanese government and the United Nations or others. Freedom
of expression is essential not only because it is a right in itself, but
because it acts in defence of other rights. Unless people are allowed to
speak freely it will be difficult for UN and AU observers to make an
accurate assessment of any progress in Darfur.

Among the cases in Amnesty International's latest report are those of
seven people arrested for giving information to the African Union's
ceasefire monitors in Abu Dereja near Al Fasher on 15 July and 17 July.
They were reportedly still being detained in the National Security centre
in Al Fasher as of 20 August.

The Sudanese authorities are also trying to stop civil society from
discussing the causes and solutions to the crisis. People have been
arrested for presenting petitions, trying to organize public meetings and
opposing the return of those displaced by the conflict to unsafe areas.
Control over the independent Sudanese press is tight, and government-owned
television and radio give a one-sided view of the crisis, portraying
foreign media reports about human right violations in Darfur as a
"conspiracy against Sudan". As one Sudanese lawyer said: "One problem is
the lack of information in Khartoum about the conflict. People in Khartoum
do not know what is happening in Darfur. On the television and the radio
the government says that everything is all right in Darfur, that people
receive aid and that the situation is under control,".

The Sudanese government has further sought to control information on the
crisis by not granting access to Darfur, in spite of numerous requests, to
international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International,
which have been critical towards Khartoum.

The Sudanese government should lift all restrictions on the right to
freedom of expression and release all those detained solely for expressing
their opinions.

The right to freedom of expression must be protected in Sudanese
commitments, in peace talks, and in any monitoring of the situation in
Darfur.

Read the report "Sudan: Intimidation and denial - Attacks on freedom of
expression in Darfur":
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR541012004 [2]