The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its partner the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT) urge the Council to maintain and support the mandate of the Special Rapporteur.
We welcome the Special Rapporteur’s attention to the slow implementation of the peace agreement that ended the war between the North and the South and the accompanying Interim National Constitution, with its guarantees for fundamental human rights.
As noted by the Special Rapporteur, legislative reform is seriously behind schedule and laws which violate the constitution and international human rights standards are still in use. Under these laws, the authorities systematically interfere with freedom of expression and the activities of human rights defenders. With the security forces protected by immunity laws, practices like arbitrary detention and torture are also common.
In this environment, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur is a crucial way of giving a voice to Sudanese people, maintaining an active debate around human rights issues, and supporting the
Government of Sudan in respecting its human rights obligations.
At the same time Darfur remains a major area of grave concern. To this date the vast majority of the recommendations of the Group of Experts on Darfur have not been implemented. With millions of people still in need of protection no efforts should be spared to guarantee the effective implementation of the recommendations.
FIDH and SOAT call on the Human Rights Council to:
– Maintain and support the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Sudan;
– Call on the Government of Sudan to continue cooperating with the Special Rapporteur for the improvement of the human rights situation in Sudan
– Call on the Government of Sudan to continue cooperating with the international community and the Special Rapporteur to end human rights violations in Darfur
– Call on the Government of Sudan to respect its constitutional and international human rights
obligations.