Sudan Says US Sanctions Largest Violation of Human Rights

[sudan]

The Sudanese government reiterated its severe criticism of unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and described it as the main reason for the deterioration in the human rights situation.
Each year, Washington routinely renews economic sanctions imposed on Khartoum since 1997 over allegations of human rights abuses and support of terrorism.
Despite Khartoum’s cooperation on counterterrorism issues since 2001, the US has maintained and even stiffened the sanctions due to the new conflict which erupted in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.
At a symposium titled "Unilateral sanctions and their impact on humans in Sudan" held at Sharjah Hall in Khartoum on Saturday, the Sudanese Justice Minister Mohamed Bushara Dousa urged the United Nations Independent Expert on Human Rights Aristide Nononsi, who was present, to refrain from submitting his report to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in a political light.
Dousa urged Nononsi to build the report based on the figures and statistics prepared by experts present at the forum which laid out the adverse impact of US sanctions on vital sectors of the economy.
"If you want to succeed and come right before UNHRC which tasked you with this job, I hope that you would consider the issue of unjust sanctions imposed by the US and other countries," he said.
The minister decried what he called US chasing of international and regional institutions that deal with Sudan financially and in the service sector which sometimes resulted in sanctions for these companies.
He described institutions that bow to US pressure as “weak”.
Sudan’s justice minister called for pressing Washington and informing them that "human rights in Sudan are excellent except for what the US has imposed economic sanctions on".
He asserted that the sanctions pose the biggest violation of Sudanese citizens’ human rights and that should they be lifted human rights situation would be strengthened.
The minister said the annual UNHRC meeting in Geneva ends up being the "dialogue of the deaf" because it is based on political issues.
"We always get buried in issues of arrests, trials and prisons and leave out the key issues which affect everything, even sports," Dousa said.
An official at the Sudanese Ministry of Electricity by the name of Salah Gabu said that sanctions reduced coverage of residential sector from 22% in 2007 to only 5%.
Gabu added that between 6-8% of the population only enjoy electricity services with the main reason being economic sanctions.
"The average power outage times in the world only 1.5% while in Sudan its 33% due to its dependence on US software which cannot be obtained because of the sanctions," he said.
The national center for mine action in Sudan Amer Abdel-Sadek said the US sanctions hindered the government’s efforts to declare Sudan a mine-free zone.

 

[irosie91]

The Sudanese government reiterated its severe criticism of unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States and described it as the main reason for the deterioration in the human rights situation.
Each year, Washington routinely renews economic sanctions imposed on Khartoum since 1997 over allegations of human rights abuses and support of terrorism.
Despite Khartoum’s cooperation on counterterrorism issues since 2001, the US has maintained and even stiffened the sanctions due to the new conflict which erupted in Sudan’s western region of Darfur.
At a symposium titled "Unilateral sanctions and their impact on humans in Sudan" held at Sharjah Hall in Khartoum on Saturday, the Sudanese Justice Minister Mohamed Bushara Dousa urged the United Nations Independent Expert on Human Rights Aristide Nononsi, who was present, to refrain from submitting his report to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in a political light.
Dousa urged Nononsi to build the report based on the figures and statistics prepared by experts present at the forum which laid out the adverse impact of US sanctions on vital sectors of the economy.
"If you want to succeed and come right before UNHRC which tasked you with this job, I hope that you would consider the issue of unjust sanctions imposed by the US and other countries," he said.
The minister decried what he called US chasing of international and regional institutions that deal with Sudan financially and in the service sector which sometimes resulted in sanctions for these companies.
He described institutions that bow to US pressure as “weak”.
Sudan’s justice minister called for pressing Washington and informing them that "human rights in Sudan are excellent except for what the US has imposed economic sanctions on".
He asserted that the sanctions pose the biggest violation of Sudanese citizens’ human rights and that should they be lifted human rights situation would be strengthened.
The minister said the annual UNHRC meeting in Geneva ends up being the "dialogue of the deaf" because it is based on political issues.
"We always get buried in issues of arrests, trials and prisons and leave out the key issues which affect everything, even sports," Dousa said.
An official at the Sudanese Ministry of Electricity by the name of Salah Gabu said that sanctions reduced coverage of residential sector from 22% in 2007 to only 5%.
Gabu added that between 6-8% of the population only enjoy electricity services with the main reason being economic sanctions.
"The average power outage times in the world only 1.5% while in Sudan its 33% due to its dependence on US software which cannot be obtained because of the sanctions," he said.
The national center for mine action in Sudan Amer Abdel-Sadek said the US sanctions hindered the government’s efforts to declare Sudan a mine-free zone.

are you suggesting that economic sanctions be "outlawed"??? ----lots of people support economc sanctions as a MEANS OF EXPRESSION

 

[waltky]

UN finds horrendous human rights situation in So. Sudan...

UN cites 'horrendous' human rights situation in South Sudan
Mar 11,`16 -- A U.N. report describing sweeping crimes like children and the disabled being burned alive and fighters being allowed to rape women as payment shows South Sudan is facing "one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world," the U.N. human rights chief said Friday.

Zeid Raad al-Hussein lamented the crisis in the nearly 5-year-old country has been largely overlooked by the international community, and his office said attacks against civilians, forced disappearances, rape and other violations could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The U.N report released Friday is the work of an assessment team deployed in South Sudan between October and January and says "state actors" bear most responsibility for the crimes. It said Zeid recommends that the U.N. Security Council consider expanding sanctions already in place by imposing a "comprehensive arms embargo" on South Sudan and consider referring the matter to the International Criminal Court if other judicial avenues fail.

In scorching detail, the report, which focused on events in 2015, cited cases of parents being forced to watch their children being raped, and said investigators had received information that some armed militias affiliated with government forces "raided cattle, stole personal property, raped and abducted women and girls" as a type of payment. "The quantity of rapes and gang-rapes described in the report must only be a snapshot of the real total," Zeid said in a statement. "This is one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world, with massive use of rape as an instrument of terror and weapon of war, yet it has been more or less off the international radar."

Displaced people walk next to a razor wire fence at the United Nations base in the capital Juba, South Sudan. A U.N. report describing sweeping crimes like children and the disabled being burned alive and fighters being allowed to rape women as payment shows South Sudan is facing "one of the most horrendous human rights situations in the world," the U.N. human rights chief said​

David Marshall, the U.N. human rights officer who coordinated the assessment team, told reporters in New York that the "machinery of violence" by the government needs to be dismantled. "It was a reign of terror," he said. Also on Friday, human rights watchdog Amnesty International accused the South Sudanese government of war crimes after its troops allegedly suffocated 60 boys and men in a cargo container at a Catholic church and then dumped their bodies in an open field. Amnesty said researchers spoke to 42 witnesses to the October incident, including 23 who said they saw the men and the boys being forced into one or more shipping containers and dead bodies being removed.

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