Blog Archives
Belgium criticised for inviting Sudanese ‘secret agents’ to Brussels to identify migrants
The Belgian government faces widespread criticism after it invited officials from the brutal Sudanese dictatorship to Brussels to identify migrants and provide documents for their forced return to the country.
Opposition politicians and groups such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty warned the Sudanese identification team are likely to be secret police seeking political opponents and accused the government of collaboration with the regime.
Illegal migrants would be given repatriation papers, according to Theo Francken, Belgium’s asylum and migration minister, but campaigners said it was very likely that genuine refugees would be faced with their oppressors.
Mr Francken defended his invitation to inspect about 100 migrants. He said Belgium’s intelligence services had screened the three officials, who arrived in Brussels on Monday, to make sure they were not secret agents.
Mr Francken, a flamboyant Flemish nationalist is notorious for his hard-line views on immigration, added: “We are doing what many other European countries do with African countries. It is not exceptional to do this with Sudan.”
Continued Janjaweed attacks in West Darfur
On Monday 9th February 2015, a lorry transporting food and non-food items, belonging to the Darfur Regional Authority was attacked on its way to Garsila locality, South of Zalingei, near the village of Tanko. The attackers are said to be members of Janjaweed militia group headed by Kibro. The attackers looted all the goods in the lorry, killed the driver, his assistant and the supervisor accompanying the goods and burnt the lorry. Central Darfur authority sent an army convoy behind the attacker, but the contingent was ambushed, two officers and one soldier were killed and 10 injured.
The civilians in Tanko and Garsila are
very scared and fearing that these warring groups may retaliate on them.
SUDO UK calls on the Government to disband the Rapid Support Forces as well as the Janjaweed as these are consistently committing human rights abuses in Darfur. All those individuals or groups responsible for committing human rights violations must be brought to justice.
SUDO UK calls on UNAMID to take strong action in order to fulfil its mandate, including its obligation to “prevent attacks against civilians, within its capability and areas of deployment, without prejudice to the responsibility of the Government of the Sudan”, and the requirement “to investigate and hold accountable those who are responsible, and promote efforts to disarm the Janjaweed and other militias”.
From sodo uk
Sudan rights group says raided after opposition unity deal
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Security forces raided the Sudanese Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday, just weeks after jailing its former leader, the monitoring group’s leader said, in what activists fear is a widening crackdown ahead of a presidential election in April.
The government has increased pressure on political parties and civil society organisations that have expressed sympathy with armed rebels that it considers traitors.
The former head of the Observatory was arrested this month after signing a largely symbolic unity deal with opposition parties and rebels.
Sudanese authorities did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
A source from the group said the security forces confiscated computers and documents and detained a journalist who was not affiliated with the group but was attending a workshop in the building.
“The observatory has a licence from the state and operates in accordance with the law,” group head Nabil Adeb said by telephone after the raid.
He said the observatory was the only independent voluntary organisation monitoring violations of human rights in Sudan.
Sudan’s ruling party last month chose President Omar al-Bashir, wanted on charges of genocide by the International Criminal Court (ICC), as its candidate for the vote, making it almost certain that he will extend his 25-year rule.
Bashir has appeared emboldened after the ICC shelved its probe into war crimes in Darfur for lack of support at the U.N. Security Council. The charges against Bashir and others remain, although the prosecutor has said she will “hibernate investigative activities”, for the time being.
Despite a widespread boycott by major opposition parties and an intensifying insurgency in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, the government has dismissed calls to postpone the polls.
seesudan 