Sudan: five children attacked by soldiers and two girls raped

Case SDN 020605.VAW.CC Violence against women / Child Concern Attack & Rape The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention concerning 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 on 3 May 2005, five children, (four girls and one boy) were attacked by armed officers from Gedel Haboub Military Camp, North of Nyala. According to the information received, the children were collecting firewood outside the Outash IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) Camp in Nyala when armed officers flogged the children and raped two of the girls (names withheld), aged 12 and 14 respectively. The other three children managed to escape and return to Outash IDP Camp in Nyala. According to the information received, the childrens’ families reported the incident to police officers at the Outash Camp. They failed to pursue the soldiers even through the two rape victims identified three soldiers as being from Gedel Haboub Military Camp. The case was then transferred to Nyala Wasat Central Police Station. SOAT filed a complaint, following which the three alleged perpetrators were arrested. The soldiers remain in the custody of military intelligence. SOAT’s network of lawyers is following up on the case with the Attorney General. According to the information recieved, the two rape victims are receiving medical treatment at SOAT’s partner organisation the Amel Centre for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims, which is located in Nyala. OMCT is gravely concerned that justice be done in cases such as the one mentioned above, and stresses the need to protect and ensure the safety of all children in the IDP camps. OMCT would like to recall that Sudan should, as a State party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, under Article 19, “protect the child from all forms of physical and mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect, or negligent treatment, maltreatment, or exploitation including sexual abuse.” Requested Action: Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to: i. Ensure the physical and psychological integrity of these children, especially the two rape victims; ii. Ensure that the Attorney General prosecutes the three identified officers, and if found guilty, apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law; iii. Guarantee that adequate reparation is awarded to the victims, and; iv. Guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout Sudan, 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, President' s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 183 783223


• Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 183 788941


• Mr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affair, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 183 779383


• Dr. Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 183 770883


• His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Mohamed Al- Hassan Ahmed Al-Haj, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue Blanc 47, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 731 26 56, E-mail: mission.sudan@bluewin.ch.

Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country. Geneva, 2 June 2005 Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.