Sudanese physician receives human rights award for work in Darfur while defenders of torture victims continue to face threats and harassment

On 16th November 2007 it was announced that Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah will receive the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award today for his assiduous work in Darfur, where he provides medical care and assists survivors of torture and violence.

The Kennedy award comes with a cash prize of $30,000, coupled with a partnership over five to six years for comprehensive support, human rights projects and advocacy with the Boston-based Physicians for Human Rights organization.

Abdallah is the medical director of the Amel Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in Sudan, a leading human rights group registered with the Khartoum government and a partner of the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT).

The Amel Centre is a member of the AMAN network of Non-governmental centres and Programs Working against Torture in the Middle East and North Africa. The Centre’s primary objective is to “provide treatment, rehabilitation, direct assistance, awareness and legal aid to victims of torture”: it achieves this through multiple efforts of training health professionals and social services, conducting surveys and assessments, documenting monitoring and reporting cases of torture, raising information, seeking to prevent, and conducting advocacy initiatives, while operating as a member of the IRCT network.
Abdallah said he fears the worst is coming to war-torn Darfur, in western Sudan.

"This prize will offer some form of protection. . . . They keep reminding me to watch myself," he said with a smile.
Despite and perhaps precisely because of the strenuous and meaningful efforts of Dr. Abdallah and his colleagues not only to treat, but also to monitor, report and document cases of torture as a systematic attempt to degrade human dignity, workers at the Centre have often been targeted and intimidated by the Sudanese government to try and prevent them from carrying out their work.

As head of a center for the treatment, documentation and counseling of victims of torture and rape, Abdallah, from Darfur's majority Fur tribe, became a target for scrutiny by the Sudanese government. He was the first physician from his region of Jabal Marra, and Abdallah later built a network of doctors in Darfur to help document rapes and other abuses that victims were too afraid to report to local police.

Though officially appointed to represent his region in formal commissions and forums with the government, Abdallah said in an interview this week that he is not immune to harassment or the occasional reminder, delivered sometimes by the most courteous of ministers, that he actually is at the head of a list of wanted men.

Harassment of Human Rights Defenders in Sudan

Human rights defenders in Sudan are frequently detained incommunicado without trial for long periods solely because of their work in defence of human rights. Those working in Darfur have been particularly targeted.

On 13th September 2006, SOAT issued a Human Rights Alert documenting and denouncing the harassment and arbitrary detention and interrogation of human rights lawyers and advocates in Sudan. The report – published by Sudan Tribune – can be found at http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article17574

In November 2005, following a visit by the Bar Human Rights Committee (the international human rights arm of the Bar of England and Wales) and the Sudan Organization Against Torture, Sudanese human rights lawyer Mossaad Mohamed Ali was summoned by the Sudanese National Security Agency (NSA).

In May 2006, Ali and Adam Mohamed Sharief were first summoned for questioning on May 15 and then detained on May 16 by the NSA. Both men were detained for thirteen hours in a cell in the NSA offices in Nyala. Neither of the men were questioned or charged with an offence. Both men were ordered to report to the NSB offices the following day, 16 May 2006. Mr. Shareif was released and ordered to report to the NSB offices on a daily basis until 19 May 2006. Mr Ali was detained on 16 May 2006 following reporting to the NSB offices and was held incommunicado until he was released without charge on 23 May 2006.

Mossaad Mohamed Ali is the coordinator of the Amel Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in Nyala, state capital of South Darfur. Adam Mohamed Sharief is a member of the Amel Center's network of lawyers. They are well-known because of their work on behalf of victims of rape and torture, and detaining them would send a clear message that no one in Darfur who stands up for the rights of the victims is safe.

On 9 September 2006 Mohamed Badawi, human rights lawyer and coordinator of the Amel Centre for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in el Fashir was summoned to the office of the National Security in el Fashir. Mr. Badawi immediately reported to the Security Offices and was released three hours later without charge. Mr. Badawi was not interrogated but was ordered to report again to the offices the following day, 10 September 2006 at 9.15am.

Mr. Badawi reported to the National Security Offices in el Fashir at 9.15am on 10 September 2006 where he was held until 3pm. He was interrogated by Security Officers about the activities of the Amel Centre, the relationship between the Amel Centre and international organisations and the relationship between the Amel Centre and the Communist Party. He was released without charge.

In its Alert report in September 2006, SOAT noted with concern the pattern of harassment of human rights defenders that had emerged in Darfur and throughout Sudan over the past few months. The Amel centre has become a target for harassment and intimidation. At the time, Mr. Badawi was the ninth member of staff from the Amel centre to be summoned by the National Security Bureau (NSB) for interrogation since May 2006.

SOAT also called on the government of Sudan to respect its obligations under the African Commission Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, which provides that “Every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person …in particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained” (article 6); as well as the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which provides that “for the purpose of promoting and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, at the national and international levels:(a) To meet or assemble peacefully; (b) To form, join and participate in non-governmental organizations, associations or groups; (c) To communicate with non-governmental or intergovernmental organizations (article 5)”.

How much longer do we want to continue to witness and report such abuses of human rights and affront to the human dignity of individuals? Can an effective mechanism be found, or newly devised, to put an end to this?

From their health professional angle, Physicians for Human Rights are attempting to change the local culture of impunity by documenting and providing mechanisms for reporting rape. Article 149 of Sudan’s Criminal Code does not recognise rape unless there are four male witnesses. If the victim goes to a court of law, she will be punished as one who is sinful.
In June 2007, Refugees International published a report entitled "Laws without Justice: An assessment of Sudanese laws affecting survivors of rape" - to read the report, go to http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/publication/detail/10070/

Sources:

Physician Honoured For Work In Darfur
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/15/AR2007111502283.html?nav=rss_world

Sudanese human rights lawyers arrested, detained in Darfur
http://www.uusc.org/news/alert051806.html

Harassment of Human Rights Defender in al Fashirhttp://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article17574

For a first-hand account of Torture in Darfur, see http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/sudan/sudan-journal/sudan-jnl-p3.html - where Physicians for Human Rights has published a transcript of the remarks made at the Amel Centre for Training by their Director for Treatment, Dr. Mohamed Ahmed.

Amel Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture (ACTRVT)
http://130.227.3.66/usr/irct/home.nsf/unid/JREW-5MSCRK