Sudanese4Sudanese: April 2007

April 2007
Sudan’s Children
at a Crossroads
An Urgent Need for Protection
Watchlist Mission Statement
The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict strives to end violations against
children in armed conflicts and to guarantee their rights. As a global network,
Watchlist builds partnerships among local, national and international non-governmental
organizations, enhancing mutual capacities and strengths. Working
together, we strategically collect and disseminate information on violations against
children in conflicts in order to influence key decision-makers to create and implement
programs and policies that effectively protect children.
Important Notes
Information contained in this report is current through January 5, 2007.
The names of the victims of egregious violations documented in this report
have been changed to protect the security of the victims and their families.
This report primarily reflects information from secondary sources available in
the public domain. All sources that are not confidential have been compiled at
the end of this report.
Watchlist’s March 2003 report on Sudan is available at www.watchlist.org.
In this report, any violations or attacks attributed to an armed group or militia
reflect reports made by the source cited and not by Watchlist.
Cover photo credits:
Jenny Perlman Robinson/Women’s Commission for Refugee Women & Children
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April 2007
Sudan’s Children
at a Crossroads
An Urgent Need for Protection
Table of Contents
LIST OF Ac ronyms
INDI CATORS 1
INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS 3
SUMMARY 4
CONTE XT 7
North-South Sudan Conflict 7
Darfur Conflict 8
Eastern Sudan Conflict 9
Sudan-Uganda Border: Lord’s Resistance Army 10
UNMIS 11
Humanitarian Assistance in Southern Sudan 11
Humanitarian Assistance in Darfur 12
Human Rights Defenders 12
Ongoing Violence: Killing and Maiming of Children 13
RE FUGEES AND ID Ps 14
Refugees 14
IDP Children on the Streets and in Prisons in Khartoum 15
IDPs 16
Refugee and IDP Returns to Southern Sudan 18
HEALTH 20
Health in Southern Sudan 20
Health in Darfur 21
HI V/AIDS 23
Lack of Knowledge among Children and Youth 23
Prevention and Care 24
HIV/AIDS in Southern Sudan 24
HIV/AIDS in Darfur 24
Educ ation 25
Education in Southern Sudan 25
Education in Darfur 27
Gender-based Violence 29
Gender-Based Violence in Southern Sudan 29
Gender-Based Violence in Darfur 30
Rape and Violence During Firewood Collection 32
Sexual Exploitation by Peacekeepers 33
Traff icking and Exp loitation 34
Trafficking and Exploitation in Southern Sudan 34
Trafficking and Exploitation in Darfur 35
Landmines and ER W 36
Assessment and Casualties 36
Mine Action 37
Mine Risk Education (MRE) and Survivor Assistance 37
Landmines and ERW in Southern Sudan 37
Landmines and ERW in Darfur 37
Sm all Arms 38
Small Arms in Southern Sudan 38
Small Arms Situation in Darfur 38
Arms Embargos 39
Child Soldiers 40
Child Soldiers in Southern Sudan 40
Child Soldiers in Darfur 42
UN SE CURITY COUNCIL ACTIONS 43
UNSC Resolutions on Sudan 43
UNSC Resolutions on Children and Armed Conflict 45
Implementation of Resolution 1612 46
UN Secretary-General’s Reports to the Security Council 47
URGENT RE COMMENDATIONS 48
Urgent Recommendations on Sudan in General 48
Urgent Recommendations on Southern Sudan 51
Urgent Recommendations on Darfur 53
App endix 55
Endnotes 60
SO URCES 62
Map of Su dan
Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
List of Acronyms ADRA Adventist Development and Relief Agency
AI Amnesty International
AMIS African Union Mission in Sudan
AN PPCAN African Network for the Prevention and
Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect
AR V Antiretroviral
AU African Union
CAC Children and Armed Conflict
CEA WC Committee for the Elimination of
Abduction of Women and Children
CFC Ceasefire Commission
CPA Comprehensive Peace Agreement
CPAs Child Protection Advisors
CPMT Civilian Protection Monitoring Team
CPU Child Protection Unit
DDR Disarmament, Demobilization and
Reintegration
DPA Darfur Peace Agreement
DPAA Darfur Peace and Accountability Act
ER W Explosive Remnants of War
EU European Union
FGM Female Genital Mutilation
GBV Gender-Based Violence
GoNU Government of National Unity
GoS Government of Sudan
GoSS Government of Southern Sudan
HR W Human Rights Watch
HSBA Human Security Baseline Assessment
ICC International Criminal Court
ICG International Crisis Group
ID MC Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
ID P Internally Displaced Person
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection
IGAD Intergovernmental Authority on Development
IN GO International Nongovernmental Organization
INEE Interagency Network for Education
in Emergencies
IR C International Rescue Committee
JEM Justice and Equality Movement
JRS Jesuit Refugee Service
LRA Lord’s Resistance Army
MAG Mines Advisory Group
MRE Mine Risk Education
MRM Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism
MSF Médecins Sans Frontières
Doctors Without Borders
NCCW National Council for Child Welfare
NGO Nongovernmental Organization
NMAA National Mine Action Authority
OCHA Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs
OH CHR Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights
OIOS Office for Internal Oversight Services
OMCT Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture
World Organization Against Torture
PHR Physicians for Human Rights
RALS Rapid Assessment of Learning Spaces
RI Refugees International
SA F Sudanese Armed Forces
SLA Sudan Liberation Army
SLA -AW Abdul Wahed’s Faction of the Sudan
Liberation Army
SLA /M Sudan Liberation Army/Movement
SLA -MM Minni Minawi’s Faction of the Sudan
Liberation Army
SNA P Sudan National AIDS Programme
SOAT Sudan Organisation Against Torture
SPDF Sudan People’s Defense Force
SPLA Sudan People’s Liberation Army
SPLM/A Sudan People’s Liberation
Movement/Army
SRS G Special Representative to the Secretary-General
SSD F South Sudan Defense Forces
SSI M/A Southern Sudan Independence
Movement/Army
SS UM South Sudan Unity Movement
STI Sexually Transmitted Infection
SUDO Sudan Social Development Organization
UN United Nations
UNAIDS Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS
UNES CO United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization
UNFPA United Nations Population Fund
UNH CR United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees
UNI CEF United Nations Children’s Fund
UNI FEM United Nations Development Fund for Women
UNMAO United Nations Mine Action Office
UNMIS United Nations Mission in Sudan
UNS C United Nations Security Council
USAID U.S. Agency for International Development
UXO Unexploded Ordnance
VCT Voluntary Counseling and Testing
WCRWC Women’s Commission for Refugee
Women & Children
WFP World Food Programme
WHO World Health Organization
Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
Indicators
All of Su dan Southern Su dan Darfu r
Population Estimated 36.2 million, total
(World Bank, 2005)
Estimated 7.5 million
(Towards a Baseline, 2004)
Estimated 6 million
(various)
Voting Age 17 17 (No recent elections
have been held in southern
Sudan)
17 (No recent elections have
been held in Darfur)
Gross National Income
(GNI) per Capita
US$640 (World Bank, 2005) Estimated US$90 (Towards a
Baseline, 2004)
Unavailable
Refugees and Internally
Displaced Persons (IDPs)
Estimated 343,600 Sudanese
refugees (UNHCR, October
2006). Estimated 5 million
IDPs
Unavailable Over 200,000 refugees from
Darfur in Chad (UNHCR,
2006). Estimated 1.8 million
IDPs in Darfur (IDMC,
2006)
Infant Mortality (under 1) 63/1,000, Sudan
(UNICEF, 2004)
150/1,000
(Towards a Baseline, 2004)
116/1,000 males, 96/1,000
females (WHO, 2004)
HIV/AIDS Estimated 1.6% prevalence
rate (UNAIDS, WHO and
UNICEF, end of 2005)
Estimated 2.6%
(Towards a Baseline, 2004)
Unavailable
Education 50% male and 42% female
primary school enrollment
(UNICEF, 2000–2004)
20% primary school enrollment
(Towards a Baseline,
2004)
Estimated 28% of schoolage
children (approximately
167,241) in school (UNICEF,
2005)
Gender-Based Violence
(GBV)
Conflict-related GBV,
including sexual slavery of
women and children, rape by
military forces, sexual exploitation
and forced marriage,
is known to be a widespread
problem in Sudan. FGM
and non-conflict-related
sexual violence are also problems.
Conflict-related and postconflict
incidents of GBV
have been known to occur
in the South. Prevalence information,
however, is scant.
Social stigma has likely
prevented many survivors
from seeking crucial support
and services.
Armed groups and forces
have subjected girls and
women from Darfur to
a brutal and systematic
campaign of rape and sexual
violence. Prevalence information,
however, is scant.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection
All of Su dan Southern Su dan Darfu r
Landmines and Explosive
Remnants of War (ERW)
Mines and ERW are believed
to affect 21 of 26 states in
Sudan, and UN and national
authorities estimate mines
or ERW affect up to onethird
of the country, with
the vast majority located in
the South and central Sudan.
(Landmine Monitor 2006)
There have been no recent
serious allegations of landmine
use since the signing
of the CPA; UXO remain a
problem. (Landmine Monitor
2006)
Landmine use is not indicated
in Darfur and UXO
remains a problem. (Landmine
Monitor 2006)
Small Arms One of the largest build-ups
of small arms in the world.
Young people, especially
males, are heavily armed for
military and other purposes.
Widespread presence of
unregulated small arms and
light weapons. Residents of
the South, particularly of
the Lakes State, are heavily
armed.
Heavy flow of arms from
southern Sudan and Chad
into Darfur. Government
and rebel groups are heavily
armed. UN and EU have
active arms embargos on
Darfur.
Child Soldiers All armed groups in Sudan
are known to forcibly recruit
children under age 18. Children
remain in the ranks of
the SAF and are associated
with rebel groups and government-
backed and tribal
militias. (S/2006/662)
Credible evidence that the
SSUM and SPLA continue
to recruit or use children.
Militias that have not joined
the CPA continue to recruit
in southern Sudan and
Khartoum. (S/2006/662)
An estimated 1,000 children
have been released since the
CPA.
Government-backed militias,
JEM, SLA, Chadian opposition
forces and Camel Police
recruit and use children in
Darfur. (S/2006/662)
Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
International Standards
2003 Status 2007 Status
Convention on the
Rights of the Child
Ratified (1990) Ratified (1990)
Optional Protocol on the
Involvement of Children
in Armed Conflict
Signed (2002) Ratified (2005)
Optional Protocol on the Sale of
Children, Child Prostitution and Child
Pornography
Not Signed Acceded (2004)
Other Treaties Ratified International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights; International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights; Convention on the Elimination
of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and Protocol; Rome Statute
of the International Criminal Court
(signed)
Convention on the Prevention and
Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
(acceded 2003); Mine Ban Treaty (ratified
2003)
United Nations Security Council
Resolutions on Sudan
United Nations Security Council had
not debated the situation in Sudan.
1714 (October 2006), 1713 (September
2006), 1709 (September 2006), 1706
(August 2006), 1679 (May 2006), 1672
(April 2006), 1665 (March 2006), 1663
(March 2006), 1651 (December 2005),
1627 (September 2005), 1593 (March
2005), 1591 (March 2005), 1590 (March
2005), 1588 (March 2005), 1585 (March
2005), 1574 (November 2004), 1564
(September 2004), 1556 (July 2004),
1547 (June 2004)
United Nations Security Council
Resolutions on
Children and Armed Conflict
1460 (January 2003), 1379 (November
2001), 1314 (August 2000), 1261 (August
1999)
1612 (July 2005), 1539 (April 2004)
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection
The protection and well-being of children and youth in
Sudan are at a crucial juncture. While children in the South
are enjoying increased protection and access to services, those
in Darfur and other areas of Sudan are enduring unspeakable
acts of violence and abuse.
Humanitarian agencies in Darfur operate in an extremely
volatile environment that poses significant operational
challenges and threatens the security of civilians and humanitarian
personnel. Government policies that restrict the
movement of humanitarian workers and attacks and threats
by armed forces and groups have stymied aid operations
throughout Sudan, particularly in Darfur, in the East and
around Khartoum.
Watchlist is concerned about apparent deliberate efforts
by the Government to suppress information and prevent
agencies from collecting and disseminating details on attacks
against children and their protection needs, particularly in
Darfur and the East. These efforts prevented many reliable
experts working in Sudan from contributing information to
this report, as they expressed concern about the safety of staff
and beneficiaries of programs and potential retributive attacks
or threats. As a result, some pertinent information related
to the well-being of children in Sudan was not included.
Access to information on violations against children is also
limited by chronic insecurity. As a result, some sections
of this report may detail attacks perpetrated by only a few
armed groups. This does not imply greater culpability but reflects
instead the limited access to information. Many actors
in Sudan have acknowledged that all parties to the conflict
have violated children’s rights.
In this report, Watchlist has included information on violations
against children in Sudan in each of the major categories
identified by the United Nations Security Council
(UNSC) Resolution 1612 (2005) on Children and Armed
Conflict. These violations include killing and maiming, rape
and other forms of sexual violence, abduction, denial of
humanitarian assistance, attacks on schools, and recruitment
and use of children by armed forces and groups. In addition,
various other violations, such as forced displacement and
Summary
Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
SUMM ARY
torture, also continue to be committed against children and
their families.
The following are highlights of Watchlist’s findings:
Killing and Maiming
While most areas of the South have enjoyed improved security,
extreme violence and fighting have continued in Darfur,
recently escalating since mid-2006. Armed forces and groups
operating in Darfur continue to kill and maim children and
youth, and humanitarian agencies have documented cases of
armed groups shooting, mutilating and torturing children.
Rape and Other Forms of Sexual
Violence against Children
Prevalence rates of rape and other forms of sexual violence
in Sudan are unknown and difficult to determine given fear
and stigma that surrounds reporting, retributive action taken
against women and girls who do report, customary and
statutory laws that penalize the survivor and humanitarian
agencies’ limited or total inability to provide related services
for survivors in many parts of Sudan, particularly in the East
and Darfur. However, it is widely believed that rates of sexual
violence throughout Sudan are high.
In Darfur, incidents of sexual violence are reportedly perpetrated
by all armed groups in the region and are often
extremely brutal. Sexual violence is used by Arab militias in
Darfur and Chad as a tool to subjugate and humiliate non-
Arab girls and women, and acts of sexual violence are often
accompanied by racial epithets and other degrading comments.
Denial of Access to Humanitarian Aid
While the delivery of humanitarian aid has improved in some
parts of Sudan, humanitarian agencies operating in Darfur
continue to face challenges in providing much-needed assistance
to civilians. Bureaucratic obstacles and complicated
administrative procedures imposed by the government further
impede the delivery of humanitarian goods and services,
while armed forces and groups in Darfur have repeatedly
attacked aid agencies. Attacks have included looting property,
carjacking humanitarian vehicles, stealing and/or destroying
humanitarian goods, confiscating vehicles, harassing
expatriates and national staff and levying illegal taxes on
humanitarian goods. These attacks have forced some agencies
to withdraw from some parts of Darfur or from the region
altogether, leaving hundreds of thousands without access to
life-saving support and assistance.
Attacks on Schools and Hospitals
While attacks on schools have waned in the South, southern
Sudan continues to have the lowest school enrollment
rates in the world, with an estimated 25 percent of primary
school-age children enrolled in school. Attacks on schools
in other areas of Sudan, particularly Darfur, have increased.
Schools, students and teachers in Darfur have been attacked
by various armed groups and many schools have been forced
to close, contributing to the limited education opportunities
for children in Darfur.
Reports of recent attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities
in the South are sparse. However, despite the relative
abatement of attacks, the South still lacks an adequate health
infrastructure and qualified health personnel, with only one
doctor for every 100,000 people and one primary healthcare
center for every 79,500 people. Attacks on hospitals, medical
facilities, medical staff and humanitarian agencies are frequent
in Darfur. These attacks have severely hampered access
to healthcare, and aid agencies estimate that only 40 to 50
percent of people in Darfur have access to health services.
Abductions
Armed groups operating in Sudan and in border areas have
abducted children to serve as combatants. The LRA is estimated
to have abducted over 16,000 Ugandan and Sudanese
refugee children, while refugee children in Chad have been
abducted by Chadian and Sudanese armed groups and forces.
Girls in Darfur have also been specific targets of abduction
by armed groups. Many girls in Darfur are abducted during
attacks on their villages and once abducted, may be gangraped,
often multiple times by each perpetrator. Many girls
are held in these conditions for a period of a few days and
then released, often naked, to find their own way. Some
abductions last for months or result in forced marriages.
Children Associated with Armed
Forces and Groups
Reports indicate that most armed groups in Sudan, particularly
the Janjaweed, Justice and Equality (JEM), South
Sudan Unity Movement (SSUM), Sudan Liberation Army
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection
SUMM ARY
(SLA) and Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), recruit
and use children. While the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)
continue to deny the presence of children in their units, SAF
representatives have acknowledged that there are children
in other armed groups that have recently been incorporated
into their forces. Recruitment of children has declined in
southern Sudan, although militias that were not party to the
CPA initiated recruitment drives prior to their incorporation
into the SPLA or the SAF to bolster their negotiating power.
Sudanese militias have also recruited children and other civilians
amongst refugee populations in Chad.
Other Violations
In addition to the six egregious violations identified by
the United Nations Security Council, Sudanese children
continue to face a spectrum of other violence and abuses.
These include forced displacement, forced labor and trafficking
for labor and sexual purposes. Sudanese girls have been
trafficked within and out of Sudan to serve as commercial
sexual workers while others have been trafficked to work as
domestic servants. Boys as young as four or five years old
have been trafficked to Arab Gulf countries to work as camel
jockeys and beggars. Children and young people are further
threatened by violence and insecurity due to the presence
of landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) and
the widespread availability of small arms and light weapons
throughout Sudan.
Recommendations
In this report, the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
makes urgent recommendations to the authorities of
the Government of National Unity (GoNU), the Government
of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and the Government of
the Republic of Chad; all armed groups operating in Sudan;
the UN Security Council; the United Nations Mission in
Sudan (UNMIS); the humanitarian community in Sudan;
and donors. Of primary importance, Watchlist calls on all
armed forces and groups operating in Sudan to immediately
halt violations against children. Additionally, all actors must
take immediate action to protect children and young people
in Sudan from further abuse and to find ways to assist and
support those who have suffered the consequences of decades
of armed conflict.
Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
Context
North-South Su dan Conflict 4
Sudan’s two-decade civil war, waged mostly between the
Government of Sudan in the North and the Sudan People’s
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) in the South, was
one of the world’s longest-running wars. In January 2005, the
warring parties signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement
putting an end to direct hostilities (see below: North-South
Peace Process). Experts estimate that the war caused over 2
million deaths either directly or indirectly by famine, illness
and other threatening situations, though this number has
recently been called into question. The war encompassed
North-South hostilities and various localized conflicts within
different regions. Religion, ethnic identity, colonial history,
land, food and desire for control over natural resources, particularly
oil, water and grazing land, all played a role in the
outbreak and perpetuation of the armed conflict.
Both government forces and armed opposition groups
committed massive violations against Sudanese children
and other civilians throughout the war years. Parties to the
conflict committed egregious violations against children in all
areas identified by the UN Security Council in its Resolution
1612 on Children and Armed Conflict (CAC), including killing
and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual
violence against children, denial of access to humanitarian
aid, attacks on schools and hospitals, abductions of children
and recruitment and use of child soldiers, as well as many
other violations, including torture, forced slavery, forced
displacement and others.5
North-South Peace Process
In January 2005, the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the
SPLM signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA),
putting an end to more than 20 years of war between North
and South Sudan.6 The CPA was negotiated over a three-year
period with facilitation by the Intergovernmental Authority
on Development (IGAD).7 The CPA provides for a six-year
interim period, at the end of which the people of southern
Sudan will hold a referendum on whether they wish to
remain part of a united Sudan, under the government system
established by the CPA, or if they wish to secede.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection
CO NTE XT
The CPA provided for the restructuring of the GoS, including
the adoption of an interim national constitution, the
establishment of a Government of National Unity (GoNU)
and a semi-autonomous authority in the South known as
the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS). Under the
one-country, two-system model, the North and South share
power, resources and wealth but maintain separate armies.
The president of the GoS, General Omar Hassan Ahmad
al-Bashir, became president of the GoNU while the first vice
presidency was assumed by the leader of the SPLM, Dr. John
Garang de Mabior, later replaced by Salva Kiir Mayardit8. In
June 2005, the GoNU and the National Democratic Alliance,
composed of SPLM/A and smaller northern-based parties
and armed groups, signed an additional peace agreement.
CPA also required all non-legal militias, referred to as “other
armed groups”9 in the agreement, to join either the Sudanese
Armed Forces (SAF) or the SPLA by January 9, 2006. Many
non-legal armed groups have followed this regulation. Yet,
incorporation into the SAF and the SPLA has been partial
and inadequate overall, resulting in continued instability and
insecurity in the South. In November 2006, fighting erupted
in Malakal between government forces and the SPLA resulting
in the deaths of at least 150 people, including 50 civilians,
and injuring approximately 400. This incident marked the
heaviest fighting between the SPLA and GoNU forces since
the signing of the CPA. Insecurity in the South has also led
some pastoralist communities to maintain defense forces,
such as the White Army, linked to the Lou clan of Nuer
ethnic group, in order to protect livestock.
Overall, implementation of the CPA has been extremely
slow and difficult. While the agreement ended one of Africa’s
longest-running wars, it only encompassed two parties to the
conflict, resulting in a lack of broad support throughout the
country, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG),
Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement: The Long Road Ahead,
March 2006. As the international community has shifted attention
to the dire situation in Darfur it has failed to remain
deeply engaged in the implementation of the CPA, allowing
various parties to exploit gaps in the CPA, fuel underlying
ethnic tensions and hamper efficient implementation.10
Darfu r Conflict
Though conflict has long plagued the region of Darfur, the
current conflict began in February 2003 when two rebel
movements, the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/
M) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) emerged,
calling for an end to the government’s political and socioeconomic
marginalization of Darfur.11 In 2006, the SLA/M
leadership split at the highest levels on dissension over signing
a peace accord with the GoNU (see below: Darfur Peace
Process), resulting in the formation of two separate SLA
factions of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), one led by
Minni Minawi (SLA-MM) and the other by Abdul Wahed
(SLA-AW).
Beginning as early as 2002, rebel groups launched attacks on
over 80 police stations and military posts, killing several hundred
policemen and creating a security vacuum, especially in
rural areas. In response to these assaults, the Government of
Sudan responded with disproportionate counterattacks and
launched a campaign of repression that targeted the civilian
population of Darfur. Sudanese military and paramilitary
forces began carrying out a bloody policy against these ethnic
populations, which included killings, sexual violence and
burning of villages.
As part of the government campaign to suppress the rebel
movements, the government-backed Janjaweed militia, often
in coordination with Sudanese soldiers, continues to commit
systematic human rights violations against children and other
civilians in Darfur. Government forces have used Antonov
aircraft, MiG fighter jets and helicopter gunships to bomb
villages, kill civilians and force people to flee their homes,
increasing levels of death and injuries in a more horrific and
accelerated version of what had already happened in many
parts of southern Sudan, according to Amnesty International
(AI), Sudan: Arming the Perpetrators of Grave Abuses in
Darfur, November 2004. Government aircraft are also used
in reconnaissance to support ground attacks by governmentbacked
militias.
Violations committed by government forces and allied militias
against children and other civilians have included extrajudicial
executions, unlawful killings, torture, rape and other
forms of sexual violence, abduction, destruction of property,
looting of cattle and property, destruction of means of livelihood
and forced displacement, according to AI, Sudan: Rape
as a Weapon of War, July 2004. Girls and women have specifically
been targets of abduction, sexual slavery, torture and
forced displacement. Scores of children have been separated
from their families.
By the end of 2004, nearly 2 million people from Darfur had
been uprooted from their homes due to the armed conflict.
Many fled to other parts of Darfur while others sought safety
over the border in Chad. The exact number of those who
have been killed is difficult to calculate, however estimates
range from 60,000 to 400,000, including those who have
died as a direct or indirect result of the armed conflict, according
to Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). In NovemWatchlist
on Children an d Armed Conflict
CO NTE XT
ber 2006, President al-Bashir stated, responding to a recently
released UN report on the deteriorating humanitarian
situation in Darfur, that the number of deaths had not yet
reached 9,000.
In addition to violations against children perpetrated in the
course of fighting between government forces, militia and
rebels, grave violations have also been committed in the
course of fighting between rebel groups and among rebel
factions. In an incident in September 2006, fighters loyal to
non-signatory rebel groups used mortars and heavy weaponry
to attack an SLA faction near Gereida in Southern Darfur,
killing approximately 40 people and forcing three major humanitarian
organizations to temporarily suspend operations
in the area.
Since January 2006, violence in Darfur has reached new
levels of intensity and frequency, according to the Office of
the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR). Sudanese military tactics now includes broad
aerial bombings to clear villages of civilians, followed by looting
and violence by ground troops and militia. Refugees fleeing
Northern Darfur have reported frequent aerial bombardments
by government planes and helicopter gunships, before,
during and after Janjaweed attacks. Similar reports have also
been recorded in Southern and Western Darfur. In Gereida,
Southern Darfur, well over 20 villages were attacked between
January and April 2006 by armed militia and/or government
forces, according to OHCHR. From August to September
2006, a brutal campaign likely resulting in several hundred
civilian deaths, including many children, was conducted by
militia groups12 in the Buram locality of Southern Darfur
with the knowledge and material support of the government
authorities.
Most of the widespread, systematic and grave violations perpetrated
by various armed groups against children and other
civilians, mainly of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic
groups and other agro-pastoralist groups in Darfur, have been
committed in an environment of utter impunity. Although
the UN Security Council has referred the situation in Darfur
to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC),
the GoNU has rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction and denied
ICC investigators access to Darfur. The GoNU has since established
a special national criminal court to look into grave
rights violations committed in Darfur. However, the selection
of cases to be investigated appears subjective, ignoring some
of the more serious crimes, and sentences in some cases have
not reflected the gravity of the crime committed.
Darfur Peace Process
On April 8, 2004, the GoS, SLA and JEM signed a cease-fire
agreement for the armed conflict in Darfur, which included
the establishment of an international Ceasefire Commission
(CFC) to monitor the agreement. The CFC eventually led
to the deployment of the African Union Mission in Sudan
(AMIS).13 Despite these steps, violence continued to rage in
Darfur.
On May 5, 2006, the GoNU and SLA-MM signed the
Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). SLA-AW and JEM officially
rejected the DPA, arguing that it does not provide sufficient
individual compensation for people affected by the conflict
and that it does not provide the people of Darfur with sufficient
political representation. On June 8, 2006, another
group of rebel leaders, including some formerly associated
with SLA-AW and JEM signed a Declaration of Commitment
to the DPA. The signing of the DPA sparked an
outbreak of protests by IDPs who support JEM or SLA-AW
across Darfur, revealing the widespread dissatisfaction with
the content of the DPA and the desire for greater international
intervention in Darfur.
Armed conflict and violations against children and other
civilians have continued to rage in Darfur despite the signing
of the DPA and the Declaration of Commitment to the
DPA. On June 30, 2006, members of JEM and the Sudan
Federal Democratic Alliance and the Deputy Chairman
of SLA-AW founded the National Redemption Front and
signed a declaration opposing the DPA. Abdul Wahid, the
leader of the SLA-AW faction, did not sign the declaration.
Throughout the second half of 2006, various rebel factions
merged and split and several new rebel movements were
formed. Furthermore, the command and control structures
of some movements continued to be ambiguous and
fractured. This has created complications in implementing
cease-fire and peace agreements and made negotiations with
some groups extremely difficult. The continuous shifting of
allegiances between armed groups in Darfur and subsequent
insecurity in the region has stymied the provision of basic
services for children and their families and effective implementation
of child protection programs.
Eastern Su dan Conflict 14
In eastern Sudan, various political parties and armed movements
began using violence to protest their perceived historical
marginalization by the central Sudanese government in
the mid-1990s. The two largest groups leading this movement
are the Beja Congress, representing the Beja people, and
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 10
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the Free Lions, representing the Al Rashayidah people. In
January 2005, these two groups merged to create the Eastern
Front, which is both a political party and an armed group.
The Government responded with efforts to undercut the
Eastern Front, such as using divide-and-rule policies and
creating tribal militias. Government policies in eastern Sudan
have made it extremely difficult to express grievances through
normal political channels, according to ICG, Sudan: Saving
Peace in the East, January 2006.
In March 2005, the UN worked with the Eastern Front to
achieve an agreement to suspend hostilities. However, negotiations
broke down and fighting again accelerated. By early
2006, both the government and the armed opposition had
perpetrated new, violent attacks. In one incident in January
2006, the government used artillery and aircraft to bomb the
Eastern Front headquarters near the town of Hamesh Koreb,
allegedly killing at least two children.
In June 2006, the Eastern Front and the government agreed
to a cease-fire and signed a Declaration of Principles, agreeing
to lift the state emergency in eastern Sudan, to release prisoners
of war and to refrain from conducting hostile media campaigns.
On October 15, 2006, after months of negotiations,
both sides signed a power and resource sharing agreement
confirming that representatives from eastern Sudan will be
permitted to hold positions in the central government.
Su dan-Uganda Border:
Lord’s Resistance Army
The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is a northern Ugandan
rebel group that has committed countless atrocities against
civilians in northern Uganda and southern Sudan for over
20 years. The LRA is estimated to have abducted over 16,000
Ugandan and Sudanese refugee children. Both adults and
children have been abducted as war booty and forced to become
soldiers, porters, laborers and sex slaves for the rebels.
Reports describe rebels forcing child captives to kill, cook
and eat human flesh; sew infants into the bellies of cows to
suffocate them; and commit acts of brutality against other
children and adults. Girls have been held as sex slaves and
subsequently become pregnant and contract HIV and other
sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Children who have
attempted to escape have been killed with clubs and other
weapons in front of the others to discourage future attempts.
The GoS was a longtime supporter of the LRA, while the
Government of Uganda had been known to support the
SPLM/A for many years. In 2001, under international pressure,
the GoS disavowed its support for the LRA and pledged
to seek the release of the abducted children, though ultimately
these actions did not win the release of the children.
In 2005, the LRA increased its presence in southern Sudan,
raiding Loka and Lainya on the Yei-Juba road and launching
an attack for the first time in Western Equatoria.
Northern Uganda Peace Process
In late 2004, LRA and Ugandan government officials began
peace talks, but the initiative broke down early in 2005.
Another cease-fire in April 2005 lasted only 18 days. In September
2005, the ICC, with support from Ugandan President
Yoweri Museveni, issued indictments for five senior LRA
officials, including the LRA’s chief, Joseph Kony. The indictments
were met with minimal support from the local community
in northern Uganda, which had long advocated for
an amnesty policy and traditional reconciliation mechanisms
as the quickest means to restoring peace in the North.
In December 2005, the LRA leadership and the government
once again agreed to revive the peace process, although the
LRA continued its brutal attacks on civilians. On August 26,
2006, the parties signed the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement
in Juba, southern Sudan, with facilitation by Riek
Machar, vice president of the GoSS. The agreement included
a provision for the cessation of military action by both the
Ugandan army and the LRA and other activities that could
undermine peace negotiations. It also required the LRA
rebels to assemble in two designated zones in southern Sudan
(Owiny Ki-Bul in Eastern Equatoria and Ri-Kwangba in
Western Equatoria) within three weeks of the signing of the
agreement. It required southern Sudan’s SPLA to monitor
and protect these assembly sites, and required the Ugandan
government to ensure the LRA’s safe passage to the designated
zones and to allow the LRA rebels to leave the zones
peacefully if the peace talks should fail.
The provisions of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement have
been fraught with difficulties, such as disagreements about
rescinding the ICC indictments and allegations by both sides
of staging attacks against them.
Nevertheless, a new phase of the peace talks began in September
2006 with the goals of reaching a comprehensive
solution that would cover the LRA’s participation in national
politics and institutions, the social and economic development
of northern and eastern Uganda, the resettlement of
IDPs and the demobilization of LRA rebels.
This phase of the talks has proceeded slowly, yielding limited
results due to ongoing accusations and counteraccusations
11 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
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of truce violations by both parties to the conflict. Citing
concerns about attacks and government-plotted ambushes
around assembly points in southern Sudan, the LRA withdrew
from the peace process, bringing the talks to a standstill
until December 2006. On December 17, 2006, the parties
signed an addendum to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement,
extending the cease-fire to February 28, 2007, and
obliging the LRA to assemble within one month in the two
neutral assembly points identified in the original Cessation
of Hostilities agreement. However, on January 3 and 4, 2007,
the LRA allegedly led two attacks in southern Sudan, killing
13 people. At the time of writing, no further information was
available on these attacks.
UNMIS
On March 24, 2005, the UN Security Council unanimously
adopted Resolution 1590, which established the UN’s peacekeeping
operation in Sudan, United Nations Mission in
Sudan (UNMIS), and tasked it with supporting the GoNU
and the SPLM in implementing the CPA.15 UNMIS, which
grew out of the United Nations Advanced Mission in Sudan
(UNAMIS), is also tasked with facilitating the voluntary return
of refugees and IDPs, providing demining assistance and
contributing towards international efforts to protect and promote
human rights in Sudan. While Resolution 1590 authorized
UNMIS to deploy up to 10,000 military personnel and
an appropriate civilian component as well as civilian police,
the more recent Resolution 1706, adopted in August 2006,
increased UNMIS’s potential strength to 27,300 military personnel
plus additional civilian staff. As of November 2006,
UNMIS staff included approximately 10,000 uniformed
personnel, including 8,732 troops, 611 military observers and
680 police, and more than 2,800 civilian personnel.
UNMIS military personnel are mandated to take action
under Chapter VII of the UN Charter in order to protect
civilians and UN personnel under imminent threat of physical
violence.
UNMIS is comprised of the following units: Protection of
Civilians, Civil Affairs, Gender, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights,
Military, Police, Political Affairs, Public Information, Rule of
Law and UN Volunteers. The UNMIS Human Rights Unit
monitors, documents and reports on violations and abuses
against civilians. It is comprised of approximately 80 Human
Rights Officers deployed to field offices in el-Fasher, Nyala,
Geneina and Zalingei, in Darfur; the transitional areas of
Abyei and Kadugli; and Kassala in eastern Sudan and Juba in
South Sudan.
UNMIS Child Protection Unit
UNMIS also includes a Child Protection Unit (CPU), comprised
of approximately 15 child protection advisors (CPAs)
located primarily in southern Sudan and Darfur. The CPAs
are tasked with supporting the peace processes in eastern
Sudan and Darfur and supporting the implementation of the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in the South. The
primary areas of focus for the CPU are: children in conflict
with the law; abuse and exploitation of children; abduction
and children’s rights of return; children associated with
armed forces and groups; and political, social and cultural
participation of children.
The primary activities of the CPU are to:
monitor and investigate grave violations of children’s rights;
support the Government of National Unity and the
Government of Southern Sudan to help end grave violations
of children’s rights;
ensure that UNMIS and peace process institutions extend
protection to children;
Monitor implementation of provisions of the CPA
related to children, such as DDR;
support United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and
national DDR Commissions with DDR planning; and
facilitate communication between UNMIS officials and
children in local communities.
The CPU also provides training and capacity-building for
UNMIS personnel and conducts investigations into allegations
of child recruitment and other violations. The CPU
reports information about violations against children through
UNMIS structures and to cease-fire bodies, such as the
Ceasefire Joint Monitoring Commission and the Area Joint
Monitoring Committee. It also refers cases requiring intervention
to child protection working groups, lawyers, police
and military officers.
Hum anitarian Assistance
in Southern Su dan
The pastoralist economy of southern Sudan has been decimated
by years of war, leaving virtually no infrastructure
intact in most areas. The UN reported that the region has
only 14 kilometers of paved roads, leaving many areas inaccessible
during the rainy season. The influx of returning
refugees and IDPs to impoverished areas has further strained
limited supplies of food, water and other essentials. Aid
agencies operating in the South are struggling to assist new
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SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 12
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returnees and other civilians. The weak infrastructure, limited
capacity of new government structures, insecurity, high presence
of mines, lack of adequate funding and other logistics
have posed significant challenges. Outbreaks of diseases, such
as cholera, dengue and yellow fever, have far surpassed the
capacity of local medical clinics.
Hum anitarian Assistance in Darfu r
Currently, Darfur is host to one of the largest humanitarian
operations; 92 nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and
Red Cross/Crescent Societies and 14 UN agencies maintain
a presence. As of October 2006, this included 894 international
staff and over 12,500 national staff. However, deteriorating
security, poor roads, limited staffing and funding, lack
of safe vehicles and government restrictions have prevented
aid agencies from reaching children and other vulnerable
populations in Darfur. Despite the size of the humanitarian
operation in Darfur, approximately one-third of displaced
people in Darfur are cut off from humanitarian assistance
due to violence and insecurity, according to a UNICEF
spokesperson in BBC News, “Darfur Malnutrition “Rises
Again,” April 26, 2006. In a statement released on December
15, 2006, six major NGOs operating in Darfur reported
that increasing military activity, banditry and direct violence
against aid workers had deteriorated humanitarian access in
Darfur and left more than one-third of the region inaccessible
to aid agencies. Additionally, World Food Programme
(WFP) reported that an average of 250,000 targeted people
per month had been cut off from assistance in 2006 due to
insecurity and subsequent population movements.
Aid workers have been threatened, carjacked, robbed, beaten
and killed by various armed groups. In May 2006, the UN
reported that NGO vehicles in Southern Darfur had been
found with their roofs cut off and machine guns mounted atop
for use in combat. In November 2006, the Norwegian Refugee
Council, which had led camp coordination efforts in Kalma
camp in Southern Darfur for over two years, was formally expelled
by the government as a result of continued obstruction
and harassment by local authorities. Between 2004 and 2006,
the organization’s activities had been suspended five times,
for a total of 210 days. From June 25 to 27, 2006, the GoNU
suspended all UN activities in Darfur after UNMIS allowed a
humanitarian official linked to the SLA to travel in one of its
aircraft; exceptions were granted for WFP and UNICEF.
Despite committing to a moratorium on government-imposed
restrictions on humanitarian workers in Darfur, the
GoNU has continued to impede and restrict humanitarian
assistance by harassing aid workers at airports and preventing
staff from entering Darfur by denying visas and obstructing
travel. The Government and associated militia groups have set
up real and de facto blockades of humanitarian assistance in
their attempts to isolate the SLA factions by blocking roads
and preventing essential items, such as food and fuel, from
entering certain SLA-held areas, according to OHCHR.
Attacks on humanitarian workers surged in mid-2006. In July
2006 alone, eight humanitarian workers and two government
officials of the Water and Sanitation Department were
killed in various incidents in Darfur. Those killed were staff
members of international nongovernmental organizations
(INGOs) Oxfam, CARE, Relief International and Tearfund,
as well as the local NGO Sudan Social Development Organization
(Sudo). Other attacks on humanitarian operations in
July included carjacking, armed robbery and intimidation of
humanitarian staff. In December 2006, Agence France-Presse
reported that several aid workers in Gereida were attacked in
their compounds by unidentified assailants, subjected to mock
executions, beaten and, in one instance, raped. Seventy-one
employees of humanitarian agencies were evacuated following
this attack, the single largest on humanitarian operations since
they began in 2004, according to Agence France-Presse, “Aid
workers beaten, raped,” January 5, 2006. Former UN Under-
Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland has
warned that attacks against relief workers are relentless and
threaten day-to-day operations in many areas.
Lack of funding has also hampered the provision of humanitarian
assistance to children and other civilians in Darfur. In
2006, WFP was forced to cut its food rations in Darfur due
to lack of resources (see below: Health Situation in Darfur).
Also in 2006, UNICEF warned that severe funding shortage
for its operations in Darfur including immunization programs
for children, provision of water and sanitation programs
and support for education.
Hum an Rights Defenders
NGOs, journalists and politicians who voice human rights
concerns and human rights survivors who report violations in
Khartoum, Darfur and eastern Sudan are subject to harassment,
arrest, detention and physical abuse by police or other
government officials, according to OHCHR. Local human
rights defenders who raise human rights concerns or who
cooperate with the international community are also at risk
of arrest and detention. In many cases, the Government has
confronted human rights defenders as being enemies of the
State. NGOs whose program activities focus on human rights
abuses, the rule of law, conflict resolution and peace-building
have had their meetings shut down, according to OHCHR.
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In one example, a leading Sudanese human rights group,
Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), faced accusations
and legal prosecution by the Government in apparent
attempts to silence the organization’s public reporting of human
rights violations. In another example, in Kassala, eastern
Sudan, national security officers arrested five members of
the Kassala Beja Congress between April 3 and 4, 2006, in
relation to a peaceful sit-in organized by the group in March;
the group was protesting in front of the UNMIS Kassala
office against the continued detention of their colleagues and
general harassment by government security officials, according
to OHCHR.
In 2006, the UN Secretary-General wrote in his report
on Sudan to the new UN Security Council Working
Group on Children and Armed Conflict (S/2006/662)
that the SPLA, Sudanese Armed Forces, White Army, SLA
(Minawi faction) and Popular Defense Force are responsible
for killing and maiming children in North and South
Sudan and Darfur. Examples include:
March 2006: A local leader in Gereida reported that 150
children were missing after government-allied militias attacked
villages around Gereida. As of May, at least 30 of the
missing children had been found dead in various locations
between Joughana and Gereida. (S/2006/662, para. 29e)
April 24 to May 15, 2006: Thirty-three children were killed
during fighting in Ulang and Akobo (Jonglei State) between
the White Army and the SPLA. (S/2006/662, para. 28a)
May 9, 2006: Two Popular Defense Force Soldiers
killed a 14-year-old boy in Kaas, Southern Darfur.
(S/2006/662, para. 29b)
May 9, 2006: Government security forces entered
Khamsa Dagaig camp in Western Darfur following the
eruption of protests against the DPA. They fired directly
upon houses and civilians, severely wounding a 12-yearold
girl and a pregnant woman. (OHCHR, Fourth
Periodic Report of the Office of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Human Rights on the Situation of Human
Rights in the Sudan, June 2006)
June 21, 2006: Attackers, reportedly associated with the
SAF, killed three people, including a young Dinka boy,
when they raided Gumbo village, Central Equatoria State.
(S/2006/662, para. 28c)
August 28, 2006: Hundreds of Habbania militiamen associated
with the government brutally attacked several
villages in the Buram locality of Southern Darfur. In
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Tirtish, militiamen armed with heavy weaponry stormed
the town on horses and camels and in vehicles. They shot
civilians, set fire to dwellings and shops and reportedly
threw women and children, including children as young as
three years old, into burning buildings as they attempted
to flee. (OHCHR, Fifth Periodic Report of the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the
Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan: Killing of Civilians
by Militia in Buram Locality, South Darfur, October 2006)16
October 29, 2006: Hundreds of armed men dressed in
camouflage and described by locals as Janjaweed militiamen
attacked at least eight villages and one IDP camp in the
Jebel Moon area of Western Darfur, reportedly opening fire
on civilians, rounding up livestock and plundering, burning
and damaging food stores, water supplies and other goods.
They killed 50 civilians, including 26 children—21 of whom
were under the age of 10—during the attacks, according
to OHCHR, Sixth Periodic Report of the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the
Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan: Attack on Villages
Around the Jebel Moon Area, October 2006.17
Reports of violations against children and other civilians
in eastern Sudan are sparse due to high levels of insecurity
and subsequent lack of humanitarian access. However,
some reports have emerged. In one example, on January
26, 2005, peaceful demonstrators from the Beja ethnic
community in Port Sudan presented a list of demands to
the Red Sea State Governor. On January 29, Sudanese security
forces allegedly used live ammunition against demonstrators
armed with sticks and stones, attacked houses in
nearby areas and wounded residents, including children,
by throwing grenades inside homes, according to Amnesty
International (AI), Sudan: Overview Covering Events from
January to December 2005. A similar protest in Kassala
town reportedly resulted in the beating of two students by
security forces. According to AI, investigations were set up
in both cases, but findings have never been made public.
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Ongoing Violence:
Killing and Maiming of Children
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 14
Refugees and ID Ps In August 2006, there were an estimated 5 million internally
displaced persons (IDPs) in Sudan, including 1.8 million
in Darfur, according to figures compiled by the Internal
Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).19 Approximately
2 million IDPs, mainly from southern Sudan and Darfur,
reside in and around Khartoum. As of October 2006,
there were an estimated 343,600 Sudanese refugees living
in neighboring countries, according to the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). As in most
situations of displacement, approximately 70 to 80 percent
of the Sudanese refugees and IDPs are women and children.
Responsibility for monitoring and reporting on the human
rights situation of IDPs and returnees is divided amongst
UNMIS’s Human Rights, Child Protection, and Recovery,
Return and Reintegration Units, UNHCR and UNICEF.
Refug ees
Sudanese refugees in neighboring African countries continue
to face varying levels of insecurity and hardship, dependent
largely on the country, camp or urban area of asylum. In
many instances, they continue to face violence, abuses and
other rights violations while displaced. For example, over
200,000 Sudanese live in refugee camps in western and
northern Uganda, where they have faced ongoing attacks,
raids, abductions and other abuses by the LRA and other
armed groups.
Sudanese refugees living in the Arab world face a different set
of challenges. In Syria, Sudanese refugees have faced various
logistical obstacles posed by the authorities in their attempts
to obtain papers that acknowledge their status as refugees. In
one incident in December 2005, a group of approximately
500 Sudanese refugees nominated five refugees amongst them
to represent their grievances and requests for assistance to the
UNHCR Damascus office. Fearing attack, UNHCR representatives
called the Syrian police, who used tear gas against
the refugees and made mass arrests. Four refugees sustained
serious injuries, including two pregnant women who suffered
miscarriages, according to the Sudan Human Rights Organization-
Cairo.
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REF UGEES AND ID Ps
In Egypt, Sudanese refugees have faced dire conditions and
are consistently denied their rights. In December 2005, 3,000
Sudanese refugees were forcibly and violently removed from a
temporary protest camp they had set up several months earlier
in Mohandiseen, near the Cairo UNHCR office. Nearly
4,000 Egyptian riot police used water cannons to forcibly
remove the refugees. According to IRIN News, upwards of
30 Sudanese refugees were killed, including approximately 15
children.
Sudan is host to approximately 231,700 refugees from Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Uganda and Chad, according to the U.S. Committee
for Refugees, World Refugee Survey 2006.
Refugees from Sudan in Chad
Over 200,000 refugees from Darfur have sought safety in
Chad. Since 2000, UNHCR has established 12 camps along
a 400-mile stretch of the Western Darfur border with Chad.
The camps accommodate most of the refugees who have fled
into Chad. Approximately 4,000 to 5,000 others remain
There are still no official numbers of street children in
Khartoum. However, they are believed to number in the
tens of thousands. These children, mostly IDPs from
southern Sudan, are regularly seen sleeping in markets
and working petty jobs. In addition, street children may
be forced into begging, commercial activities or domestic
labor, according to African Network for the Prevention
and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect
(ANPPCAN) and Anti-Slavery, Report of the Eastern and
Horn of Africa Conference on Human Trafficking and Forced
Labor, July 2005. These children are often from families
with absentee parents who are too poor, exhausted or
traumatized to care for their children, according to Bridge
of Hope, an organization on the outskirts of Khartoum
that cares for street children.
A dozen street boys associated with Bridge of Hope
explained that they and their peers regularly use glue as
a drug when on the streets. They explained that the glue
dissipates their pain from hunger and makes them braver
in facing beatings from the police or when attempting to
pick pockets, according to IRIN News, “Sudan: Living on
the Streets,” September 26, 2006.
Although fewer in numbers, thousands of girls also live
on the streets in and around Khartoum. These girls often
have fewer options for work than their male peers. In
many cases, these girls are forced to engage in transactional
sex in order to earn money, while others sell cigarettes,
fruits or sweets. Many of these girls also face increased
risks of sexual violence while living on the streets, according
to a 2001 multi-agency report, Children of the Sug
(meaning “market” in Arabic).
In 2004, Al Manar Volunteer Organization, a local NGO
in Sudan, reported that over 1,000 women were being
held in Omdurman Prison near Khartoum. Most had
been arrested for selling alcohol or marijuana as they had
no other means for feeding their children. Eighty percent
of the women in Omdurman prison were southern
Sudanese internally displaced women. Seventy percent of
the women were serving short prison sentences—up to
six months—however, 30 percent were serving sentences
up to 20 years. As a result, children of these inmates have
faced abandonment or have turned to the streets. Some
younger children have been permitted by the authorities
to stay with their mothers in jail.
In the case of two sisters whose mother was incarcerated,
the elder stayed with a friend while her mother was in
prison, but the younger, a 7-month-old baby remained
with her mother in a prison cell shared by 20 other women
and their children under 10 years old. According to the
Al Manar study, the facilities are not properly equipped
for the estimated 150 to 200 children under age two who
were living inside the prison. Because the majority of the
children came from IDP camps or squatter conditions, 95
percent were not vaccinated against preventable diseases
and 77 percent were malnourished at the time of the
study.
A credible source told Watchlist that a 15-year-old girl had
been arbitrarily detained in 2005 by police officers when
they arrested her mother for illegally brewing alcohol.
The girl was incarcerated in a Khartoum prison and later
reported being raped by three prison officials.
ID P Children on the Streets and
in Prisons in Khartoum
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 16
REF UGEES AND ID Ps
outside the camps, watching over livestock and attempting
to earn a living, farming or working in local markets. Many
unregistered refugees desire official registration and in some
cases have waited several months in order to obtain registration
and therefore access to assistance. While UNHCR and
various INGOs have moved into eastern Chad supporting
the refugees and administrating the camps, clean water, food
and other basic necessities have remained in short supply and
camps are generally overcrowded.
Once inside Chad, girls and women from Darfur continue
to face risks of rape and sexual assault by civilians or militia
members when collecting water, fuel or grass near the border,
according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), No Protection:
Rape and Sexual Violence Following Displacement, April 2005.
For example, 10 girls and women from Farchana refugee
camp were arrested by Chadian police while collecting
firewood and one 15-year-old girl told HRW that during her
three-day imprisonment, she was locked in a small cell along
with another girl, two women and five men from Chad who
repeatedly raped them.
Tensions are often high between the refugees and host communities,
according to the Women’s Commission for Refugee
Women and Children (WCRWC), “Don’t Forget Us”: The
Education and Gender-Based Violence Protection Needs of
Adolescent Girls from Darfur in Chad, July 2005. Girls and
women in the four camps in Chad—Iridimi, Treguine, Mille
and Breidjing—told a visiting delegation from the WCRWC
that they had been beaten and raped by local villagers when
they ventured out of the camps in search of firewood. In
other instances, villagers intimidated the girls and took the
firewood they had collected.
The refugees also continue to face attacks by the Sudanese
armed groups who have made regular incursions into eastern
Chad. During the Janjaweed attacks in Chad, children and
other civilians have faced abuses similar to those committed
by the armed groups operating in Darfur. In one case,
a 13-year-old boy told AI that he was abducted in Chad
by Janjaweed and security forces and taken to a camp near
Khartoum where he was stripped naked and flogged, according
to AI, Sudan: Death and Devastation Continue in Darfur,
June 3, 2004. In 2004, amid these incursions, UNHCR and
partners arranged an emergency relocation of some refugees
away from the insecure border towards the interior; however,
attacks continued.
In February 2006, a father told a New York Times reporter
that his two daughters, ages 13 and 16, were shot by Janjaweed
raiders, one in the chest, the other in the arm while
they were collecting firewood near Adré, New York Times,
“Refugee Crisis Grows as Darfur War Crosses a Border,” February
28, 2006. In November 2006, the village of Koloy, 20
kilometers from the border of Sudan, was attacked twice by a
large number of armed militiamen riding horses and camels
and accompanied by two vehicles, identified by inhabitants
as Janjaweed. The second attack left 17 villagers dead and
wounded 25 others; some were reportedly dragged to death
behind vehicles. The attack was so violent that nearly all of
Koloy’s 10,000 inhabitants fled north to Adré.
ID Ps
Persons displaced within Sudan generally live in inadequate
conditions and have limited access to basic resources and
services, such as food, water and adequate sanitation. The
majority of Sudanese IDPs, approximately 2 million people,
live in and around Khartoum. Approximately 270,000 of
these IDPs live in four official camps, while the remaining
IDPs are dispersed throughout the capital, living primarily in
squatter settlements around the city.
Most IDPs in and around Khartoum live in extremely poor
and insecure conditions with limited access to schools, medical
support and other basic services. In 2004, the global acute
malnutrition rate amongst children living in and around
Khartoum neared 30 percent, according to the UN, United
Nations and Partners: 2005 Work Plan for the Sudan, November
30, 2004. Many IDP children are unable to attend school
and those who do face challenges at school. In Khartoum
IDP camps, 48 percent of children are not attending school,
according to Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA), May 2006. These IDP children are often
kept out of school because their labor is critical to their
family’s survival or because schools lack the necessary staff
and materials to provide adequate education (see below:
Education).
Many IDPs in and around Khartoum continuously fear
attacks, forced relocation and threats of violence. An estimated
900,000 IDPs and urban squatters living in Khartoum
have been forcibly relocated by the Government since 1989,
according to figures compiled by IDMC. This includes approximately
250,000 who have been relocated since October
2005, when the GoNU announced its decision to resume
demolition of IDP camps and squatter areas in Khartoum.
While the Government claims it intends to allocate permanent
plots of land to IDPs, relocation methods are often
harsh and many IDPs wind up in desert areas outside Khartoum
without access to the most basic services. Humanitarian
aid workers caution that further relocations and camp
17 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
REF UGEES AND ID Ps
demolitions may create a humanitarian crisis that would
further push premature returns to southern Sudan.
Since 2005, both squatter areas and more permanent settlements
have been raided by government authorities, resulting
in death, injury and imprisonment of IDPs, according to
AI. In one example, on August 17, 2005, armed police surrounded
Shikan IDP camp, in Omdurman, Khartoum, and
emptied the camp of its residents. Five hundred families were
moved to Thawra camp while 170 families were moved to
Al-Fatah III, according to AI, Sudan: The Rights of Khartoum’s
Displaced Must Be Respected, August 23, 2005. Both Al Fatah
III and Thawra lack service to meet IDPs’ most basic needs.
Water, healthcare and educational facilities are nonexistent in
Thawra while Al Fatah III had one water pump at the time
the families were relocated there.
In May 2005, security forces entered Soba Aradi settlement,
allegedly with tear gas and live ammunition, with the intention
of relocating the occupants. In the violence that ensued,
an estimated 30 police officers and civilians, including two
children, were killed, dozens were injured and hundreds
arrested. As a result of this incident, by July 2005, 31 people,
including six children, had been convicted of related offenses;
the adults were sentenced to prison while the children were
sentenced to 20 lashes each.
In August 2006, over 12,000 IDPs were forcibly evicted from
Dar Assalaam camp in Al Jazeera State, violating an agreement
made between the community and the local government
on a proposed plan for resettlement. The camp, which
had been in existence for more than 20 years, was surrounded
by heavily armed police as bulldozers began to raze dwellings.
This incident led to several arrests, injuries and deaths,
including the death of a child.
Police and security forces frequently break up groups of IDPs
living in camps in Khartoum, questioning participants on
their discussions and sometimes arresting individuals, according
to International Rescue Committee (IRC). IDPs have
reported that government authorities consistently monitor
the camps to intimidate rather than to protect them.
Between January and February 2005, approximately 750
IDPs, including young boys and girls and elderly men and
women who had fled from Darfur to Khartoum, were sent
to a school in Mayo IDP camp in Khartoum. At the end of
February, Sudanese police raided the school, using batons
and tear gas indiscriminately, according to an account of the
incident published by Aegis Trust.
IDPs in Darfur
An estimated 1.8 million people are internally displaced
inside Darfur, according to figures compiled by IDMC.
Infectious diseases and effects of malnutrition have been the
main causes of death among displaced children in camps
in Darfur. In Abu Shouk camp in Northern Darfur near
el-Fasher, approximately 39 percent of the children were suffering
from acute malnutrition in 2004, according to IRC.
At that time IRC reported that Abu Shouk camp had some
of the best conditions for IDPs in Darfur. In the same camp,
IRC reported outbreaks of hepatitis, dysentery and measles.
The measles outbreak alone killed 23 children.
Thousands of civilians continue to be displaced, or are
displaced for a second or third time, due to attacks on IDP
camps by government forces and government-backed militia.
Between January and March 2006, 150,000 people were
newly displaced or displaced again in Darfur. For example,
in January 2006, an estimated 57,000 people were forced to
flee Mershing, South Darfur, when Janjaweed militia brutally
attacked the town and its residents, including approximately
22,000 IDPs who had been seeking safety there, according
to UNICEF. The same month, an estimated 15,000 more
people were displaced from Shearia, near Mershing, when
alleged members of the Janjaweed militia, with support from
government forces, fought rebels from the SLA. As civilians
fled into the surrounding hills in search of safety, many
children were separated from their families. According to one
aid worker in the area, approximately 10 children died under
these conditions due to lack of water, IRIN News, “Sudan:
Thousands Displaced by Recent Attacks in South Darfur,”
February 1, 2006.
The following are additional examples of attacks on IDPs:
May 25, 2005: Sudanese security forces attacked Zam Zam
IDP camp near el-Fasher in Northern Darfur, reportedly
firing indiscriminately amongst IDPs. (AI, Sudan: Overview
Covering Events from January to December 2005)
September 28, 2005: Armed Arab militiamen raided Aro
Sharow IDP camp in the northern area of Western Darfur,
resulting in the deaths of 29 people, wounding 10 others and
causing the destruction of approximately 80 shelters. (Save
the Children Sweden, Bulletin #3, 2005)
March 15, 2006: Armed forces with land cruisers and
armed militias on horses and camels, alleged to be Janjaweed,
numbering over 900, attacked and looted Tibon IDP camp
in Jebel Marra, Western Darfur, as well as three nearby villages
on the same day. They killed 26 IDPs, including three
individuals under age 18. (OMCT, Case SDN 300306.CC)
•
•
•
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 18
REF UGEES AND ID Ps
Rebel groups have also attacked IDPs. IDPs in Dabanera informed
AMIS that on June 29, 2006, soldiers from the SLAMM
attacked and looted Aradip and Martal IDP camps in
Southern Darfur, killing nine people, according to UNMIS,
United Nations Situation Report, July 2, 2006.
Without access to secondary school, skills-training programs
or other productive activities, thousands of displaced youth
sit idle in camps. With a growing sense of frustration and
little hope for the future, these young people can become a
source of violence and insecurity themselves, exploited and
recruited by others into gangs and armed groups or forming
gangs of their own. These gangs are becoming increasingly
powerful.
In some areas of Darfur, youth have formed patrol groups
with the stated purpose of providing security to IDPs due to
lack of protection by law enforcement authorities and claiming
that these authorities are, in some cases, perpetrating acts
of violence. However, reports indicate that these groups have
also abused civilians and, in the absence of a functional police
force, have increasingly assumed security sector responsibilities,
illegally imprisoning and arresting people. In one
reported case, a youth patrol beat a woman who they alleged
had fraternized with the police. In some areas, youth patrols
have split along tribal lines, leaving Fur youth to patrol predominantly
Fur areas of the camp and so on.
Refug ee and ID P Returns to
Southern Su dan
As of August 2006, between 1 million and 1.2 million IDPs,
primarily those who had remained in the South, had spontaneously
returned to their places of origin, according to UN
estimates.20 In addition, approximately 18,600 refugees from
neighboring countries had also returned to Sudan with assistance
from the UN, and approximately 73,800 had spontaneously
returned as of December 2006, according to UNHCR.
Despite an international framework to support the return
and reintegration of IDPs and refugees, and the signing of
UNHCR-supported repatriation agreements between Sudan
and several refugee host countries, returns have generally
taken place without support. IDMC explains that as a result
of this inaction, the southern states began to independently
organize IDP returns. As of April 2006, more than 300,000
returns had been assisted outside the UN system, according
to a reliable estimate compiled by IDMC. Southern Kordofan
experienced the greatest number of returnees in 2006, receiving
an estimated 175,000 returnees, according to IDMC
on the basis of UN information.
Long distances, high transportation costs, mines and flooded
roads have created enormous logistical challenges for all
agencies attempting to organize returns. In many cases, the
trip home has been treacherous and fraught with danger.
Returnees have reported encountering militia activity, armed
civilians, landmines, forced conscription of children and
limited supplies of food and water. In some cases, returnees
have been robbed, attacked, kidnapped and raped and illegally
taxed. In August 2005, the GoNU and South Sudan
Defense Forces (SSDF) militia allegedly established roadside
checkpoints to harass and tax returnees in the town of Abyei
and surrounding areas, according to the Civilian Protection
Monitoring Team (CPMT), Report of Investigation No. 102:
Assault, Illegal Taxation and Militarization of Misseriya Against
Indigenous Dinka by the Government of Sudan (GoS) in Abyei,
August 16, 2005.
Many returnees use barges to make the journey home. However,
this often entails long delays at way stations in poor
conditions and transport in barges that are primarily used for
cargo transport and have limited capacity for transporting
passengers. Once on the barges, IDPs continue to face harsh
conditions because the barges are not equipped with shelter,
toilets, water or other facilities for passengers. In some cases,
the barges also break down on the way, leaving the returnees
stranded.
For example, during a mission undertaken in March 2006,
UNHCR reported that some IDPs in Kosti had been waiting
at the way station for up to five to eight weeks. UNHCR
also reported that many IDPs in Kosti were unaware of the
long wait for barge transport and did not have the resources
to sustain their prolonged stay. Adventist Development and
Relief Agency (ADRA) reported that this estimate was not
reflective of average wait times in Kosti, which typically total
between two and four weeks. ADRA also noted that IDPs
at the way station received food rations and nonfood items
during their stay. UNHCR found the sleeping and living
arrangements to be haphazard, with no separate area for
cooking or for people with special needs. They complained
of food shortages, despite WFP rations, and running out of
money. Additionally, in the chaos of trying to secure a place
on the barge, women and children are often muscled out of
limited spots, sometimes leading to family separations. To
address protection concerns, ADRA has placed child care
helpers on barges to assist with first aid and provide support
to women and children onboard the barges.
In another case, WFP reported that a family who returned to
Northern Bahr el-Ghazal from Khartoum by barge along the
White Nile used makeshift shelter and bedding during the
multi-week journey. They shared the rusty barge with goats,
19 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
REF UGEES AND ID Ps
cargo and approximately 100 other families where food and
medical care were limited and there were only three latrines.
The Special Representative to the Secretary-General (SRSG)
on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced People has reported
that passengers, including several children, have fallen
off barges and drowned during the voyage home.
A man returning to Malakal told Refugees International (RI)
that he had been encouraged to return to his home village
so that he could participate in upcoming political processes.
However, the trip home was gruesome: three people died
of dehydration along the way and he saw several other dead
people along the roads.
After arriving home, many returnees are often shocked by
the dismal conditions and the complete lack of infrastructure
and services, including insufficient schools, health clinics,
clean water and sanitation facilities. In some instances,
IDPs who have returned to the South later move back to the
North, choosing the poor living conditions in Khartoum
over the utter lack of opportunity in the South, according
to IDMC, Slow IDP Return to South While Darfur Crisis Continues
Unabated, August 2006.
Many parents worry that children who attended school in the
North will not have education opportunities in the South,
as few schools are operational and most are already overburdened.
In fact, parents cite fears about limited access to
education as a primary reason for not returning home. Some
child returnees from the North and former garrison towns
may have difficulties attending school in the South, where
the official language of instruction is English, after having
studied in Arabic in northern schools (see below: Education).
While some UN agencies and NGOs have provided limited
humanitarian assistance to returnees, in general such support
has been insufficient as the agencies tasked with providing
support have been largely underfunded. However, the largest
hurdles are due to the general lack of capacity by the GoSS to
provide basic services and livelihood opportunities. Absorptive
capacity in both rural and urban areas of the South is
extremely limited and expected to only slightly increase in
the short-term as a result of complications related to the CPA
and funding delays. UN officials have warned that refugees
and IDPs who have returned could wind up in urban slums
in the South, unless massive efforts to provide humanitarian
assistance and livelihood opportunities are quickly implemented.
Health More than 2 million people in Sudan rely on food assistance
while 17 million lack access to safe drinking water. HIV/
AIDS is an emerging threat, and malaria, acute respiratory
infections and diarrheal diseases kill more than 100,000
children annually. The health of children in Sudan, however,
varies widely between regions. While the national under-five
mortality rate for Sudan is 90 for every 1,000 live births, the
rate in Eastern Sudan (including Gedaref, Red Sea and Blue
Nile States) ranges from 117 to 172 deaths for every 1,000
live births.
Health in Southern Su dan
Despite opportunities for improving access to healthcare afforded
by the signing of the CPA, one in every four children
in southern Sudan still dies before the age of five, according
to a UNICEF spokesperson. The South still lacks an
adequate health infrastructure and qualified health personnel,
with only one doctor for every 100,000 people and one
primary healthcare center for every 79,500 people. The World
Health Organization (WHO) reports that the infant mortality
rate in the South stands at 150 deaths for every 1,000 live
births.
WHO also reports that the main causes of mortality in the
South are infections and parasitic diseases such as malaria,
diarrhea, measles, tuberculosis and acute respiratory infections.
Sudan continues to report cases of rare diseases
including yellow fever, sleeping sickness, leprosy, leishmaniasis,
also known as Kala-Azar, and others. Southern Sudan is
host to approximately 80 percent of the world’s total cases of
guinea worm, according to WHO. Although Sudan had been
declared polio-free, the virus has gradually reappeared, with
27 cases reported in 2005. However, WHO reports that the
outbreak appears to have been curbed.
In January and February 2006, UNICEF, ICRC and other
aid agencies reported an outbreak of acute watery diarrhea
and cholera in the Central Equatoria region of southern
Sudan. The outbreak began in Yei, moved to Juba, and by
April 2006 had spread to seven out of 10 states in southern
Sudan. Between January 28 and March 28, over 9,000 cases
and 249 deaths were reported. To respond to this outbreak,
Information related to the South and Darfur is
presented in corresponding sub-sections.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 20
21 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
HE ALTH
the Federal Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Health of
the Government of Southern Sudan in conjunction with UN
agencies and NGOs, coordinated and set up cholera treatment
centers and carried out hygiene promotion activities
that included town clean-up campaigns and water chlorination
to contain the outbreak and limit the spread of the disease,
particularly amongst populations of IDPs and returnees.
In Juba, MSF-Spain set up a specialized center with support
from UNICEF at the el-Sabah Children’s Hospital and MSFHolland
set up a treatment center in Malakal. As of April
2006, the rate of fatalities due to acute watery diarrhea in
Juba had fallen below 2 percent.
Food Shortages and Malnutrition
in Southern Sudan
Communities in the South lack access to food and water.
Less than 40 percent of the population in the South has access
to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, according
to WHO, and in 2006, UN agencies forecast that impending
population returns would add further pressures on food
security in the region.
Still, some improvements in the health situation throughout
the region have been reported. In 2004, UNICEF reported
efforts to increase the number of safe water points throughout
the South and attempted to vaccinate all children in
Sudan against measles. The UN System Standing Committee
on Nutrition reported that the agricultural season in the
South had provided sufficient outputs in 2006, and the UN
forecast that much of the population would have adequate
access to food during the forthcoming dry season.
Attacks on Hospitals and Medical
Facilities in Southern Sudan
Reports of recent attacks on hospitals and medical facilities
related to the North-South conflict are sparse, a marked
improvement to the situation reported by Watchlist in 2003.
However, some armed groups continued to target these facilities.
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that, beginning
in April 2006, clashes between armed groups and direct
attacks on villages in the Upper Nile and Jonglei states had
forced patients and MSF staff to evacuate clinics in Ulang,
Wudier, Lankein, Nasir and Pieri due to threats and outbreaks
of violence. In Pieri, most of the patients in the clinic,
including 120 being treated for tuberculosis, were forced to
flee as armed groups destroyed the clinic, looting medical
equipment, drugs and food for patients.
Health in Darfu r
Children in Darfur face critical health problems, including
lack of access to life-saving medical services and care for
treatable diseases and malnutrition. In April 2006, UNICEF
reported that acute respiratory tract infections were the main
reported illness in children under five years among both
camp and village populations. Diarrhea and malaria were
reported as the second and third leading causes of illness in
children. Both camp and village populations reported that
over 45 percent of children had an illness in the two weeks
prior to a visit by UNICEF during a survey in the first few
months of 2006, UNICEF Darfur Nutrition Update, Issue 3,
March/April 2006.
The few health facilities that exist in Darfur find it difficult
to operate under the current conditions. Various estimates
indicate that only about 40 to 50 percent of people living in
Darfur have access to health services. This is in part due to
chronic insecurity, which limits the access humanitarian assistance
actors have to children and other civilians (see above:
Humanitarian Assistance and Humanitarian Workers).
Most people living in Darfur can only receive medical care by
traveling to garrison towns, which puts them at risk of being
arrested for allegedly associating, or supporting rebel factions.
To address this, some humanitarian organizations have deployed
mobile clinics and developed other innovative means
of reaching vulnerable populations. Mobile clinics provide
displaced and village populations with primary healthcare
services, prenatal and antenatal care, vaccination services,
malnutrition screening for children and other care.
Food Shortages and Malnutrition in Darfur
One of the most severe health situations facing children in
Darfur is malnutrition due to severe food shortages. Approximately
70 percent of the population remains food insecure,
with 46 percent severely food insecure, and food insecurity
has increased in Western and Southern Darfur. In 2004,
the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
estimated that approximately 2,000 people died every day
in Darfur due to effects of malnutrition and disease. In that
same year in Kalma camp, Darfur’s largest IDP camp with
a population of 75,000 people, 21 children died daily due to
the effects of malnutrition. Between January and April 2006,
UNICEF reported a 20 percent increase in severely malnourished
children, according to an agency spokesperson in BBC
News, “Darfur Malnutrition ‘Rises Again,’” April 26, 2006.
Lack of funding has also hampered provision of food rations
and other health services. In April 2006, after months of
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 22
HE ALTH
warnings, the World Food Programme (WFP) reduced food
rations in Darfur by half and cut rations in eastern Sudan
due to lack of donor funding. In May 2006, just 50 percent
of the full ration was distributed. After pledges by several
donors, the agency announced at the end of May that it was
able to increase food rations in Darfur to meet 84 percent of
energy needs. Regional insecurity also hampered the delivery
of food aid, preventing food distribution to 290,000 people
in June 2006 and 470,000 people in July 2006 in Darfur.
Attacks on Hospitals and Medical
Facilities in Darfur
Attacks on hospitals, medical facilities, medical staff and
humanitarian agencies are frequent in Darfur. These attacks
hamper access to healthcare by civilians in Darfur. For
example, the UN reported that the SLA practice of hijacking
NGO cars led to serious gaps in humanitarian assistance
during April and May 2006. As a result of the hijackings,
four NGOs were forced to suspend or scale down operations
in certain areas of Western Darfur, leading to approximately
1,000 children per month losing out on the opportunity to receive
routine vaccinations and approximately 20,000 children
under the age of five missing out on polio immunization.
In early August 2006, MSF reported the evacuation of its
medical teams in Serif Umra and Jebel Marra, as well as
the disruption of mobile clinics and limitations on referrals
of emergency cases for surgery due to insecurity and the
following attacks on its programs (MSF, Increased Insecurity
Hampers MSF Medical Assistance to the Population in Darfur,
8/3/06):
July 14, 2006: Armed men robbed an MSF compound
and stole a car in Serif Umra
July 16, 2006: An MSF ambulance was shot at on the
road between Geneina and Morney and the driver was
beaten
July 18, 2006: An MSF vehicle was stolen from a medical
facility in Shangil Tobaya
July 20, 2006: An MSF medical team was robbed and
beaten on the road between Golo and Nieriti
Additionally, in September 2006, an IRC health center, pharmacy
and guesthouse in Hashaba, Northern Darfur, were
looted and a nurse was killed during fighting.
•
•
•
•
23 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
HI V/AID S Precise information about HIV/AIDS in Sudan is lacking.
According to WHO, prevalence of HIV/AIDS remains low
but is steadily increasing. At the end of 2005, the estimated
national adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rate amongst people
between ages 15 and 49 was 1.6 percent, according to the
2006 Sudan Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDS
and Sexually Transmitted Infections, produced by the Joint
United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS),
WHO and UNICEF. The Fact Sheet also reported that
350,000 people in Sudan, including 30,000 children under
15, were living with HIV/AIDS. However, this estimate only
includes areas in the North and former garrison towns in the
South, towns formerly under the control of the GoS until the
CPA was signed.
WHO has reported that HIV prevalence rates likely vary
amongst regions. In 2005, UNAIDS and WHO reported
that HIV prevalence rates may be increasing in the North.
Eastern Sudan also risks increasing prevalence rates due to
the Government’s marginalization of this region and the
limited amount of international aid and support it receives,
according to Ockenden International, Combating HIV/AIDS
in Eastern Sudan: The Case for Preventative Action, 2005.
Lack of Knowledge among
Children and Youth
Limited information and understanding of HIV creates and
sustains high levels of vulnerability. Various reports indicate
that, even amongst high-risk populations, awareness of HIV/
AIDS and how to prevent its transmission is low.
Only an estimated one-third of young adults in Sudan between
the ages of 18 and 25 understand how HIV is transmitted,
a UNICEF spokesperson reported in 2005. Many believe
HIV can be contracted through mosquito bites. While
UNAIDS and Sudan National AIDS Programme (SNAP)
have launched initiatives to increase awareness about HIV/
AIDS, public discussion of sex is difficult and frowned upon
in many parts of Sudan.
Information related to the South and Darfur is
presented in corresponding sub-sections.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 24
HI V/AIDS
Prevention and Care
New programs to prevent the transmission of HIV and
provide care for people living with HIV/AIDS are underway.
In December 2005, SNAP, UNICEF, UNAIDS and
other partners launched a campaign focusing on the impact
of HIV/AIDS on children. According to UNICEF, the
campaign’s main purpose is to educate young people about
HIV/AIDS and how to prevent its transmission. Other recent
developments in prevention and care include the launch
of a National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control
of HIV/AIDS in Sudan 2003–2007 by the Government; a
formal appeal by the GoNU to be included in WHO’s “3 by
5” initiative to treat 3 million people living with HIV/AIDS
by 2005; the establishment of a country theme group on
HIV/AIDS by UNAIDS and other UN agencies, with the
involvement of GoNU representatives as well as international
and national NGOs; the establishment by NGOs of a Sudanese
AIDS network; and the acquisition of a new grant from
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
(the Global Fund) to the GoNU for a large-scale initiative to
fight the virus.
The National Strategic Plan 2003–2007 identifies refugees
and IDPs as vulnerable groups but falls short of explicitly
stating strategies and interventions that will target these
groups to reduce their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. The
government has, however, pledged to uphold international
conventions and regulations with regard to refugees and
asylum seekers and to work with the concerned organizations
to support HIV/AIDS interventions in this group.
HI V/AIDS in Southern Su dan
The relative isolation of some areas of southern Sudan has
largely prevented the systematic collection of HIV/AIDS-related
data. As southern Sudan is now emerging from years of
armed conflict, health experts are concerned that the region
might experience a major HIV epidemic due to limited
awareness amongst the population about the virus and its
transmission, an influx of returning refugees from countries
with higher HIV prevalence rates, an increase in cross-border
trade, illiteracy, a rudimentary health system and poverty,
combined with local cultural practices amongst some
populations such as tattooing, scarification, polygamy, female
genital mutilation (FGM) and widow inheritance.
Access to information and means of preventing the transmission
of the virus and relevant treatment remains low in the
South and varies across the region. Individuals wishing to
use condoms to prevent the transmission of the virus have
difficulty doing so as access to condoms is severely limited. In
places where condoms are available, their cost is prohibitive
for many people. Additionally, efforts to increase and expand
the use of condoms have been difficult amongst Catholic
populations of southern Sudan given the Catholic Church’s
negative view of condom use.
Southern Sudan’s first voluntary counseling and testing
(VCT) center opened in Juba in March 2004 and has since
begun providing antiretroviral (ARV) drug therapy to a
limited number of people living with HIV. WHO runs ARV
treatment centers in and around Juba, Wau and Malakal,
while NGOs have established VCT centers in other areas. In
addition, the GoSS has established an HIV/AIDS Commission,
directly under the president. However, according to the
Chairman of the Commission, “not a single penny has been
put into the budget.”
HI V/AIDS in Darfu r
To date, baseline data on HIV/AIDS has not been collected
nor has a situation analysis of HIV/AIDS in Darfur been
conducted. According to UNICEF, the disruption of family
and community life in Darfur, particularly amongst IDPs,
has caused a breakdown in social norms related to sexual
behavior. This may result in increased risk for transmission of
HIV. In 2004, AI reported that there were no adequate medical
facilities to provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS-related
medical care to the IDP population in Darfur or the refugee
population in Chad, as humanitarian organizations operating
there are overburdened and chronic insecurity limits their
access to certain populations in the region and strains their
logistical and operational capacity.
25 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
Education Access to education remains a challenge for many children
in Sudan. However, recent reports indicate that some
children are enjoying increased access to education. In 2005,
WFP reported a 71 percent increase in enrollment rates over
a 12-month period in WFP-assisted schools in Northern
Kordofan. In Kassala, eastern Sudan, where girls traditionally
have limited access to education, WFP reported a 15 percent
increase in girls’ enrollment in 2004 and a 28 percent increase
in 2005.
Enrollment rates, however, vary greatly across Sudan and in
many parts of the country, children still lack access to quality
education.
Educ ation in Southern Su dan
Southern Sudan continues to have the lowest school enrollment
rates in the world at an estimated 25 percent for children.
Additionally, an estimated 75 percent of the approximately
1.4 million children between the ages of seven and 14
in southern Sudan do not have access to education, according
to the 2005 Sudan Millennium Development Goals Interim
Unified Report. Of those children who do enroll in school,
only an estimated 2 percent complete all eight years of primary
schooling, according to Towards a Baseline: Best Estimates
of Social Indicators for Southern Sudan released in 2004.
The region continues to lack a uniform education curriculum,
particularly at the secondary school level, which creates
additional obstacles to learning and education for children
and youth. Some teachers have compiled curriculum from
neighboring countries, such as Kenya and Uganda, while
other schools administered by NGOs and religious institutions
use other teaching practices and pedagogies. For
children who change schools, this can be particularly challenging.
Girls continue to lack access to opportunities in education
as early marriage and endemic poverty continue to be major
impediments to girls’ education. The 2006 Rapid Assessment
of Learning Spaces (RALS) concluded that out of the 2,922
learning spaces assessed, girls accounted for only 34 percent
of all enrolled primary school students. In addition, only 14
percent of teachers in the South are women, which may limit
Information related to the South and Darfur is
presented in corresponding sub-sections.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 26
ED UCATIO N
female role models for girls attending school in southern
Sudan.
Due to their high level of interest in education and their
strong desire to attend school, many girls and boys seek
ways to generate income to pay school fees, rendering them
vulnerable to increased risks of exploitation and abuse.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that girls sell baked goods and
engage in relationships with local traders to gain funds, while
both boys and girls undertake agricultural or domestic work
during their school holidays.
Limited training and inconsistent application of codes of
conduct have increased risks of corruption and exploitation
by teachers. While government officials have noted that any
male teacher who impregnates a female student will be subject
to prosecution, this rarely happens and the family of the
girl usually opts to negotiate a financial settlement with the
teacher, independent of traditional and formal government
structures.
Poor Conditions in Schools in Southern Sudan
The RALS also found that in 2,922 learning spaces, only 461
have permanent classrooms and 913 conduct classes outdoors.
Thirty-one percent of learning spaces have toilets or latrines,
while 40 percent have potable water available on-site or
within 500 meters of the learning space and 16 percent are
receiving food assistance. The 2005 Sudan Millennium Development
Goals Interim Unified Report found that out of 1,426
schools surveyed in the South, less than one-third have access
to health facilities.
The average student-teacher ratio in the South is 42:1 with a
total number of 17,920 teachers working in the 2,922 learning
spaces; female teachers accounted for 14 percent. Many
teachers work as unpaid volunteers and only 6 percent have
been formally trained. Teachers in only 56 percent of learning
spaces have had access to some form of teacher training in
the recent past as years of armed conflict have extinguished
many sources of education in the South.
Many schools in southern Sudan continue to lack permanent
infrastructure, with classes held under trees or in locally constructed
facilities, and many have limited books and other
supplies.
Attacks on Schools in Southern Sudan
Few reports of attacks on schools by parties in the South have
surfaced since the signing of the CPA, a marked improvement
since the release of Watchlist’s 2003 report on Sudan.
It is unclear whether this is because attacks on schools have
ceased or because incidents have not been reported. The UN
Secretary-General documented one attack on a school by
the LRA in his August 2006 report on children and armed
conflict to the Security Council Working Group on Children
and Armed Conflict:
May 23, 2006: LRA forces attacked the Arapi Regional
Teacher Training Institute near Juba, Central Equatoria State
(S/2006/662). The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) reported that
during the attack one government soldier and several civilians
were killed while others were injured. JRS also reported that
the school was targeted because the agency was operating a
food distribution program there for students.
Challenges with Language of Instruction
The GoSS has adopted English as the primary language of
instruction in schools throughout the region. This has proved
challenging for both teachers and pupils. Some agencies
report that children who attended school in the North or in
garrison towns, where the primary language of instruction is
Arabic, now face challenges in adapting to lessons given in
English. In addition, schools in former garrison towns have
faced challenges in changing the language of instruction
to English as few teachers in these areas have had training
in English. In April 2006, out of a total of 17,000 primary
school teachers, only 5 percent were trained in the English
pattern while 21 percent were Arabic pattern trained. English
classes for teachers have been established in several towns
throughout the South and agencies anticipate that the transition
from Arabic to English will be gradual.
Early Signs of Progress in Southern Sudan
Children in some parts of southern Sudan are benefiting
from increased access to education. However, increased
enrollment rates have created new challenges. Schools in the
South with already overstretched resources face new difficulties
in resource allocation as they struggle to accommodate
refugee and IDP children who have recently returned to
southern Sudan. In Juba, enrollment rates have more than
doubled in one year at the Buluk A School in Juba, according
to UNICEF, Returning Students Crowd Schools in Southern
Sudan, July 31, 2006. As a result, administrators divided the
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27 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
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school into morning and evening sessions. Yet, even with the
new schedule, classrooms designed to accommodate 50 students
are filled with more than 200 students. Facing limited
opportunities for education in the South, some youth have
returned to Uganda and Kenya to complete their education
in refugee camps, where they perceive education services are
better.
Several new initiatives are underway to address this and other
challenges to education in the South. Most prominently,
the GoSS launched a new campaign in 2006 called “Go To
School,” which aims to enroll 1.6 million children in school
in the South by the end of 2007. Supported by UN agencies,
NGOs, local communities and various donors, this campaign
will provide over 3.8 million textbooks, teachers’ guides and
basic school supplies to schools in the South, construct over
1,500 new classrooms and school structures, and provide accelerated
teacher training for teachers and classroom facilitators.
In addition, the campaign’s public awareness initiatives
are aimed at encouraging parents to send their children,
especially their girls, to school.
To address barriers to education faced by girls, several organizations
are implementing strategies to increase girls’ access
to education. Some organizations have distributed “comfort
kits,” which include soap, underpants and six reusable
sanitary pads, to teachers and secondary schools to help their
female students attend school during menstruation.
Educ ation in Darfu r
Darfur’s few schools and education facilities face widespread
shortages of teachers, textbooks and other school supplies.
Teachers have limited access to training opportunities and
receive inadequate compensation. Families of school-age
children in rural areas of Darfur are expected to financially
support the construction of schools, salaries of teachers and
educational supplies for their children.
A WCRWC delegation spoke with several headmasters
who had lost teachers because they had gone off to other
jobs where they could earn more money, such as collecting
firewood. There are no educational opportunities or skills
training for children after grade eight in the camps.
For older children there are even fewer opportunities to attend
school as secondary schools do not exist in the camps.
For many older children, the only chance of attending
secondary school is the rare case that a child may be able to
afford transportation to the nearest town with an operating
school, as well as the regular school fees.
Still, in December 2005, UNICEF estimated that 28 percent
of school-age children, nearly half of who were girls, were in
school in Darfur. Within the three Darfur states UNICEF
reported that 48 percent of children enrolled in school in
Northern Darfur were girls, 49 percent in Western Darfur
and 42 percent in Southern Darfur. Agencies have noted that
the education services provided by the emergency relief effort
are the best in the history of Darfur, illustrative of the historical
neglect and lack of support from the Government for
education in Darfur, according to the WCRWC, INEE Minimum
Standards: Darfur Case Study, August 2006. However,
these services have been provided in areas of displacement
rather than return, affecting the probability of their longterm
impact and sustainability.
Attacks on Schools in Darfur
Schools, students and teachers in Darfur have been attacked
by various armed groups. In one case, forces from the SLAMM
faction killed 11 students and one teacher as they tried
to escape from their school in Dalil during SLA-MM’s attack
on villages around Korma town in Northern Darfur between
July 4 and 8, 2006, according to AI, Darfur Action Appeal:
Korma: Yet More Attacks on Civilians, July 2006.
In 2005, in the Shearia area of Southern Darfur, the Government
and armed groups launched attacks against the Zaghawa
community and forcibly closed schools. Other violations
included beating civilians, systematic looting, arbitrary arrests
and denial of access to water and other resources, which
eventually led nearly the entire town to flee, according to
OHCHR.
Education for Refugee Girls in Chad
Many refugee girls from Darfur who live in camps in Chad
have enrolled in school for the first times in their lives. In
Darfur, many people lived in rural areas and were subject to
marginalization by the Government, which provided little
to no services for health and education. In addition, traditional
gender norms, which uphold the notion that girls
are more suited for domestic tasks, rarely afforded them the
opportunity to attend school. Because many refugee families
lost property that would typically be maintained by female
members of the household, however, girls now have more
free time and have thus been permitted by their families to
attend school.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 28
ED UCATIO N
Early Signs of Progress in Darfur
IDP girls in Darfur have increased opportunities to attend
school, with over 125,000 girls in Darfur enrolled in school in
2005 according to UNICEF Darfur Emergency: July to August
2005 Report. The increasing enrollment rates for girls may be
attributed to the separation of displaced families from their
homes and livelihoods, which usually require labor from
girls, according to UNICEF. In addition, the UN, NGOs
and the Ministry of Education have made efforts to conduct
enrollment drives and provide school uniforms in the hopes
of boosting enrollment rates. Still, a lack of teachers and
teachers’ salaries and high school fees remain major constraints
for increasing access to education.
To address the shortage of teachers in Darfur, their limited
training opportunities and their poor compensation, UNICEF,
the Ministry of Education and NGOs launched an inservice
teacher training program in July 2005 for more than
2,400 volunteer teachers working in primary schools in IDP
camps and host communities. The training program provides
participants with a modest stipend, enabling volunteer teachers
to remain in their posts, and aims to recruit volunteer
teachers for new classrooms, reduce class sizes and increase
the knowledge and skills of the volunteer teachers.
As a result of this program and other education initiatives,
the total enrollment figures of children in Darfur have
steadily increased. In December 2004, approximately 142,330
children (65,470 girls) were enrolled in primary school. By
August 2006, close to 510,000 children (224,000 girls) were
enrolled in school. The number of volunteer teachers also increased.
In August 2005, 1,200 volunteer teachers were working
in Darfur; by 2006, this number had climbed to 2,400
volunteer teachers, enabling approximately 120,000 children
to attend school. In another positive outcome, the Ministry
of Education placed 200 volunteer teachers who participated
in the training program in 2005 and 2006 on the payroll for
the 2006–2007 school year.
29 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
Gender-Based
Violence Information on the prevalence of rape and other forms of
gender-based violence (GBV) against girls and women in Sudan
is difficult to come by. However, this lack of information
does not necessarily indicate that violence against girls and
women is not occurring or that the incidence is low. Rather,
it is likely attributed to chronic underreporting due to social
stigma and insecurity, limited access to services and a reduced
ability to collect incident-related data. In addition, criminal
law stipulates that women and girls can be prosecuted or
punished for adultery if they fail to prove that they had been
raped.22
Government-backed militias, armed opposition groups and
tribal militias throughout Sudan continue to sexually exploit,
rape and abduct children into sexual slavery, especially girls.
In addition, high levels of poverty and prohibitive school fees
have driven some girls into sexually exploitative relationships
with government soldiers who have a large presence throughout
Sudan and interact regularly with civilians.
Sudan has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world,
particularly in the north of the country where it is estimated
that close to 90 percent of the female population has undergone
some form of genital cutting. Infibulation, the most
severe form of FGM, is practiced in Sudan. Infibulation
involves the excision of the labia majora and the sealing of
the two sides through stitching or natural fusion of scar tissue
to create a very small opening, sometimes no larger than
the head of a match. Legislation in Sudan prohibits medical
practitioners from performing FGM but this ban and associated
penalties have been difficult to enforce and the practice
continues.
Gender-Based Violence in
Southern Su dan
In the South, because of the impact of conflict on livelihoods,
many families have married their girls off earlier in order
to acquire cows through dowry. Common amongst many
tribes in the South, a dowry of cows is usually paid to a girl’s
family on her wedding day. In a region where many people
live on an average of 25 cents per day, girls have increasingly
become an important source of income for many families.
Information related to the South and Darfur is
presented in corresponding sub-sections.
21
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 30
GE NDER -BASED VIOLE NCE
Gender-Based Violence in Darfu r
Rape as a Military Strategy in Darfur
Since the outset of the Darfur conflict, girls and women have
been subject to a brutal and systematic campaign of rape and
sexual violence led by the government-sponsored Janjaweed
militia and the Sudanese Army and Air Force, according to
AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War: Sexual Violence and Its
Consequences, July 2004. The Janjaweed, in collaboration
with the government forces, are perpetrating acts of rape and
other acts of sexual violence as a deliberate part of their assault
on the lives, livelihoods and land of the non-Arab people
of Darfur, according to PHR, The Use of Rape as a Weapon
of War in the Conflict in Darfur, Sudan, October 2004.
The following are several examples of specific incidents of
rape perpetrated by Janjaweed militia and/or associated government
forces:
A 14-year-old girl was raped in a market square in July
2003. The suspected Janjaweed perpetrators threatened to
shoot witnesses if they tried to intervene. Other girls were
raped in the bush on the same day. (AI, Sudan: Rape as a
Weapon of War, July 2004)
Approximately 15 women and girls were raped in different
huts in a village on February 29, 2004. The Janjaweed broke
the arms and legs of some of the survivors so that they could
not escape. (AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War, July 2004)
A girl, aged 17, was raped by six men in front of her
mother. Her brother was then tied up and thrown into a fire.
(AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War, July 2004)
One woman and a group of girls were taken away by
attackers wearing civilian clothing and khaki uniforms and
raped repeatedly over a three-day period. They were told,
“Next time we come, we will exterminate you all, we will not
even leave a child alive.” (AI, Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War,
July 2004)
Girls and women were separated, rounded up and gangraped
by militias launching attacks on the villages of Timit,
Sugu, Buza and Ardeba in the Kerenek area east of Geneina
in January 2006. (OHCHR, Third Periodic Report of the
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights on the Human Rights Situation in the Sudan, April
2006)
Other parties to the conflict have also raped and sexually
abused girls and women in Darfur, although these cases are
•
•
•
•
•
often less documented due to limited access and insecurity.
Some examples of rebel-perpetrated incidents include:
April 19, 2006: The SLA-MM faction launched an attack
on six villages in the Tawila area of Northern Darfur
as part of the ongoing struggle with the SLA-AW faction.
During the offensive, an estimated 400 attackers rode in on
trucks, camels and horseback, killing and wounding scores of
civilians, raping women and girls and displacing thousands
of people, according to the UN. IDPs who fled the attack
alleged that the SLA forces were indiscriminately killing,
raping and abducting civilians. During the attack, one IDP
alleged witnessing the forces raping and killing 15 young
women.
July 4–8, 2006: The SLA-MM faction killed, tortured,
raped and abducted civilians and looted civilian property
during attacks on the villages of Dalil, Hillat Hashab, Oste,
Umm Kitaira, Diker, Talbonj, Magdum and Jafafil around
Korma town, Northern Darfur, according to AI, Darfur Action
Appeal: Korma: Yet More Attacks on Civilians, July 2006.
Prevalence of Sexual Violence in Darfur
The prevalence of rape and other forms of sexual violence
in Darfur is difficult to determine as many survivors never
report incidents and humanitarian agencies face obstacles in
conducting baseline surveys and assessments. Many girls and
women reported being reluctant to report incidents of sexual
violence because they fear reprisals and retaliation. One 15-
year-old rape survivor, explained, “I did not want to report
to the police because they will treat me badly,” according to
the Second Periodic Report of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in
Sudan, January 27, 2006. Others may fear reporting as some
perpetrators are police officers themselves.
In many locations, GBV-related services are limited and security
is not guaranteed, presenting ethical obstacles to collecting
information on sexual violence. It is believed that many
survivors do not report cases, particularly those perpetrated
by militants, due to fear of retributive attacks, general insecurity
and limited access to confidential and compassionate
services. To sketch rough estimates of the prevalence of sexual
violence in Darfur, some agencies have used incident-related
data, though they acknowledge that this likely represents
only a portion of the actual number of survivors.
In its report, The Crushing Burden of Rape: Sexual Violence in
Darfur, March 2005, MSF reported that between October
2004 and February 2005, MSF doctors treated almost 500
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31 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
GE NDER -BASED VIOLE NCE
rape victims between the ages of 12 and 45 years in Southern
and Western Darfur. These numbers most likely represent
only a portion of the real number of victims in those areas
during that time frame. As a result of the release of this
report, the director of MSF in Sudan and another MSF staff
member were charged with spying and spreading false information
and arrested in May, which one analyst reported was
part of a larger effort by the Government of National Unity
to silence criticism by aid agencies. Though the charges were
later dropped and both aid workers released, this case highlights
the difficulties agencies face in providing assistance to
survivors of sexual violence and publishing reports on sexual
violence in Sudan.
The report also noted that out of the 297 girls and women
given post-rape treatment by MSF in Western Darfur between
2004 and 2005, two-thirds reported that they had been
raped more than once, either by one or multiple assailants.
More than half of these 297 survivors were also beaten with
sticks, whips or axes. In some cases, visibly pregnant girls
and women were raped, leading to at least one miscarriage.
In most cases documented by MSF, the perpetrators carried
guns or other weapons and wore military uniforms.
PHR has also reported similar findings on rape in Darfur in
The Use of Rape as a Weapon of War in the Conflict in Darfur,
Sudan, October 2004; in their report, PHR noted that the
Janjaweed regularly inflicted other injuries in the course of
raping girls and women by beating them, cutting them with
knives and sexually mutilating them. Janjaweed rape women
and girls vaginally and anally and rape them with foreign
objects. Rapes are extremely brutal and often include verbal
assaults with degrading racial connotations. Women and girls
reported being called “slaves,” “dirty black Nuba” and other
epithets by their attackers. To increase the trauma inflicted
upon the survivor, her family and her community, rapes are
often committed in front of others who are forced to watch,
including parents, spouses and other family and community
members. At least one reliable report received by PHR indicated
that as part of an effort to terrorize civilians en masse,
villagers had been rounded up in the center of the village and
boys and men were sodomized with sticks.
PHR also explained that rapes primarily take place in the
days leading up to a Janjaweed attack on non-Arab villages,
during full attacks on these villages and after attacks, as
women and girls flee for safety. According to various reports,
attacks on women and girls are meant to dehumanize,
demoralize and generally humiliate them while seeking to
control, terrorize and punish the non-Arab communities to
which they belong.
Since the signing of the DPA in May 2006, incidents of sexual
violence in Darfur have persisted, particularly in Northern
Darfur, where sexual violence has increased and is targeted
against females accused of supporting opposing factions of
rebel movements, according to OHCHR. Incidents of rape
have also continued in Western and Southern Darfur and
OHCHR verified at least 12 cases of rape of girls and women
in May 2006, just after the signing of the DPA.
More than 200 girls and women between the ages of 13 and
50 were sexually assaulted in and around Kalma camp in
southern Darfur during five weeks in July and August 2006,
according to IRC, Increased Sexual Assaults Signal Darfur’s
Downward Slide, August 23, 2006. According to IRC, this
marked a massive increase from the regular two to four
reported incidents of sexual assault in Kalma camp each
month. In addition to the sexual assaults, which include rape,
200 additional girls and women reported being victims of
other forms of attacks such as beating, punching and kicking.
Abduction of Girls in Darfur
for Sexual Slavery
Many girls in Darfur are abducted during attacks on their
villages and forced into sexual slavery. Once abducted, girls
may be gang-raped, often multiple times by each perpetrator,
according to PHR. Most girls and women are held in
these conditions for a period of a few days and then released,
often naked, to find their own way. Some abductions last for
months or result in forced marriages.
In one case documented by AI in Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of
War, July 2004, a 12-year-old girl was abducted by Janjaweed
militiamen on horseback who had killed her father. Following
the abduction, more than six men “used her as a wife”
for over 10 days. In another case documented by AI, a group
of girls, including some as young as eight, were abducted for
six days. During that time, five or six men took turns raping
them, one after the other, throughout each day.
Physical, Mental and Social Consequences
of Sexual Violence in Darfur
Survivors of sexual violence may endure serious physical,
mental and social consequences. In Darfur, survivors have
suffered severe physical injuries, including broken bones,
burns, vesicovaginal and/or rectovaginal fistula and other gynecological
injuries. Some survivors have been killed during
incidents of sexual violence or have died as a result of injuries
incurred during the incident. Survivors also risk contracting
sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS,
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 32
GE NDER -BASED VIOLE NCE
which can subsequently increase the likelihood of a girl or
woman encountering complications during pregnancy and
increase perinatal and under-five mortality rates.
Some survivors have become pregnant as a result of the rape,
leading to unsafe abortions with subsequent inadequate
emergency obstetric care resulting in death. Maintaining
these unwanted pregnancies may increase the stigma and ostracization
survivors face from their communities or families.
Children born as a result of rape in Darfur are not easily accepted.
They may be called names like “Janjaweed children,”
“Arabs” or “children of dogs,” according to The Effects of Con-
In addition to attacks on girls and women in villages,
militias have also targeted girls and women who have
sought safety in IDP camps in Darfur and refugee camps
in Chad. Girls and women who leave the relative protection
of the camps in search of scarce firewood, food or
water face high risks of rape, harassment and other forms
of violence by Janjaweed forces, government security and
military forces and sometimes by those tasked with the
responsibility to protect. Despite these risks, girls and
women are often left with little choice but to travel far
from their homes in search of basic resources, as there are
few other means of fuel or income available to them inside
camps, according to WCRWC’s Finding Trees in the Desert:
Firewood Collection and Alternatives in Darfur, March
2006. As the trees become scarcer every day, girls and
women venture further and further from the camps, at
times traveling six miles or more several times each week.
The following are several cases of girls who were attacked
by armed groups while collecting firewood near IDP
camps in Southern Darfur.
December 2, 2004: Janjaweed militia attacked and severely
beat six women and two girls, aged 10 and 11 years,
from Deraij camp near Nyala, while they were fetching
firewood in nearby Torkong. The militiamen also raped
two of the women and one of the girls. They were all
refused medical treatment at Nyala Hospital because they
did not have the proper Police Form 8. (OMCT, Case
SDN 091204.VAW.CC)
May 3, 2005: Five children (four girls and one boy)
were attacked by armed soldiers from Gedel Haboub
Military Camp, north of Nyala, while they were collecting
firewood outside Outash IDP camp. The officers beat all
five children and raped two girls, aged 12 and 14. (OMCT,
Case SDN 020605.VAW.CC)
September 6, 2005: Armed militia, allegedly members
of the Janjaweed, attacked a mother and daughter,
•
•
•
aged 17, who were collecting firewood outside Kalma IDP
camp in Nyala. The men beat them with the butt of their
guns and raped the 17-year-old girl. (OMCT, Case SDN
230905.VAW.CC)
Various UN agencies and NGOs have implemented strategies
to protect girls and women while collecting firewood
by establishing firewood patrols, improving fuel efficiency
and thus reducing the amount of firewood needed for
cooking and providing alternative sources of fuel. These
strategies, however, fail to take into account the girls and
women who continue to collect firewood, despite the
dangers, to earn income by selling it to purchase food and
non-food items to supplement aid rations, according to
the WCRWC.
AU Civilian Police and Ceasefire Committee soldiers
began firewood patrols around some camps in Darfur in
2005 in order to watch over the girls and women as they
collect wood. While the patrols have been beneficial, they
have also been irregular and unpredictable. This is due to
lack of clarity about the mandate of the patrols to protect
girls and women who come under attack and about the
level of involvement of Sudanese police in the patrols,
as well as general mistrust of uniformed men, according
to the WCRWC. In addition, some agencies report that
limited AU personnel and resources resulted in sporadic
patrols, increasing confusion amongst the civilian populations
about when and where patrols will be carried out.
Following the signing of the DPA, which sparked widespread
protests by IDPs throughout Darfur, AMIS ceased
its firewood escorts in Kalma camp at the request of IDPs
who objected to the presence of government officials as
part of the patrols. However, it has now resumed them,
although on a sporadic basis. In Northern Darfur, AMIS
suspended patrols in Abu Shouk, Zam Zam and El Salaam
camps as IDPs complained about the patrols’ failure
to protect them from militia attacks.
Rape And Violence Du ring Firewood Collection
33 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
GE NDER -BASED VIOLE NCE
flict on Health and Well-being of Women and Girls in Darfur,
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNICEF,
October 2005. In some instances, the mothers themselves
reject the babies, refusing to breastfeed them or giving them
names like “son of Arabs” or “son of Janjaweed.” In one focus
group led by UNFPA and UNICEF, girls reported that some
babies born of rape are not taken to the hospital if they are
ill. In another instance, girls reported knowing of cases where
infants were thrown into a valley and left to die. However,
women’s groups reported to UNFPA and UNICEF that
children born of rape are becoming more accepted as the
situation becomes more common.
Rape survivors often face a range of psychosocial consequences
and psychosomatic symptoms. Girls in Darfur
have reported that the psychosocial consequences of sexual
violence include shame, depression, stigma and social isolation,
difficulty coping and sometimes suicidal ideations and
behavior, according to the UNFPA and UNICEF study.
Limited Treatment and Access
to Justice in Darfur
Medical and psychosocial services for survivors of sexual violence
are generally limited in Darfur. A majority of families
prefer to treat survivors of sexual violence with traditional
medications, including bathing survivors in hot water or
hot tea, according to the study by UNFPA and UNICEF. In
the same study, girls reported that they did not seek medical
services at health centers because they were ashamed to
report the incident, the costs associated with treatment were
prohibitive or their demanding schedules and numerous
domestic responsibilities left them with little time to visit the
health center.
In other instances, local and state clinics turned away rape
survivors who sought out treatment and care. PHR learned
of a GoS directive that prohibited government doctors from
providing care to non-Arab Darfuris in 2004. In one case, a
rape survivor told PHR that when five girls in her community
were raped, they walked on foot approximately 50 miles to
el-Fasher, where a doctor refused to treat them, threw them
out of his office and directed them not to perpetuate rumors.
Bureaucratic procedures also pose obstacles to rape survivors
seeking justice. In June 2005, two armed men in military uniform
raped a 16-year-old girl who was traveling to Nyala with
her brother. Upon reporting the case to the local police, the
survivor was asked to first report to a government doctor for
a medical examination. Using Form 8, an official police form
used to document serious physical injuries incurred during
attack, the doctor concluded that no rape had occurred and
thus the police refused to file a report. Even in cases where a
complaint reaches a court, perpetrators are often acquitted
for the crime or, if found guilty, are given sentences not commensurate
with the nature of the crime.
Until October 2005, the law denied girls and women access
to post-rape medical assistance unless they agreed to
file charges with the police and submit Police Form 8. In
response to international pressure, the GoNU amended this
law in 2005 and also publicly acknowledged for the first time
that girls and women have been raped in Darfur. The new
GoNU Rules of Application stated that health care providers
shall face no negative repercussions or harassment for
providing treatment to victims of sexual violence, and many
survivors can now receive treatment without having to file a
complaint with the police. Despite the change in law, most
women, Sudanese police and African Union (AU) Civilian
Police remain unaware of the change, perpetuating obstacles
for girls and women seeking post-rape care.
While the Government has formally acknowledged the problem
of GBV in Darfur and created three State Committees to
address it and an Action Plan for the Elimination of Violence
Against Women in Darfur, the State Committees have
failed to fulfill their mandates and the situation for girls and
women in Darfur has not improved, according to OHCHR.
Sexu al Exp loitation
by Peacekeepers
In April 2006, a British news agency that had interviewed
women at Gereida in Southern Darfur reported allegations
that AU peacekeepers in Darfur had paid women and girls as
young as 11 years old for sex and that, as a result, some had
become pregnant, BBC News, “AU’s Darfur Troops in Abuse
Probe,” April 4, 2006. The AU issued a statement explaining
that a committee had been set up to investigate the allegations.
In January 2007, a British newspaper reported that UN civilian
and peacekeeping staff had allegedly sexually exploited
and abused 20 children and women in southern Sudan. In response
to these allegations, United Nations staff in New York
reported that they would investigate these allegations and
take action. Throughout 2006, four peacekeepers were repatriated
as a result of findings from an investigation conducted
by the UN’s Office for Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 34
Trafficking and
Exploitation Sudan remains a destination and country of origin for international
trafficking in women and children, according to
the Protection Project. This phenomenon is exacerbated by
decades of armed conflict, impunity, flawed or nonexistent
birth registration programs that render children stateless and
widespread poverty. Boys and girls are trafficked to Khartoum,
other African countries, the Middle East and Europe
while some children have been trafficked into Sudan from
Uganda.
Some Sudanese girls have been trafficked to Syria to serve
as commercial sexual workers while others have also been
trafficked within Sudan to work as domestic servants or commercial
sex workers in small brothels in IDP camps, according
to the U.S. State Department.
Boys as young as four or five years old are trafficked to the
Arab Gulf countries, such as United Arab Emirates and
Qatar, to work as camel jockeys and beggars. These boys may
also suffer physical and sexual abuse. The Government of National
Unity’s National Council of Child Welfare (NCCW)
has worked with a Qatari NGO to help repatriate over 200
Sudanese child camel jockeys. In March 2006, the NCCW,
together with UNICEF, established a plan of action to repatriate
additional child camel jockeys.
Traff icking and Exp loitation
in Southern Su dan
Internal abduction and forced slavery of women and children
have decreased since the signing of the CPA, according to
Refugees International. However, detailed information or
statistics about the status of abductions since the signing of
the CPA are extremely limited. The UN Secretary-General’s
August 2006 report on children in Sudan to the Security
Council Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict
stated that several cases were currently being monitored by
the UN police in southern Sudan based on complaints made
by girls. Between May and June 2006, the Secretary-General
confirmed reports of abductions of children in Jonglei State,
although exact numbers were difficult to ascertain due to
Information related to the South and Darfur is access restrictions.
presented in corresponding sub-sections.
35 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
TR AFFIC KING AND EXPLOIT ATIO N
Between March and April 2004, the Committee for
the Elimination of Abduction of Women and Children
(CEAWC) was credited with helping to secure the release of
an estimated 700 women and children abductees and helping
them return to SPLM-controlled areas of northern Bahr el-
Ghazal. However, several agencies have raised concerns that
some of the CEAWC-facilitated reunions included forced
repatriations and some women and children may not have
actually been abducted in the first place. In addition, the
relocation of some women and children separated them from
their families while others reported being forced to return
and having nowhere to go upon their arrival. Returnees were
provided with insufficient resources, including food and
non-food items, and family reunification and community
reintegration programs were inadequately prepared to receive
them. In 2006, the CEAWC was stalled for several months
due to lack of funds.
Separated Children from Southern Sudan
There are many reasons why and how southern Sudanese
children have become separated from their families, according
to research undertaken by UNICEF, Save the Children
UK and Save the Children Sweden in 2005. Evidence suggests
that large numbers of children have been separated
from their families due to attacks on villages and towns,
recruitment into armed groups and other acts of war and
traditional labor migration. During raids by northerners and
intertribal raiding in the South, children have been abducted
and separated from their families. In the past year, a UNICEF-
sponsored family tracing and reunification network of
15 child protection partners has reunited over 800 separated
children.
In some cases, children who are separated from their primary
caregivers have been absorbed into new families, where they
are seen as economic assets. These children may be subject to
abuse, including sexual violence, discrimination and neglect,
according to interviews conducted by UNICEF and Save
the Children. Some children are denied food or other basic
necessities as biological children in their new families are
often given preferential treatment. Girls often face the worst
conditions, especially in northern Bahr el-Ghazal and western
Upper Nile, where they may be trapped in exploitative
conditions and subjected to sexual abuse and forced and/or
early marriage.
Traff icking and
Exp loitation in Darfu r
According to the UN Secretary-General, Janjaweed militias,
SLA-MM and Sudanese Armed Forces are all responsible
for ongoing abductions of children in Darfur (S/2006/662).
Some girls are abducted for short periods of time and face
ongoing sexual violence during captivity (see above: Gender-
Based Violence in Darfur). Boys and girls are abducted
and forced to transport goods looted from villages during
attacks. Some young boys have allegedly been abducted while
trying to protect their cattle, camels and other livestock from
looting by armed groups, according to HRW, Sudan: “If We
Return, We Will Be Killed”: Rebel Abuses, November 2004.
Abductions are also linked to forced recruitment of children
(see below: Child Soldiers).
Between May and June 2006, the UN verified and documented
10 cases of abduction of children in Darfur. These
were reported by the Secretary-General in his August 2006
report to the Security Council Working Group on Children
and Armed Conflict (S/2006/662); the following are several
examples from the report:
May 1, 2006: A baby was among 15 people abducted during
a Janjaweed attack on Dito village in southern Darfur
(para. 25a)
May 26, 2006: Six armed men in SAF uniforms abducted
a 13-year-old boy from Wadi Saleh, Western Darfur, while he
was collecting wood with his father (para. 25e)
June 13, 2006: Two men with a suspected affiliation with
pro-government militias abducted and beat a teenage girl and
three women near Hara village near Kabkabiya, Northern
Darfur (para. 25f )
•
•
•
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 36
Landmines
and ER W Mines and/or ERW are estimated to affect 21 out of 26 states
in Sudan. Reliable information, however, is available only
for 10 of those states. Mines and ERW are known to affect
the following states in addition to the Nuba Mountains area:
Western Equatoria, Southern Kordofan, Upper Nile, Kassala,
Red Sea, northern Bahr el-Ghazal, Blue Nile, Bahr al-Jebel,
Eastern Equatoria and Jonglei. In addition, the country’s
borders with Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Eritrea, Ethiopia, Libya and Uganda are considered mine-affected.
Mines are generally felt to be less of a threat than unexploded
ordnance (UXO) or abandoned explosive ordnance. Since the
signing of the CPA, which prohibits the use of landmines,
there have been no serious allegations of new use of antipersonnel
mines by the GoNU, SPLA or other forces anywhere
in Sudan, according to the International Campaign to Ban
Landmines’ Landmine Monitor 2005 and 2006. Even so, the
GoNU has not taken necessary domestic legal measures to
implement prohibitions on anti-personnel mines, as per its
obligations under the Mine Ban Treaty, which entered into
force in Sudan on April 1, 2004.
Assessment and Casualties
Sudan continues to lack a comprehensive system for surveying
the extent of landmine contamination, and the sheer
size of the country continues to hamper collection of reliable
information. As of March 2006, only 14 out of the 40 survey
teams required by the 2005 mine action program were operational.
By the end of April 2006, 1,023 dangerous areas were
recorded by the Sudan mine action program and over 11,000
kilometers of major supply roads were suspected to be mined.
Access to civilian populations by humanitarian aid groups is
restricted by the presence of mines on important access roads
in both the North and South. In 2005, WFP estimated that
the presence of landmines and UXO impacts food security
for nearly 2 million people, as reported by Landmine Monitor
2006.
According to Landmine Monitor 2006, there were at least
79 new mines/UXO casualties in Sudan in 2005; 16 people
23
Information related to the South and Darfur is
presented in corresponding sub-sections.
37 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
LANDMI NES AND ER W
were killed and 63 injured. The vast majority of casualties
were civilians and included at least 20 children; only one
was military. Unexploded ordinance caused 20 casualties,
antipersonnel mines caused eight, and two were caused by
anti-vehicle mines; the cause of 47 casualties is unknown.
This represented a slight increase from 71 casualties reported
in 2004, reflecting better access and improved data collection.
In other parts of the country, such as the East, casualty
data still remains vastly underreported and incomplete.
Mine Ac tion
The National Mine Action Authority (NMAA) of Sudan was
officially launched on March 7, 2006. The NMAA is composed
of a National Mine Action Committee, a General Secretariat,
a National Mine Action Center, based in Khartoum,
and a South Sudan Regional Mine Action Center, which will
be based in Juba. An integral component of UNMIS, the
UN mine action program is coordinated by the UN Mine
Action Office (UNMAO), the institution charged with coordinating
UN mined action activities, providing mine action
support to peacekeeping operations and building mine action
capacities.
According to UNMAO, in 2005 demining organizations
cleared 1.37 square kilometers of mined areas and a commercial
operator verified 390 kilometers of road. As a result
of this survey, one NGO handed over an additional 246
kilometers of “low-risk” road, a significant increase from
2004, when only one-half square kilometer of mined area was
cleared and 106 kilometers of road were verified.
Mine Risk Educ ation (MRE ) and
Su rvivor Assistance
UNICEF leads MRE in Sudan, within the framework of
UNMAO, and provides program coordination, technical and
financial support and training to partners throughout Sudan.
Between January and September 2006, 377,000 individuals
deemed at risk of encountering a landmine or ERW received
MRE. Additionally, UNICEF has worked with the Ministry
of Education at the federal and state levels to integrate MRE
into the curriculum in affected areas.
General assistance from government agencies and NGOs
for landmine survivors is provided irregularly and is insufficient
to adequately address the magnitude of the problem,
according to Landmine Monitor 2006. Additionally, access to
rehabilitation services is often restricted by long distances,
poor roads, security concerns and poverty. Health centers
and hospitals generally have few staff trained in psychosocial
support, and teachers are not trained to deal with children
with disabilities. However, several NGOs have developed
programs to provide psychosocial and rehabilitation support
for child and other survivors.
Landmines and ER W in
Southern Su dan
No recent reports of landmine use in the South are evident,
yet civilians living near contaminated areas continue to
face risks. Significant amounts of ERW especially threaten
children who may unknowingly tamper with them. For
example, in one incident a 10-year-old girl named Nyami
was injured by a landmine in February 2006 while she was
playing outdoors. Apparently, she picked up and moved what
she thought was a stone on the ground. When she stood on
it, it exploded and blasted off her left foot. Medical staff at
Malakal Hospital in the Upper Nile region told a UNHCR
representative that she was immediately brought to the hospital,
but was in complete shock when she arrived. Surgeons
amputated her left leg. A doctor explained that such injuries
are very common because children play with things that they
find. He said that over a period of two weeks, the hospital
had received three wounded children with similar injuries.
Significant new problems with landmines, UXO and ERW
are expected, as large numbers of displaced people return to
their home areas as a result of the CPA and reconstruction
initiatives. Returnees are expected to face problems both
while en route home and as they resettle into contaminated
communities.
Landmines and ER W in Darfu r
While landmines are not widely used in Darfur, two incidents
were reported in 2004. In February 2004, a mine blast
injured a staff member of Save the Children UK when his
vehicle struck the device on a road in Northern Darfur. In
addition, on October 10, 2004, another Save the Children
vehicle struck an anti-tank landmine in the Um Barro area
of Northern Darfur, killing two staff members who were carrying
out programs in the area, which had been completely
inaccessible just three weeks prior to the incident. The region
is also affected by UXO. In April 2005, two children were
killed in Western Darfur when UXO detonated.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 38
Small Arms Very little new information is available about the proliferation
and use of small arms and light weapons in Sudan.
Small Arms Survey 2005 reported that in Sudan an estimated
25 percent of the population possessed small arms and light
weapons and an estimated 50 percent of the population had
knowledge on how to use them.
During unofficial regional intergovernmental meetings held
between 2002 and 2004, representatives of the GoS expressed
concern that small arms were becoming a threat to public
safety and a factor in regional instability. In September
2006, Small Arms Survey published its first Human Security
Baseline Assessment (HSBA), Sudan Issue Brief, Number 1,
September 2006. This assessment reiterates that the widespread
presence of unregulated small arms and light weapons,
coupled with a pervasive climate of impunity, is one
of the biggest contributors to insecurity and high levels of
armed violence in southern Sudan. The assessment also notes
that the most commonly held arms include the AK-47 and
other automatic assault rifles, revolvers, pistols, shot guns
and rocket-propelled grenade launchers. HSBA reported
that many civilians hold on to weapons for security and the
protection of property in the absence of legitimate public
security arrangements.
Sm all Arms in Southern Su dan
In June 2006, the nongovernmental humanitarian organization,
Mines Advisory Group (MAG), reported on its new
initiative to remove and destroy unsecured and abandoned
weapons caches along the border of southern Sudan. Initial
findings indicated over 100 stockpiles of small arms and light
weapons, many found in useable condition, in the areas of
Yei, Juba, Morobo and Kajo Keji.
Sm all Arms Situation in Darfu r
The chief supplier of weapons for the Janjaweed is the Government
of National Unity, which often uses government
aircraft to transfer weapons, according to AI. Small arms have
also been smuggled into Darfur from southern Sudan, Chad,
Libya and the Central African Republic. Some small arms
Information related to the South and Darfur is
presented in corresponding sub-sections.
39 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
SM ALL ARMS
have also been supplied by foreign governments and private
foreign firms in various countries, including China, France,
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, Switzerland, the United Kingdom
and others, according to AI.24
Janjaweed in Darfur are commonly armed with AK-47s, G3
assault rifles, Belgian FAL rifles and other automatic assault
rifles; rocket-propelled grenade launchers; bazookas; and
various weapons mounted on jeeps, such as dushkas, according
to AI, Sudan: Arming the Perpetrators of Grave Abuses
in Darfur, November 16, 2004. These weapons are used to
commit grave violations against children and other civilians
during Janjaweed attacks on villages, IDP camps and other
locations.
The SLA and JEM rebel groups in Darfur have denied
receiving arms from other countries or sources and claim to
get their weapons from attacks on government forces, police
stations and army posts, according to AI.
Arms Em bargos
European Union (EU)
The EU imposed an arms embargo on Sudan (Common Position
94/165/CFSP) in March 1994, which banned European
countries from exporting to Sudan weapons and ammunition
designed to kill, weapons platforms and ancillary equipment,
including spare parts. The embargo also forbade European
countries from repairing or maintaining arms and transferring
military technology. On January 9, 2004, reflecting on
the situation in Darfur, the EU reaffirmed and strengthened
the embargo by specifying its application to the sale, transfer
or export of arms-related material of all types. None of the
EU’s arms embargos entail monitoring mechanisms.
United Nations Security Council
In July 2004, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution
1556, calling on all states to prevent the sale or supply of arms
and related materials to all members of the Janjaweed, other
militias and armed opposition groups and individual leaders
or combatants operating in Northern, Southern and Western
Darfur. The Resolution did not provide guidance for effective
implementation of the embargo nor did it establish a
monitoring or investigation mechanism.
In March 2005, through Resolution 1591, the UN Security
Council expanded its arms embargo to include the GoNU,
primarily for its support of the Janjaweed, as well as non-state
armed groups. In addition, the Security Council authorized
the creation of a sanctions monitoring committee supported
by a Panel of Experts to review compliance and impose targeted
sanctions on specific arms dealers as appropriate.
Since then, the Panel of Experts has submitted three reports
to the Security Council.25 In April 2006, the Security Council,
acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United
Nations, adopted Resolution 1672, which imposed sanctions,
including a travel ban and an assets freeze against several individuals
deemed to be impeding peace efforts in Darfur and
the region, violating international law and leading offensive
military overflights and other atrocities (see below: UNSC
Resolution 1672).
In October 2006, the Panel cited credible reports that indicate
that weapons are being delivered from Chad into Darfur
and that the GoNU continues to provide weapons and
vehicles to the Janjaweed. (S/2006/795) It also reported that
the Janjaweed appear to have upgraded their weapons and
transport from horses, camels and AK-47s to land cruisers,
pickup trucks and rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
United States
In 1997, the US banned defense exports and dual-use goods
to Sudan. In October 2006, the US expanded these measures
when President George W. Bush signed the Darfur Peace and
Accountability Act of 2006 (DPAA), barring transactions
of U.S. persons with the GoNU and Sudan’s petroleum and
petrochemical industry. The DPAA targets individuals who
have orchestrated or committed acts of genocide, war crimes
or crimes against humanity in Sudan and Darfur. It forbids
transactions between the US and Sudan in relation to its petroleum
and petrochemical industries. However, the order exempts
southern Sudan, Southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains
State, Blue Nile, Abyei, Darfur and other marginalized areas
around Khartoum, provided that the property or transactions
are not connected to the GoNU.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 40
Child Soldiers In his August 2006 report on children and armed conflict
in Sudan, the UN Secretary-General noted that credible
evidence exists that all of the following groups continue to
recruit or use children: the Janjaweed, based in Darfur; JEM;
South Sudan Unity Movement (SSUM), based in Khartoum
and southern Sudan; SLA; and SPLA.
The report also documented several specific incidents of child
recruitment and use by various groups, including incidents
in the North. In one incident in May 2006, 14 young soldiers
from the SAF unit of Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Thiel in
Abyei were interviewed by UN staff. Reports of the Eastern
Front recruiting children were reported in 2005, though no new
cases of recruitment have been reported since then, according
to the Secretary-General. This may be due to restricted access.
SAF
The Sudanese Armed Forces regularly deny the presence of
children in their units, according to the Secretary-General.
Yet, SAF representatives have acknowledged that there are
children in other armed groups that have recently been incorporated
into their forces. The SAF is comprised of approximately
19,000 soldiers; the Secretary-General estimates that a
significant number of these are children under age 18.
Child Soldiers in Southern Su dan
SPLA
The SPLA has continued to acknowledge the presence of
children within its armed forces and has made high-level
commitments for several years to end its recruitment and use
of children. However, some armed groups that have joined
the SPLA since the signing of the CPA, such as the SSUM
and other groups from the SSDF, have continued to recruit
children, even after their incorporation, according to credible
reports cited by the Secretary-General. In April 2006, the
SPLA Chief Commander and First Vice President of Sudan,
Salva Kiir Mayardit, wrote to these other armed groups to
demand that they cease their recruitment Information related to the South and Darfur is uitment of children.
presented in corresponding sub-sections.
41 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
CHILD SOLDIERS
However, according to a credible source, the SPLA forcibly
entered a school in Upper Nile in October 2006 and allegedly
recruited children and teachers into their ranks. Though
these people were released the same day by the SPLA unit
commander, this incident highlights the lack of knowledge
of low-ranking SPLA soldiers regarding their obligations
outlined in the CPA.
Southern Sudan Militias26
Children are reported to be associated with militias in the
South. In May 2006, SPLA forces attacked the White Army
and an armed group in Motot, Jonglei State, killing 113
youth associated with the White Army, according to the
UN Secretary-General’s 2006 report on children and armed
conflict in Sudan. The report also noted that recruitment of
children remains prevalent in southern Sudan as militias that
were not party to the CPA initiated recruitment drives prior
to their incorporation into the SPLA or the SAF to bolster
their numbers and negotiating power. Children are regularly
included in these recruitment drives. The Secretary-General
has also confirmed reports of southern Sudanese commanders
actively recruiting children in Khartoum.
DDR in Southern Sudan
All signatories to the CPA were required to demobilize all
children in their ranks by July 2005. The National Disarmament,
Demobilization and Reintegration Coordination
Council is responsible for the coordination of all DDR
programs in northern and southern Sudan. The Council has
taken steps to develop policy and planning for DDR, with
support from UNMIS, UNICEF and several NGO partners.
Acting under the umbrella of the Council are the Northern
Sudan Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
Commission, responsible for the DDR of children and others
associated with the Sudanese Armed Forces, and the Southern
Sudan Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration
Commission, responsible for the DDR of children and others
associated with armed groups in southern Sudan.
Despite the DDR requirements established by the CPA, the
UN Secretary-General reported that as of August 2006 only
an estimated 1,000 children had been released from armed
groups and all of these were from southern Sudan and transitional
areas. According to the Secretary-General, the SPLA
has released over 960 children since the signing of the CPA.27
As of December 2006, 1,040 children associated with armed
forces and groups had been removed from the SPLA and
other armed groups, including 221 children demobilized and
returned to their homes in the transitional areas.
In April 2006, approximately 250 to 300 children, including
nearly 40 girls, began the processes of demobilization,
reunification with their families and reintegration into their
communities in Khorfulus, near Malakal in Upper Nile
State. The children participated in a two-hour ceremony
during which they exchanged guns and military uniforms for
civilian clothes and textbooks. They were primarily from an
armed group called “Mobile,” which joined the SPLA after
the signing of the CPA.
In June 2006, the 27th Brigade of the SPLA released approximately
200 boys and girls in Julud, Southern Kordofan, in
the Nuba Mountains. One girl among this group explained
to UNICEF that she spent most of her days studying in the
SPLA military compound but that she also was responsible
for cooking, collecting water and washing clothes for officers.
She, like other children, had received training in the use
of small arms and would sometimes be sent to the field to
handle heavy guns to prepare for the event of an attack.
Despite this progress, successful family tracing, long-term
reintegration programming, schooling and other important
support mechanisms that contribute to ensuring successful
reintegration remain limited and underfunded.
Disarmament of Militias and Villages
in Southern Sudan
Many militias that did not support the CPA have resisted
handing over weapons and have continued to recruit children.
In January 2006, the SPLA began a forced disarmament
of these militias, which incited violence in Jonglei
State. Villagers whose weapons had been taken away complained
that they had no way of protecting themselves
against those who still carried weapons. Hundreds of people,
including children, died in this violence.
In July 2006, residents of Akobo County in Jonglei State,
including children, relinquished their weapons in a formal
disarmament ceremony. Due to severe insecurity in Akobo,
many humanitarian organizations had been unable to provide
services to civilians there for many years. Villagers were
asked to participate in the disarmament process with the
promise that humanitarian organizations would then be able
to begin new health, education, sanitation and other important
services. Some critics have noted that this voluntary process,
however, was also coercive in that many Akobo residents
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 42
CHILD SOLDIERS
stated that they understood the penalties that awaited them
should they refuse to comply.
Child Soldiers in Darfu r
The UN Secretary-General reported in 2006 that the
SLA-MM, Janjaweed militias, Chadian opposition forces
and the Camel Police28 are recruiting and using children as
combatants in Darfur (S/2006/662). The Secretary-General
estimated that thousands of children were associated with
armed groups in Darfur and were actively involved in armed
conflict.
Between May and June 2006, the UN verified and documented
eight cases of child soldier recruitment and use in
Darfur. These were reported in the Secretary-General’s August
2006 report on Sudan to the Security Council Working
Group on Children and Armed Conflict. The following are
several examples:
April 5, 2006: Most children over age 15 were found to be
enlisted in the SLA-AW. (S/2006/218)
May 15, 2006: Interviews by UN staff with civilians displaced
by Janjaweed attacks on villages near Kutum, Northern
Darfur, confirmed that there were many child soldiers
among the Janjaweed militias who perpetrated the attacks.
(S/2006/662, para. 19e)
June 29, 2006: Six armed boys aged 15 to 17 were observed
in the forces of the SLA-MM at Tabet, Southern Darfur.
An SLA official claimed that the children joined the SLA
voluntarily because they were separated from their families.
(S/2006/662, para. 19d)
June 2006: Many boys under 18 years old are recruited into
the Camel Police in Western Darfur. (S/2006/662, para. 19g)
Eyewitnesses also reported to HRW that they observed boys
who appeared to be under 18 amongst both the SLA and
JEM forces in Darfur, HRW, Sudan: “If We Return, We Will
Be Killed”: Rebel Abuses, November 2004. HRW researchers
traveling in Northern Darfur in August 2004 observed and
photographed child soldiers in the SLA. The youngest child
soldier observed appeared to be approximately 12 years old.
In Southern Darfur, child protection agencies reported in
2006 that at least half of the combatants present in one of the
SLA’s barracks were under 18. Non-signatories to the DPA also
continue to recruit and arm children, particularly as new rebel
groups are formed and as non-signatories seek to improve their
position in future negotiations by increasing their number.
•
•
•
•
Recognizing obligations set forth in the DPA, SLA-MM
has provided assurances to child protection agencies of its
intention to demobilize children within its ranks and, in
conjunction with UN agencies operating in Darfur, disarmed
approximately 500 children in 2005. However, the
slow implementation of the DPA has done little to halt child
recruitment and the demobilization of children associated
with signatories to the DPA has been extremely limited and
in some cases nonexistent.
Children in Darfur are also abducted into armed groups. The
following are two examples according to the UN:
May 10, 2006: 108 children are abducted for use as fighters
by the SLA. (S/2006/662, para. 25d)
May 24, 2006: A 17-year-old Tama boy was abducted by
Chadian opposition forces from Geneina, Western Darfur.
(S/2006/662, para. 19f )
Child protection agencies have also expressed concern at the
detention of children suspected of spying. Both the SLA and
the GoNU, particularly the military intelligence unit, have
reportedly detained children who they allege are spies. Often,
these children are imprisoned but not officially charged with
a crime. Child protection agencies have closely monitored
several of these cases and secured the release of some children.
Recruitment of Child Refugees in Chad
Sudanese militias have begun recruiting children and other
civilians among the refugees in Chad. According to an investigation
by a UNCHR team and testimonies from refugees
in eastern Chad, several hundred men and boys appeared to
have been recruited from Treguine, Breidjing and Farchana
between March 17 and 19, UN News, “UN Agency Condemns
Forced Recruitment of Sudanese Refugees in Chad,”
March 31, 2006. Most of the recruits were between the ages
of 15 and 35. Several younger boys were also conscripted,
according to UNHCR. Although UNHCR has not officially
named the perpetrators, some refugees told UNHCR officials
that the recruits had been taken to a training base across the
border in Darfur.
In 2006, Chadian rebel groups aiming to oust President
Idriss Deby also began attacking villages and refuge camps
in eastern Chad. Among other violations, they are alleged to
have recruited children and adults from refugee populations,
according to HRW. Attacks by the Sudanese and Chadian
militias have also caused internal displacement among local
Chadians, as well as a wave of Chadian refugees fleeing into
Western Darfur.
•
•
43 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
UN Security
Council Actions In 2004, the UN Security Council (UNSC) agreed to
consider the situation in Sudan on its regular agenda. Since
that time, it has adopted 19 resolutions on Sudan, reviewed
dozens of reports submitted by the Secretary-General, set
up a sanctions monitoring committee, established a Panel of
Experts to support the sanctions committee, reviewed Sudan
within the context of the Working Group on Children and
Armed Conflict and visited Sudan, including Darfur in June
2006.29
UNS C Resolutions on Su dan,
Including the Situation in Darfu r
Since 2004, the Security Council has adopted 19 resolutions
relating to Sudan, including the situation in Darfur. The following
are selected highlights from the resolutions:
Resolution 1547 (2004) supports the Secretary-General’s
proposal to establish, for an initial period of three months
and under the authority of a Special Representative to the
Secretary-General (SRSG), a United Nations advance team
in Sudan dedicated to preparing the international monitoring
outlined in the September 25, 2003 Naivasha Agreement and
to prepare for the introduction of a peace support operation
following the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
It also reiterates the need for an effective public information
capacity for the United Nations.
Resolution 1556 (2004) calls on the Government of Sudan
to remove all impediments to the provision of humanitarian
assistance to the affected populations in Darfur. It insists on
the improvement of the overall security conditions, urging
for the respect of the cease-fire by the rebels and encouraging
a political solution for Darfur. It demands that the
Government of Sudan fulfill its commitment to disarm and
prosecute the Janjaweed responsible for human rights and
humanitarian law violations. It decides that all states shall
prevent the sale or supply of arms and related materials,
technical training or military assistance to nongovernmental
entities and individuals, including the Janjaweed, operating
in Darfur. It encourages the creation of a peaceful and
unified Sudan and calls on the international community to
provide the financial support needed for this purpose, as
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 44
UN SEC URIT Y CO UNCIL ACTIO NS
well as “assistance to mitigate the humanitarian catastrophe
unfolding in Darfur.”
Resolution 1574 (2004) supports the efforts of the Government
of Sudan and the SPLM/A to reach a Comprehensive
Peace Agreement (CPA) and declares, upon the signing of the
CPA, its readiness to establish a peace support operation and
its commitment to assist Sudan in post-conflict reconstruction.
Resolution 1590 (2005) authorizes the deployment of the
United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), for an initial
period of six months, to support the implementation of the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement. The Security Council
authorizes UNMIS, under Chapter VII, to take the necessary
actions to protect UN personnel, facilities, installations and
equipment.
Resolution 1591 (2005) deplores the failure of parties to
the conflict in Darfur to meet their commitments. Acting
under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the Security Council
establishes a Committee, consisting of all the members of the
Council, to conduct a series of activities, including designating
individuals subjected to sanctions measures set forth in
the Resolution, and monitoring the implementation of these
measures. These sanctions measures include the freezing of all
funds, financial assets and economic resources. The Security
Council also establishes, for a period of six months, a Panel
of Experts comprised of four members to assist the Committee
on monitoring the implementation of sanctions measures.
Resolution 1593 (2005) refers the situation in Darfur since
July 1, 2002, to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal
Court and requires the Government of National Unity and
all other parties to the conflict in Darfur to cooperate with
the Court and the Prosecutor.
Resolution 1627 (2005) extends the mandate of UNMIS to
March 2006 and authorizes the renewal of its mandate for
further periods. The Security Council urges troop-contributing
countries to take action to prevent sexual exploitation
and abuse perpetrated by their personnel working with
UNMIS.
Resolution 1663 (2006) stresses the importance of reaching
a successful conclusion to the Abuja Talks and peace agreement
as soon as possible and welcomes the African Union
Peace and Security Council’s decision to support in principle
the transition of the African Union Mission in the Sudan
(AMIS) to a United Nations Operation, to pursue the conclusion
of a peace agreement on Darfur by the end of April
2006 and to extend the mandate of AMIS until September
30, 2006, with the intention of exploring its renewal in the
future. The Resolution also asks the Government of National
Unity to finalize and implement national institutions for
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration (DDR) of
ex-combatants, with the assistance of UNMIS.
Resolution 1672 (2006), with the authority of Chapter VII
of the Charter of the United Nations, decides that all States
shall implement the sanctions measures specified in paragraph
3 of Resolution 1591 (2005) with respect to the following
individuals:
Major General Gaffar Mohamed Elhassan (Commander
of the Western Military Region for the Sudanese
Armed Forces)
Sheikh Musa Hilal (Paramount Chief of the Jalul Tribe
in Northern Darfur)
Adam Yacub Shant (Sudanese Liberation Army Commander)
Gabril Abdul Kareem Badri (National Movement for
Reform and Development Field Commander)
Resolution 1679 (2006) recalls Resolutions including 1612
(2005) on children and armed conflict, 1325 (2000) on
women, peace and security, 1674 (2006) on the protection of
civilians in armed conflict, and 1502 (2003) on the protection
of humanitarian and United Nations personnel, and acting
under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,
asks parties to the Darfur Peace Agreement to respect their
commitments and urges those parties that have not signed to
do so without delay, and expresses its intention to consider
taking measures against any individual or group that violates
or attempts to block the implementation of the Darfur Peace
Agreement, such as imposing travel bans and freezing assets.
It also endorses the transition of AMIS to a United Nations
Operation and asks that the Secretary-General submit
recommendations to the Security Council within one week
of the return of the joint African Union and United Nations
assessment mission on all relevant aspects of the mandate
of the United Nations Operation in Darfur, including force
structure, additional force requirements, potential troopcontributing
countries and a detailed financial evaluation of
future costs.
Resolution 1706 (2006) resolves that UNMIS shall be
expanded and strengthened and that it shall be deployed to
Darfur and therefore invites the consent of the Government
of National Unity for this deployment. Acting under Chapter
VII of the United Nations Charter, the Security Council
authorizes UNMIS to use all necessary means to protect
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45 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
UN SEC URIT Y CO UNCIL ACTIO NS
UN personnel and facilities, to support early and effective
implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement, to prevent
attacks and threats against civilians and to seize, collect and
dispose of arms in Darfur whose presence violates the Agreements.
The mandate of UNMIS in Darfur will also include
cooperating with UN agencies on the voluntary return of
refugees and internationally displaced persons and humanitarian
assistance, contributing to efforts to protect, promote
and monitor human rights in Darfur, providing assistance
in the mine action sector and addressing regional security
issues. The Security Council requests joint consultations on
developing a plan and timetable for transition from AMIS to
UNMIS in Darfur and decides that certain elements shall be
deployed no later than October 1, 2006, to begin the transition.
UNMIS shall take over responsibilities from AMIS
upon the expiration of the AMIS mandate, no later than
December 31, 2006.
The Security Council also requests the Secretary-General to
report to the Council on the protection of civilians in refugee
and internally displaced persons camps in Chad.
Resolution 1714 (2006) decides to extend the Mandate of
UNMIS until April 30, 2007, with the intention to renew it
for further periods.
UNS C Resolutions on Children
and Armed Conflict
Since 2003, the UNSC has adopted two resolutions on
children and armed conflict, adding to the Security Council’s
four previous Children and Armed Conflict (CAC) resolutions.
These set out important and practical steps to be taken
by various members of the UN system, donors, NGOs and
others to expand child protection in conflict-affected areas.
However, all actors have failed to fulfill their obligations to
fully implement the child protection measures requested by
the UNSC in Sudan and other war-torn areas. The following
are highlights of the two CAC resolutions.
Resolution 1539 (2004)
Strongly condemns the recruitment and use of child
soldiers by parties to conflict and other CAC violations
Requests that the Secretary-General regularly review
compliance by parties to conflict to halt the recruitment
and use of child soldiers
Calls upon parties to conflict to prepare action plans for
halting the recruitment and use of child soldiers, which
will be coordinated by focal points identified by the
Secretary-General
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Expresses its intention to consider imposing targeted
and graduated measures such as, inter alia, a ban on the
export or supply of small arms and light weapons and
other military equipment and assistance
Reiterates its request to all concerned to include children
in all DDR programs and to monitor demobilized
children in order to prevent re-recruitment
Requests UN bodies to implement HIV/AIDS education
and voluntary counseling and testing for all UN
peacekeepers, police and humanitarian staff
Expresses intention to take appropriate measures to curb
linkages between illicit trade of natural resources, the
illicit trafficking of small arms and cross-border recruitment
and armed conflict
Requests the Secretary-General to propose effective
measures to control the illicit trade and trafficking of
small arms
Requests countries contributing to peacekeeping missions
to incorporate codes of conduct for peacekeeping
personnel and to develop disciplinary and accountability
mechanisms for peacekeeping personnel
Decides to include child protection provisions in the
mandates of UN peacekeeping missions and to deploy
CPAs
Reiterates the request to the Secretary-General to include
child protection information in country-specific reports
Resolution 1612 (2005)
Strongly condemns the recruitment and use of child
soldiers by parties to conflict and other CAC violations
Expresses serious concern regarding the lack of progress
in developing and implementing action plans to halt the
recruitment and use of child soldiers
Reiterates its intention to consider imposing targeted
and graduated measures such as, inter alia, a ban on the
export or supply of small arms and light weapons and
other military equipment and assistance
Requests that the Secretary-General implement a monitoring
and reporting mechanism (MRM)on violations
against children in five armed conflict situations, including
Sudan
Decides to establish a working group of the Security
Council on children and armed conflict consisting of SC
member states
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SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 46
UN SEC URIT Y CO UNCIL ACTIO NS
Urges member states and other parties concerned to take
appropriate measures to control the illicit trade of small
arms to parties to armed conflict
Requests the Secretary-General continue to take all necessary
action in relation to the zero-tolerance policy on
sexual exploitation perpetrated by peacekeepers
Urges troop-contributing states to take appropriate
preventive and disciplinary action to ensure full accountability
and compliance with UN policies on sexual
exploitation and abuse
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•
•
Decides to continue deploying CPAs to UN peacekeeping
missions
Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to include
child protection information in country-specific reports
•
•
The 1612 Country Taskforce in Sudan held its first meeting
on April 9, 2006. The Taskforce is co-chaired by the
Deputy Special Representative to the Secretary-General
and the UNICEF Representative for Sudan. Members
include AMIS, representatives from UNMIS’s Protection,
Child Protection, and Human Rights sections, UN Military
Observers, UN Police, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNFPA,
UNDP, OCHA, Save the Children Sweden and Save the
Children UK, the International Rescue Committee, and
the ICRC as an observer.
During the first meeting of the 1612 Taskforce, procedures
were established to prepare the first report to the UN
Security Council Working Group on Children and Armed
Conflict. It was agreed that the Taskforce would cover all
of Sudan, with emphasis on the three states of the Darfur
region. A sub-taskforce on monitoring and reporting has
been established in Juba, Southern Sudan, and its membership
and mandate are similar to those of the Sudan
Country Taskforce.
The 1612 Taskforce, through the headquarters-level MRM
Steering Committee, submitted its first substantive report
on children and armed conflict to the UN Security Council
Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in
July 2006. Follow-up reports are submitted to the Working
Group every two months to provide an update on the
situation of children affected by armed conflict.
In August 2006, the UN Secretary-General presented a
report on Sudan to the Security Council. This report contained
detailed information on violations against children
in North and South Sudan, Darfur and eastern Sudan
in the six categories identified by the Security Council
(S/2006/662).
Another responsibility of the Taskforce ensures that parties
to the conflict that violate children’s rights develop
and implement time-bound action plans to end violations
against children. These action plans include measurable
commitments required of these parties, such as releasing
all children associated with the party, fully cooperating
with DDR programs, creating measures to prevent the future
recruitment of children, designating high-level focal
points to liaise with the UN and implementing directives
from the UN to end violations against children.
A 1612 Working Group was also established in Sudan.
While the Taskforce meets on a regular bimonthly basis,
the Working Group meets more regularly. The Working
Group has identified a focal point agency for each of the
six violations. Focal points were assigned as follows: UNMIS
Human Rights will be the focal point for monitoring
killing and maiming; UNICEF will be the focal point for
monitoring child recruitment; UN Department of Safety
and Security will be the focal point for monitoring attacks
on schools and hospitals; UN Human Rights and/or UNFPA
will be the focal point for GBV; UNMIS Child Protection
will be the focal point for monitoring abductions;
and OCHA will be responsible for monitoring denial of
humanitarian access. In view of this, different agencies are
functioning as focal points, responsible for verification
and follow-up of different categories of violation.
In view of its responsibility, UNICEF has initiated a
mechanism to provide closer analysis of children associated
with armed conflict and to monitor trends in terms
of recruitment and releases of children.
Imp lementation of Resolution 1612:
The Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism
47 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
UN SEC URIT Y CO UNCIL ACTIO NS
UN Secretary-General’s Reports
to the Secu rity Council
Reports on Sudan and Darfur
Since 2004, the UN Secretary-General has submitted nearly
30 reports to the UN Security Council related to Sudan and
Darfur. These have included monthly reports on the situation
in Darfur, progress reports on UNMIS, general progress
reports on Sudan and others. None of these reports include
specific sections on Child Protection, as requested by the UN
Security Council resolutions on children and armed conflict.
However, several do address child protection issues, such
as abduction of children, killing and maiming of children,
forced recruitment of children, rape and other forms of
sexual violence against girls, vulnerability of IDP children
in Darfur, lack of medical care for girls, demobilization of
children and children separated from their families.
Reports on Children and Armed Conflict
In February 2005, the UN Secretary-General included in his
fifth report on Children and Armed Conflict to the Security
Council (S/2005/72) a section on developments in Sudan,
briefly describing demobilization, re-recruitment and use
of children by Janjaweed, SLA/M and JEM. In Annex 1 of
the report, the Secretary-General named five armed groups
that recruit or use children, including Janjaweed (based in
Darfur), JEM, SSUM, SLA and SPLA.
In November 2006, the UN Secretary-General included
in his sixth report on Children and Armed Conflict to the
Security Council (S/2006/826) a section on developments in
Sudan, briefly describing the killing of children in southern
Sudan, abductions of children in southern Sudan, sexual
violence against girls in Darfur and worsening humanitarian
access in Darfur. The report also noted that the security
situation in eastern Chad remains volatile and that hundreds
of children have been killed, raped and abducted in attacks
on displaced settlements throughout eastern Chad. In Annex
1 of the report, the Secretary-General also named six categories
of armed groups operating in Sudan that recruit and use
children, totaling nine specific armed groups responsible for
this grave violation. These are:
Parties under the control of the Government of National
Unity
Government-supported militias in Darfur, also called
Janjaweed (This party has also been responsible for
killing and maiming, abductions and committing
rape and other grave sexual violence against children)
•
1.
Police Forces (Camel Police)
Sudan Armed Forces (This party has also been responsible
for killing and maiming, abductions of children
and denial of humanitarian access)
Former rebel parties who have accepted the Darfur Peace
Agreement
Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (This party has
also been responsible for killing and maiming, abductions
and committing rape and other grave sexual
violence against children)
Parties under the control of the Government of Southern
Sudan
Sudan People’s Liberation Army (This party has also
been responsible for killing and maiming of children)
Parties under the control of both the Government of
National Unity and the Government of Southern Sudan
Joint Integrated Units of the Sudan Armed Forces
and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army
Groups of tribally linked armed civilians involved in
inter-communal fighting or confrontations with parties
The White Army (Lou Nuer) (This party has also
been responsible for killing and maiming of children)
Other groups active in Sudanese territory
Chadian Opposition Forces
Lord’s Resistance Army
2.
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SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 48
Urgent
Recommendations Urgent Recomm endations
on Su dan in General
To the Authorities of the
Government of National Unity
Strictly comply with all signed agreements and uphold
international human rights and humanitarian law, paying
particular attention to the Convention on the Rights
of the Child (CRC). This includes submitting regular
reports on the CRC to the Child Rights Committee in
Geneva and collaborating with NGOs so that they may
submit alternative reports.
Comply fully with all provisions and commitments outlined
in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Strengthen and enforce legislation and increase the
capacity of relevant actors to promote a more effective
judicial system. Legislation must provide for the prosecution
of those responsible for crimes committed against
children, including sexual violence.
Ensure that policies to protect the security and rights of
children in Sudan are an integral part of all government
institutions.
Increase socially oriented spending in the budget, with
a focus on programs that target youth, and utilized oil
revenue to support education efforts and the provision of
social services for children and young people.
Provide humanitarian actors with unrestricted and secure
access to all areas of Sudan, and guarantee all civilians
safe, unimpeded and sustained access to humanitarian
assistance, including emergency relief supplies.
Ensure that human rights defenders are protected, support
their efforts to bring to public attention information
about violations of human rights and child rights
and support programs and policies that would halt such
crimes.
As required by Resolution 1612, fully support and
facilitate UNMIS and UNICEF’s development of a
monitoring and reporting mechanism on violations
against children, including killing and maiming, rape
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30
As a variety of actors are operating in different areas throughout Sudan,
the following section has been broken into three parts to allow actors to
reference recommendations that relate to their work in a specific region:
Recommendations on Sudan in general, pages 48 to 51
Recommendations on southern Sudan, pages 51 and 52
Recommendations on Darfur, pages 53 and 54
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49 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
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and other forms of sexual violence, recruitment and use
of children, abduction, denial of access to humanitarian
assistance and attacks on schools and hospitals.
Ensure that any military personnel integrated into or
otherwise enlisted in the government forces have not
been convicted or accused of human rights and/or child
rights violations.
Play a supportive role in peace initiatives in northern
Uganda to promote regional peace, security and stability.
Immediately halt all forced relocations of IDPs, particularly
those living in and around Khartoum. Cease all
attacks on displaced communities by government actors
and others, and ensure that those who attack civilians are
punished.
Improve food security and increase access to essential
health services and basic resources for children, such as
immunizations, clean water, insecticide-treated bed nets
and treatment for common illnesses.
Ensure that all children, including refugees and IDPs,
have free and safe access to primary and secondary education
in line with Interagency Network for Education
in Emergencies (INEE) Minimum Standards for Education
in Emergencies. To this end, ensure that all teachers
are paid fair salaries on a regular basis.
Abolish all policies and laws that restrict or limit children’s
access to education, including those that make entry
into university conditional on the successful completion
of post-secondary school military training and those
that restrict or limit the access of pregnant girls or young
mothers to opportunities for formal education.
Create and strengthen existing protocols and policies
to explicitly prohibit, punish and respond to all forms
of sexual violence perpetrated by school administrators,
teachers and others in the education sector, and work
with relevant NGOs, UN agencies and government
authorities to monitor and enforce these measures.
Ensure that policies and protocols related to Form 8 are
uniformly implemented and communicated to all relevant
actors and that all barriers survivors face in accessing
Form 8 and GBV-related health services are removed.
Ensure that all survivors receive clinical care regardless of
their decision to complete Form 8.
Issue a strict code of conduct for all Sudan Armed Forces
(SAF) and all government-supported militias, prohibiting
all forms of sexual violence. Develop and implement
clear accountability and disciplinary measures, and
ensure that all forces integrated into the SAF receive
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training on child rights, human rights and the prohibition
of sexual violence.
Improve and strictly enforce national legislation and
policies that comply with international standards to
eliminate trafficking within Sudan and across its borders,
including legislation that explicitly outlaws all forms of
trafficking.
Establish means to appropriately, safely and ethically
identify and assist victims of trafficking, including a
comprehensive package of services and materials to assist
and help reintegrate survivors of trafficking.
Increase support for mine risk education programs, with
a focus on displaced children and other high-risk groups.
Prioritize weapons collection and destruction programs,
with special emphasis on weapons in the hands of young
people, and develop nationwide norms for possession of
small arms and light weapons.
To the UN Security Council
Maintain and fully fund UNMIS’s Child Protection Section
and encourage donors to provide sufficient resources
to address child protection concerns in Sudan, in accordance
with UNMIS’s mandate.
Continue to give priority attention to Sudan and use all
means available to effectively implement UNSC Resolutions
on Sudan and on children and armed conflict, particularly
Resolutions 1539 and 1612, and hold the GoNU
to its obligations outlined in these Resolutions.
Call on UN member states to ensure that humanitarian
programs and services that benefit Sudanese refugees and
internally displaced peoples in Sudan are fully funded, in
particular the 2007 Work Plan for Sudan.
Insist that all troop-contributing countries properly
investigate and apply appropriate disciplinary measures
for all peacekeeping personnel accused of sexual exploitation
or abuse. Commitment to follow through on these
actions should be a prerequisite for accepting troop
contributions.
Call on all armed forces and groups operating in Sudan,
as well as all neighboring countries and others providing
arms to Sudan, to end the illicit trade and stockpiling
of small arms and light weapons. Maintain the arms
embargo on Sudan and support UNMIS’ increased
mandate to monitor compliance with the embargo, with
specific emphasis on the most porous border areas.
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SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 50
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To UNMIS
Insist that all troop-contributing countries provide UNMIS
civilian and military personnel with extensive training
in international humanitarian and human rights law
as it relates to children and as noted in Security Council
Resolution 1379, paragraph 10b.
Facilitate coordination and cooperation between UN
agencies tasked with monitoring and reporting on the
situation of IDPs and returnees, ensuring that all information
is collected in a manner that respects international
best practices on data collection in conflict-affected
and post-conflict areas.
Insist that all troop-contributing countries provide
HIV/AIDS education and voluntary HIV testing and
counseling services for all UNMIS civilian and military
personnel, as noted in Security Council Resolutions
1379, paragraph 10b, and Resolution 1460, paragraph 11.
As a matter of urgency, implement child rights and
sexual exploitation and abuse prevention training for all
military and civilian personnel associated with UNMIS,
and ensure that all such training is periodically reviewed
during deployment.
Cooperate closely with the OIOS mechanisms to investigate
reports of sexual exploitation and abuse by UNMIS
personnel. Cooperate fully to ensure that timely and
effective investigations are conducted and appropriate
disciplinary measures are applied. Ensure that the outcome
of the investigations into sexual exploitation and
abuse are made public, and provide appropriate reparations
for survivors.
Improve training for UNMIS personnel on investigating
trafficking of small arms, light weapons and landmines,
with a focus on cross-border transfer of weapons. Ensure
that UNMIS personnel monitor the illegal flow of small
arms and light weapons as thoroughly as possible, as
mandated by the Security Council.
To the Humanitarian Community
Promote acceptance and reintegration of repatriated
Sudanese refugees and returning IDPs by supporting
relevant social and economic structures and programs,
giving special attention to the needs and rights of returning
children and adolescents.
Ensure that communities receiving returnees are given
adequate support to expand their capacity to provide
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social services and improve their overall absorptive
capacity.
Ensure that psychosocial support and services are an
integral part of the emergency programs for children in
Sudan and that children and adolescents have access to
nongovernmental centers that provide culturally-relevant
counseling and trauma-related services.
Prioritize HIV/AIDS programming throughout Sudan
by:
conducting emergency assessments to ensure that
prevention measures are well-informed;
providing voluntary counseling and testing services as
well as treatment for HIV and other STIs; and
providing care and support, including in-home visits,
to people living with HIV/AIDS.
Utilize international standards, such as the INEE
Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies, and
conduct training on such standards to improve the quality
of education interventions, and increase accountability
of teachers and other education officials. Ensure that
all teachers are afforded opportunities to enhance their
professional skills.
Prioritize the implementation of the actions outlined in
the Inter-Agency Standing Committee’s Guidelines on
Gender-Based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian Settings,
including training for all humanitarian aid workers
on their responsibilities outlined in the code of conduct
on sexual exploitation and abuse.
Work to improve access of survivors of GBV to relevant
health services administered by trained and compassionate
health workers in line with WHO standards and
international best practices.
Develop effective, safe, accessible reporting mechanisms
that allow community members to report allegations of
sexual violence, including sexual exploitation, perpetrated
by humanitarian aid workers, and ensure prompt
investigations and support for and protection of victims.
Implement and expand current programs to trace the
families of separated children and reunify these children
with their families.
Collect and disseminate accurate and comprehensive
data on landmine and ERW incidents that involve children
and adolescents, ensuring that data is disaggregated
by sex, age group and geographic location.
Monitor the re-recruitment of children by armed groups
in DDR plans and continue to emphasize community
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51 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
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rehabilitation, psychosocial support and education as
integral parts of reintegration programming.
To Other Governments
All member states of the United Nations should use all
available means to ensure that the Government of National
Unity upholds its commitments and obligations
outlined in relevant Security Council Resolutions and
international law.
Increase and sustain human and financial resources to
adequately protect children in all parts of Sudan. This
includes providing major contributions towards the
humanitarian and recovery components of the 2007 Work
Plan for Sudan. Funding should provide and improve
access to:
basic medical care and immunizations for Sudanese
children;
neonatal and antenatal healthcare to improve the
health of mothers and their infants;
HIV/AIDS education, prevention services, voluntary
counseling and testing and treatment, with attention
to the particular needs and vulnerabilities of girls and
adolescents;
formal and nonformal educational opportunities,
with special attention to displaced children and youth
who have missed opportunities to go to school during
the war;
emergency medical care and long-term support for
survivors of sexual violence, including access to postexposure
prophylaxis for HIV/AIDS and treatment
and prophylaxis for other STIs, culturally-appropriate
psychosocial support and assistance with rehabilitation
and reintegration into their communities; and
family tracing and reunification programs to protect
separated and orphaned children, street children,
children associated with armed forces and groups and
other unaccompanied minors.
Expand support for local organizations working to defend
human rights and protect the rights of children.
Increase support for mine action programs, such as mine
awareness education, landmine and ERW removal, mine
impact assessment and recovery programs for individuals
injured by landmines, with special attention to the threat
and impact of landmines and ERW on children.
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Immediately suspend all transfers of arms and related
dual-use logistical and security supplies to Sudan, especially
those likely to be used by armed groups or forces
to perpetrate violations against children.
Urgent Recomm endations on
Southern Su dan
To the Authorities of the
Government of Southern Sudan
Comply fully with all provisions and commitments outlined
in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
Ensure that policies to protect the security and rights
of children in southern Sudan are an integral part of all
government institutions.
Prepare and strengthen legislation and capacity to promote
an effective judicial system. Legislation must provide
for the prosecution of those responsible for crimes
committed against children, including sexual violence.
Expand the technical capacity of government child
protection and social service agencies through capacity-
strengthening projects, ensuring that the needs of
children and adolescents are identified, assessed and
addressed.
Increase socially-oriented spending in the budget, with
a focus on programs that target youth, and utilize oil
revenue to support education efforts and the provision of
social services for children and young people.
Work closely with UNMIS, UNICEF and local and
international child protection organizations to develop
an effective and sustainable monitoring and reporting
mechanism on violations against children, including
killing and maiming, rape and other forms of sexual
violence, recruitment and use of children, abduction,
denial of access to humanitarian assistance and attacks
on schools and hospitals. Efforts to monitor the abuse of
children in the context of forced displacement, trafficking
and other relevant situations in Sudan should also be
considered.
Ensure that human rights defenders are protected, support
their efforts to bring to public attention information
about violations of human rights and child rights
and support programs and policies that would halt such
crimes.
Continue to play an active role in supporting peace initiatives
in northern Uganda to promote regional peace,
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SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 52
URGE NT RECOMME NDATIO NS
security and stability. To this end, continue to facilitate
peace talks in southern Sudan.
Ensure that relevant government agencies work together
with corresponding agencies from the North to better
protect IDPs returning to the South by providing accurate
and timely information for IDPs to help them make
an informed decision about return.
Ensure that communities receiving returnees are given
adequate support to expand their capacity to provide
social services and improve their overall absorptive
capacity.
Improve food security and increase access to essential
health services for children, such as immunizations,
clean water, insecticide-treated bed nets and case management
of common diseases.
Ensure that all children, including refugees and IDPs,
have free and safe access to primary and secondary
education in line with INEE Minimum Standards for
Education in Emergencies.
Ensure that all teachers are regularly paid fair salaries
and afforded opportunities to enhance their professional
skills, and prioritize the hiring of more female teachers.
Create and strengthen existing protocols and policies
to explicitly prohibit, punish and respond to all forms
of sexual violence perpetrated by school administrators,
teachers and others in the education sector, and work
with relevant NGOs, UN agencies and government
authorities to monitor and enforce these measures.
Prioritize the development of a coordinated response
to sexual violence, in line with WHO standards, that
includes support, care and treatment for all survivors, as
well as testing, care and treatment for HIV/AIDS. This
should include increased HIV/AIDS education for women
and girls in areas with high levels of armed personnel.
Make weapons collection and destruction programs a
priority, with special emphasis on weapons in the hands
of young people.
Work with UNMIS, UN agencies and NGO partners to
monitor, report and respond to attempts by any armed
group to re-recruit children and adolescents into armed
forces and groups in southern Sudan.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
To the UN Security Council
Ensure that the Government of Southern Sudan, as well
as the Government of National Unity, complies with
all provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement,
monitoring compliance and renouncing violations by all
sides.
To UNMIS
Ensure that all IDPs and refugees returning to the South
are protected and have safe passage during return, and
report any attempts by any party to attack or harm
returnees.
Increase the number and distribution of UNMIS civilian
staff in the South to monitor and address the needs of
returnees, and support the capacity of local government
agencies and nongovernmental organizations to provide
adequate and sustainable support to returnees.
To the Humanitarian Community
Operating in Southern Sudan
Strengthen and expand programs that protect and assist
children in southern Sudan, particularly unaccompanied
and separated children, out-of-school youth, girls and
others who may face higher risks of violence, exploitation,
abuse and neglect.
Support formal and nonformal education and vocational
training initiatives for young people to prepare them for
productive futures.
Expand accelerated learning programs to address the
education needs of youth who have missed years of
formal education.
To Other Governments
Provide human and financial resources to improve governance,
expand the rule of law and increase the capacity
of institutions of the Government of Southern Sudan to
provide essential services.
Ensure that DDR funding supports programs to address
the special needs of girls, including girl mothers and
their children, and the long-term reintegration needs
of children formerly associated with armed forces and
groups.
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•
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53 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
URGE NT RECOMME NDATIO NS
Urgent Recomm endations
on Darfu r
To the Authorities of the
Government of National Unity
Acknowledge the role of authorities of the Government
of National Unity in supporting and condoning attacks
on humanitarian aid operations and civilians, particularly
women and children, and contributing to the continued
destabilization of Darfur.
Immediately cease all attacks on civilians and halt all
violations perpetrated by government armed forces,
government-supported militias, police or other officials
against the security and rights of Sudanese children and
adolescents.
Publicly condemn all attacks against children and other
civilians committed by all armed groups, including the
Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), police officers, militias and
other security forces.
Allow all human rights organizations free and safe access
to Darfur to collect and disseminate information related
to rights violations without fear of repercussions.
Cooperate and comply with requests and measures taken
by officials from the International Criminal Court, as
mandated by Security Council Resolution 1593, and
grant investigators and other ICC personnel unimpeded
access to Darfur.
Cease all shipments of arms and dual-use supplies, end
all support to members of the Janjaweed militia and
other armed groups operating in Darfur and responsible
for attacks on civilians in Chad and initiate efforts to
disarm and disband these groups.
To the Authorities of the Government
of the Republic of Chad
Immediately cease all attacks on refugees and other civilians,
and halt all violations perpetrated by government
armed forces, police or other officials against the security
and rights of Sudanese children and adolescents.
Publicly condemn all attacks against children and other
civilians committed by all armed groups operating in
eastern Chad and Darfur.
Call on all armed groups operating in eastern Chad to
immediately cease and desist all attempts to recruit children
from displacement camps in Chad and Darfur.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Guarantee safe, unimpeded and sustained access to humanitarian
assistance for all Sudanese refugees in Chad,
and allow free and safe movement of humanitarian
personnel and emergency relief supplies.
Strictly comply with all signed agreements and uphold
international human rights and humanitarian law, paying
particular attention to the Convention on the Rights
of the Child (CRC).
To All Armed Groups Operating in Darfur
Take immediate steps to ensure respect for the rights
of children, in particular by halting all attacks on and
abuses against children and adolescents and ceasing all
efforts to recruit and enlist children into armed groups.
Strictly comply with international human rights and
humanitarian law, paying particular attention to the
Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional
Protocol on the Involvement of Children and Armed
Conflict.
In accordance with Security Council Resolution 1539
(2004), engage in dialogue with a UN focal point to devise
time-bound action plans for halting the recruitment
and use of Sudanese and Chadian children. This should
include immediate issuance of formal demobilization
orders for all children currently associated with armed
groups and unrestricted access for humanitarian personnel
to military installations to identify and support the
demobilization of children.
To AMIS
Coordinate and collaborate with UNMIS human rights
monitors in Darfur to improve monitoring and reporting
on human rights abuses in the region and facilitate
victims’ access to services that address their needs.
As a matter of urgency, implement child rights and abuse
prevention training for all military and civilian personnel
associated with AMIS, and ensure that all such training
is periodically reviewed during deployment. And that all
AMIS personnel fully understand and abide by the Code
of Conduct on sexual exploitation.
Identify and implement ways to reduce risks of sexual
violence facing women and girls in camps in Darfur and
Chad by, for example, increasing the consistent presence
of AMIS troops in and around camps, host communities
and settlements and increasing firewood collection
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 54
URGE NT RECOMME NDATIO NS
patrols, ensuring patrols are made on a regular basis and
appropriately communicated to community members.
To the UN Security Council
Call on all parties to the conflict in Darfur to immediately
halt the recruitment and use of children associated
with regular and irregular armed forces and groups. To
this end, call on the Government of National Unity
to immediately implement commitments to halt the
recruitment and/or use of children, as required by ratification
of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of
Children in Armed Conflict to the Convention on the
Rights of the Child and Sudanese national law.
Authorize a fully -resourced deployment of military and
civilian personnel to the border between Chad and Darfur,
with a robust mandate to protect civilians, monitor
and deter human rights violations, prevent and report
on cross-border recruitment efforts and attacks by armed
groups and increase protection for displaced Sudanese
and Chadians.
To UNMIS
Coordinate and collaborate with AMIS human rights
monitors in Darfur to improve monitoring and reporting
on human rights abuses in the region and facilitate
victims’ access to services that address their needs.
To the Humanitarian Community
Operating in Darfur
Identify confidential and secure means to report attacks
on civilians and humanitarian aid personnel in Darfur
to ensure that actors are able to report this information
without fear of jeopardizing humanitarian operations.
Continue to provide and, where possible, increase
humanitarian services and emergency relief supplies to
civilians in Darfur, particularly food supplies, emergency
medical services, including GBV-related health services,
and nonformal and formal education services.
Increase food supplies and livelihood opportunities for
displaced girls and women in Darfur and Chad to reduce
their need to leave zones of relative safety in search of
sustenance for themselves and their families.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ensure that teachers are afforded opportunities to
enhance their professional skills and that the needs of female
students and teachers and other vulnerable groups
are addressed.
Continue to explore viable alternatives to firewood, such
as fuel-efficient stoves, and implement programs that
employ these alternatives to help reduce the need for
women and girls to make long and distant trips to collect
firewood.
Expand income-generating opportunities for girls and
women in Darfur and Chad to reduce their dependency
on the collection of firewood as a source of income.
To Other Governments
Key trading partners and allies of Sudan, notably the
People’s Republic of China and members of the League
of Arab States, should use all available means to ensure
that the Government of National Unity upholds
its commitments and obligations outlined in relevant
Security Council Resolutions and international law.
These partners should also compel the GoNU to accept
a fully-resourced international peacekeeping force with a
robust mandate to protect civilians and help ensure the
safe distribution of humanitarian aid.
Increase and sustain logistical and financial resources to
AMIS to adequately protect civilians in Darfur.
•
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•
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•
55 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
Appendix
Highlights from WAT CHLIST ’S
2003 Report ON SUDAN
The following section includes highlights from the Watchlist
on Children and Armed Conflict’s 2003 Report on Sudan.
Refug ees/ID Ps
In 2003, there were approximately 4.4 million displaced
Sudanese people, including an estimated 4 million IDPs, the
largest internally displaced population in the world. Sudanese
refugees and asylum seekers were primarily located in
Uganda, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),
Kenya, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea and Egypt.
Sudan also hosted nearly 310,000 refugees, primarily from
Eritrea, Uganda and Ethiopia.
Often, Sudanese people have found themselves displaced
more than once. Some remained within their own regions,
moving from place to place due to limited alternatives; others
moved to displaced persons camps, Khartoum and other
urban areas. Displacement was often forcible and violent and
in some instances linked to deliberate depopulation of oilexploration
areas by the GoS.
Most IDP children were living in extreme poverty in urban
and rural settings; few lived in camps or had access to
humanitarian assistance, protection or other basic services.
Anecdotal evidence suggested that health conditions and
educational opportunities for IDP children, both within and
outside camps, were extremely poor. GoS forces, government-
backed militias, and the SPLA recruited, abducted,
raped and committed other abuses against IDP children.
Orphaned and unaccompanied refugee and IDP girls were
found to be particularly vulnerable to sexual abuse, forced
marriage and beatings.
In 2003, between 1.5 million and two million IDPs lived in
Khartoum. Approximately 220,000 lived in official camps,
while others lived amongst the northern Sudanese urban
poor in dilapidated, squatter neighborhoods primarily in and
around Khartoum. Many of these children worked to help
support their families, with boys selling plastic bags or water,
shining shoes or working as waiters, and girls often performing
domestic activities. These responsibilities, in conjuncSUDAN’S
CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 56
APPENDI X
tion with the prohibitive cost of school fees, prevent many
children from attending school.
In 2003, the SPLM and the GoS issued a formal policy on
IDPs based on the United Nations’s Guiding Principles on
Internal Displacement. The United Nations also created a
North-South IDP Task Force.
Specific conditions for Sudanese refugees living in nearby
countries varied significantly depending on the country or
camp they lived in and whether they lived outside a camp or
in urban areas. In most cases, refugee children faced various
types of difficult conditions, such as severe insecurity, extreme
poverty and having inadequate access to food, material
assistance, housing and medical care. Some refugee children
were subject to attack, injury, abduction, rape, forced pregnancy
and other forms of sexual violence and death.
IDP Children on the Streets and in
Prisons in Khartoum
Over 30,000 street children were estimated to live in Khartoum,
most of who came from displaced families. These
children were often homeless, sleeping on the streets and
begging for food. They were commonly called “Shamassa,”
meaning “children of the sun.” Lack of protection for street
children and IDP children made them particularly vulnerable
to sexual violence by soldiers, militias and others. In
one example in 2001, an 11-year-old internally displaced girl
reported having been raped while in police custody.
Health
In 2003, Watchlist reported that the overall health situation
in southern Sudan was grim. Food shortages, destruction of
health services, killing and dispersal of trained personnel,
high rates of infectious diseases and lack of access to humanitarian
assistance were fundamental and endemic problems.
At least one child out of every 10 in Sudan died largely from
preventable diseases before the age of five; this figure was
closer to one in five in the South. Lack of safe water and
inadequate sanitation were also underlying causes of high
infant and child mortality rates. According to UNICEF,
Sudan had one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the
world. Maternal mortality levels were particularly high for
adolescent mothers.
As of 2003, many health facilities in South Sudan were not
functioning, mainly because both the GoS and the SPLA
had deliberately destroyed health facilities and nutrition
centers, looted medical supplies and killed and intimidated
health workers. The GoS was known to use aerial attacks on
hospitals and other civilian targets, while the SPLA carried
out ground attacks and burned buildings.
Watchlist reported in 2003 that approximately 2.5 million
people in Sudan were in dire need of food and other
emergency supplies and thousands of children suffered
from marasmus, the most severe degree of malnutrition.
These conditions were exacerbated by the denial of access
to humanitarian assistance as a result of increased insecurity
and flight bans, which cut off agencies’ access to hundreds of
thousands of people in need.
HI V/AIDS
The estimated national adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rate was
2.6 percent, according to the Joint United Nations Programme
on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and WHO. UNAIDS
and WHO also estimated that in Sudan approximately
450,000 people, including 30,000 children of ages 15 and
under, had HIV/AIDS at the end of 2001, and 62,000
children had lost either a mother or both parents to AIDS.
The Sudan National AIDS Programme (SNAP) estimated the
national prevalence rate in northern Sudan at approximately
1.6 percent, with significant regional variations. Estimates of
the prevalence rate in the southern sector ranged from 3 to 20
percent.
By 2003, little was known about the extent of HIV/AIDS infection
in Sudan, especially among children and adolescents.
Anecdotal evidence suggested that prevalence rates were
likely to be far higher than the national estimate. Information
and knowledge about HIV/AIDS was extremely limited,
especially among children and adolescents and rural populations.
In some areas, sickness and disease, including HIV/
AIDS, was associated with witchcraft and curses, indicating
little understanding about ways to prevent HIV and treat
symptoms of the virus. Condoms were reportedly present in
high-population areas and refugee camps. Watchlist reported,
however, that their use was often stigmatized. Rudimentary
healthcare was available for some children living with HIV/
AIDS. However, many did not have access to such services
and social support for children was negligible.
In 2001, the SPLM established the New Sudan National
AIDS Council. Additionally, the GoS was running SNAP to
raise HIV/AIDS awareness in areas under its control. However,
the impact of these programs had not been evaluated as
of 2003.
57 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
APPENDI X
Educ ation
In 2003, Watchlist reported that an estimated 48 percent of
school-age children were enrolled in school in northern Sudan,
with a 3 to 5 percent gender gap. There were, however,
significant variations in enrollment rates between northern
rural and urban areas and garrison towns in the South. Less
than 30 percent of school-age children in southern Sudan
were enrolled in school, with a 60 to 75 percent gender gap.
Day-to-day attendance rates were even lower. Children had
limited access to school and other educational opportunities
due to massive displacement, lack of clothing and high
enrollment fees. Girls faced the same barriers plus additional
ones that further limited their educational opportunities,
such as early and forced marriage, household chores and
other domestic responsibilities.
Watchlist also reported that trained teachers and educational
materials were in short supply. Teachers in southern Sudan
generally did not receive a salary and many taught on a
voluntary basis. Schools in southern Sudan were generally
in poor condition, with inadequate materials, a dilapidated
infrastructure that forced some classes to be held outdoors
and limited access to potable water sources. These poor
conditions, compounded with war-related trauma and stress,
impacted students’ behavior and ability to learn.
In 2003, the GoS and opposition forces targeted schools
in military operations, destroying and looting educational
materials.
Gender-Based Violence (GBV)
In 2003, conflict-related gender-based violence (GBV) was
known to be a widespread problem in Sudan. However,
statistics were difficult to collect and little prevalence data
was available. It was believed that many incidents of GBV
went unreported due to social stigma and widely supported
attitudes that blamed survivors of GBV, a limited police
presence and other GBV-related services for survivors, a
fear of reprisal attacks and an overall lack of confidence in
service providers and their ability to take action and keep
information confidential. In addition, criminal law stipulated
that women and girls could be prosecuted or punished for
adultery if they failed to prove that they had been raped.31 In
fact, in northern states, women and girls had been known to
abandon babies from unwanted pregnancies in order to avoid
punishment for adultery. Some women traveled to Khartoum
to give birth and then left their child in the care of a friend,
relative, care center or elsewhere. As a result, most GBV cases
went unreported and most perpetrators enjoyed impunity.
In Western Equatoria and other areas, government security
forces and pro-government militias, as well the SPLA, were
known to rape, gang rape, sexually exploit and abuse girls
and women. Government-backed militias, armed opposition
groups and tribal militias were also known to sexually exploit,
rape and abduct children into sexual slavery, especially girls.
Additionally, high levels of poverty and prohibitive school
fees had driven some girls into sexually exploitative relationships
in order to meet their basic needs. Many had entered
into relationships with soldiers who had a large presence
throughout Sudan and interacted regularly with civilians.
Female genital mutilation (FGM), a harmful traditional
practice, was known to be a widespread practice in many
areas of Sudan and was spreading to new areas due to massive
population movements. A study in the mid-1990s estimated
that 10 to 30 percent of Sudanese girls who had undergone
FGM died as a result, especially in areas where antibiotics
and medical treatment were not readily available.32
Watchlist also reported in 2003 that marriage patterns were
changing as a result of increased insecurity and the decreasing
number of men. Girls tended to marry at early ages to avoid
pervasive sexual violence, according to Throwing the Stick
Forward: The Impact of War on Southern Sudanese Women, a
study sponsored by UNICEF and UNIFEM. Early marriage
increases the risks of health hazards, such as obstructed labor
and subsequent gynecological problems related to early pregnancy,
HIV and other STIs.
Traff icking and Exp loitation
In 2003, Sudan was both a destination country for trafficked
persons and a country in which internal trafficking in persons
was widespread. The GoS had estimated that 14,000 southern
Sudanese women and children were abducted, primarily in
connection with the armed conflict, while NGO and UN
sources estimated the number between 10,000 and 17,000.
Information about the extent and details of abduction and
slavery were limited, primarily due to obstacles generated
by the GoS and SPLM/A to prevent information collection.
The 2002 Report of the International Eminent Persons Group,
Slavery, Abduction and Forced Servitude in Sudan verified that
a significant number of abduction cases fell under the international
legal definitions of slavery.
In 1999, the GoS created the Committee for the Elimination
of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC). However,
humanitarian actors had many legitimate questions about
the CEAWC initiative, such as a lack of transparency and
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 58
APPENDI X
professionalism, slack financial management, partial commitment
and other fundamental flaws. Although it established
CEAWC, the GoS was still known to arm, transport
and assist slave-raiding militias by providing compensation
to raiders, protecting troops and disrupting and terrorizing
southern communities. Government-backed armed militias
of the Baggara tribes, known as “murahaleen,” carried out
raids in southern Sudan, primarily against the Dinka tribe
in Bahr el-Ghazal, where they captured women and children
and forced them into slavery. Intensified fighting in new oil
development areas had led to abductions in western areas of
Upper Nile.
When abducted, women and children were held for domestic
servitude, forced labor or as slaves, including for sexual
slavery. Abducted and enslaved children suffered physical and
sexual abuse. Girls and young women were reportedly gangraped
and tortured, forced into prostitution, beaten, denied
food and subjected to prolonged exposure to the sun with
their hands and feet tied together. Others were forced into
early marriages, mentally abused, raped, had their genitals
mutilated and were forced to bear children. Some abducted
women and children remained enslaved in areas of Southern
Darfur or Western Kordofan, while others were trafficked to
Khartoum or destinations in the Middle East, Europe and
elsewhere.
The SPLM/A was also known to abduct children primarily
for conscription into the armed forces and for forced labor.
Tribal militias also carried out abductions in relation to tribal
disputes.
Landmines and Unexp loded
Ordnance (UXO)
Data about contamination was extremely limited because
no comprehensive survey of the threat of landmines and
explosive remnants of war (ERW) existed. The GoS estimated
between 2 million and 3 million mines and unexploded
ordnance (UXO) in 32 percent of the country, while the
UN and NGOs estimated between 500,000 and 2 million.
Mines had been planted in places like forests, water points
and fields, which creates particular vulnerability for women
and children who often perform domestic duties in such
areas. Contamination also limited children’s access to medical
facilities, schools, vaccination programs, safe drinking water
and other important goods and services. Reported casualties
were low because few mine victims survived long enough to
make it to health centers due to scarcity of medical facilities
and poor roads.
The GoS signed the Mine Ban Treaty in 1997 and signaled its
intention to move towards ratification. The SPLM/A signed
the Geneva Call Non-State Actor declaration in 2001. The
GoS and SPLM had both made commitments to the UN
Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children
and Armed Conflict that they would not use anti-personnel
landmines in the southern conflict zone. The GoS and the
SPLM/A signed a Memorandum of Understanding in September
2002, committing to support UN efforts to remove
landmines and establish a national mine action strategy.
However, as of 2003, there were strong indications that both
government and rebel forces continued to use mines in the
South.
UNICEF was working with NGO partners to collect comprehensive
data on landmine-related incidents and to deliver
Mine Risk Education.
Sm all Arms
In 1995, Sudan was said to have experienced the biggest relative
arms build-up in the world. The price of small arms and
light weapons in Sudan was extremely low. Rights abuses
against children and other Sudanese civilians facilitated
by the proliferation of small arms included killings, forced
disappearances, denial of humanitarian assistance, forced displacement,
abduction of women and children and looting of
civilian property. The circulation of massive amounts of small
arms also led to violent raiding, banditry and heavy arming
of civilian populations, with little or no accountability.
Despite sanctions against the GoS imposed by a number of
states, small arms continued to flow into the country and
were used by and against children. Trafficking in small arms
and light weapons along the borders with Kenya and Uganda
was rampant. China, Malaysia, Iran and South Africa were
known as primary sources of arms for the GoS. France, Iraq
and other states were also suppliers.
In 2003, Watchlist reported that the GoS was also allegedly
supplying small arms to some armed opposition groups in
the South, using revenue from oil development to fund this
practice. This activity contradicted the general tenor of the
UN Convention Against the Manufacturing of and Trafficking
in Small Arms, which Sudan has ratified. Other alleged
sources of small arms for the armed opposition groups
included Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Uganda.
59 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
APPENDI X
Child Soldiers
In 2003, Watchlist reported that both the GoS and opposition
forces were extensively using children as combatants,
including some as young as 10 years old. Children were both
forcibly conscripted and joining “voluntarily” due to a lack
of protection or limited access to food, shelter or other basic
resources.
The GoS had made repeated commitments to the UN Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and
Armed Conflict to cease recruiting and deploying children
under the age of 18. Still, in 1997 the GoS adopted a decree
requiring all boys aged 17 to 19 to perform compulsory military
service in order to receive a certificate required for entry
into university. In addition, government forces and aligned
paramilitary and armed groups were known to abduct and
forcibly recruit children. The GoS was also reported to forcibly
conscript youth in oil development areas to help protect
these resources. They were ordered to carry out human rights
abuses against neighbors and relatives, including killing
people, burning villages and looting food. Anecdotal evidence
suggested that adolescent boys in Khartoum faced potential
abduction from schools, parks and other public places
by government armed forces, and that following abduction
they would be provided with brief training and deployed for
active combat duty. The GoS also provided military support
to the LRA, which abducted and forcibly recruited children
in the South.
Representatives of the SPLA repeatedly assured the Special
Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children
and Armed Conflict, the Executive Director of UNICEF
and the UN Special Rapporteur on Sudan that they would
discontinue the use of child soldiers. However, in 2003 the
SPLA was still known to forcibly recruit children under age
18, generally in advance of a particular offensive. The SPLM/
A admitted to having 13,500 child soldiers, while the former
Sudan People’s Defense Force (SPDF) was believed to have at
least 3,500 children in its ranks. In November 2002, the UN
Secretary-General stated that the number of children remaining
in SPLA ranks was unknown.
Disarmament, Demobilization
and Reintegration (DDR)
In 1997, UNICEF, Save the Children Sweden and the Southern
Sudan Independence Movement/Army (SSIM/A) began a
DDR program for child soldiers from the SSIM/A in Upper
Nile. However, renewed fighting disrupted the process and
many children were scattered or re-recruited by the factions.
In 2001, the SPLA began cooperating with UNICEF and
other organizations in the demobilization of child soldiers.
During the first phase, UNICEF reported that 3,551 children
were demobilized through an airlift evacuation from
the SPLA areas. The GoS formally protested the evacuation,
claiming that the airlift was conducted secretly, in violation
of agreements between the UN and GoS. Various NGOs
raised concern that some of the released children may not
have actually been soldiers. During a second phase, as many
as 11,500 children may have been demobilized in Eastern and
Western Equatoria, Upper Nile, Nuba Mountains, Leech
State, Latjor State and Bieh State.
Communities that received demobilized children had few
resources to consistently provide follow-up care and protection
to children once they were reunited with their families.
No data was available regarding the numbers of demobilized
children who may have been re-recruited as a result.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 60
Endnotes Data reported from Towards a Baseline only includes areas controlled
by the SPLM/A before 2005.
IDP numbers are estimates. It is very difficult to obtain precise numbers
due to the country’s vast size, inadequate infrastructure, lack of
access to various conflict areas and complexity of the situation.
This figure includes parts of the North and former garrison towns in
the South.
For more information on the context of armed conflict in all areas of
Sudan, see the Periodic Reports of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan
and reports from agencies such as Amnesty International, Human
Rights Watch and the International Crisis Group.
For more information on violations against children in the North-
South conflict prior to the CPA, please see Watchlist on Children and
Armed Conflict: Sudan, March 2003, available at www.watchlist.org.
The CPA consists of several separate documents, including the Machakos
Protocol, Power-Sharing Protocol, Wealth-Sharing Protocol,
Resolution of the Abyei Conflict, Resolution of the Conflict in South
Kordofan and Blue Nile and Security Arrangements. The CPA applies
to southern Sudan and three Transitional Areas: an expanded South
Kordofan state (Nuba Mountains), the southern section of Blue Nile
state and the district of Abyei in Kordofan.
Several other governments also provided additional financial, technical
and political support, including Norway, the UK and the US.
On July 30, 2005, Dr. Garang was killed in a helicopter crash. The
days following his death were marred by violence in Khartoum, Juba,
Malakal and other locations throughout southern Sudan. The SPLM
quickly appointed Salva Kiir Mayardit as its new chairman, president
of the GoSS and first vice president of the GoNU.
Over 50 “Other Armed Groups” joined together under as the South
Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF), an umbrella organization led by
Major General Paulino Matiep of the South Sudan Unity Movement
(SSUM).
For more details on the political background regarding implementation
of the CPA, see ICG, Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement: The
Long Road Ahead, Africa Report No. 106, March 31, 2006.
The SLA/M and JEM are principally comprised of members of the
Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit ethnic groups.
The campaign has been carried out by militias from the Habbania
tribe, one of the main Arab tribes of Darfur, against civilians described
as being of “African origin,” according to OHCHR.
The African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) arrived in Darfur in
June 2004 to monitor and report on the cease-fire agreement. As
of November 2006, AMIS is comprised of approximately 7,000
peacekeepers with a mandate to contribute to securing the environment
for delivery of humanitarian relief and for the return of IDPs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
61 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
ENDNOTES
and refugees; contribute to the improvement of the security situation
throughout Darfur; protect civilians under imminent threat; and provide
visible military presence. Due to limited resources and capacity,
AMIS has not been able to efficiently fulfill its mandate. In December
2006, the Government accepted a UN proposal to deploy a joint UNAU
force to Darfur, though the size and the command of this hybrid
force had not yet been agreed upon. For more information on AMIS,
see www.africa-union.org/DARFUR/homedar.htm.
Due to insecurity and limited access in eastern Sudan, information
about violations against children in the context of the conflict in
eastern Sudan is extremely restricted. As a result, this report contains
limited information about children in eastern Sudan.
For more information on UNMIS, see www.unmis.org/english/enmain.
htm.
For detailed documentation of these attacks, see the Fifth Periodic
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on
the Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan, October 2006.
For detailed documentation of these attacks, see the Fifth Periodic
Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on
the Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan, October 2006.
This section includes information on population movements and
security of Sudanese refugees and IDPs. For specific thematic information,
please see the sections on health, HIV/AIDS, education, GBV,
trafficking and exploitation, landmines and ERW, small arms and
child soldiers.
For a detailed breakdown of IDP location and numbers as of April
2006, please refer to IDMC, “More than 5 Million Estimated IDPs in
Sudan,” 4/06.
These figures must be treated with caution as the UN tracking systems
do not generally capture information about people who have returned
to Khartoum or other areas of displacement, those who move back
and forth or those whose families have split.
As per definitions set forth by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee,
gender-based violence is an umbrella term for any harmful act
that is perpetrated against a person’s will, and that is based on socially
ascribed (gender) differences between males and females. Examples include
sexual violence, including sexual exploitation/abuse and forced
prostitution; domestic violence; trafficking; forced/early marriage; and
harmful traditional practices such as female genital mutilation, honor
killings, and widow inheritance. Sexual violence is any sexual act, attempt
to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances,
or acts to traffic a person’s sexuality, using coercion, threats of harm or
physical force, by any person regardless of relationship to the victim,
in any setting, including but not limited to home and work. Examples
include rape/attempted rape; sexual exploitation and abuse; and sexual
slavery.
In Sudan, non-consensual sexual intercourse cannot be proven without
the eyewitness testimony of four adult witnesses (the testimony
of two women is equal to the testimony of one man). In cases where
the testimony of four witnesses cannot be provided, a woman may be
charged with adultery. These testimonies are a prerequisite to proving
rape. Punishment for adultery according to the 1991 Criminal Act
(article 146) is death by stoning if a woman is married and 100 lashes
if she is unmarried.
Protocol V of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW)
defines explosive remnants of war (ERW) as explosive ordnance that
have been used or fired but have failed to explode as intended (unexploded
ordnance) and stocks of explosive ordnance left behind on the
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
battlefield (abandoned ordnance). On November 12, 2006, Protocol V
of CCW became binding international law for all signatories.
For more detailed information on supply of military aircraft, vehicles,
artillery, small arms, light weapons and training to Sudan by foreign
governments and firms, see AI, Sudan: Arming the Perpetrators of Grave
Abuses in Darfur, November 16, 2004 (AI Index AFR 54/139/2004).
For more information on the Panel of Experts, see www.un.org/Docs/
sc/committees/Sudan/SudanselectedEng.htm.
For more information on recruitment and use of children by militias
in southern Sudan prior to the signing of the CPA, please see Coalition
to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Child Soldiers Global Report
2004, www.child-soldiers.org.
Previously, between 2001 and 2004, the SPLA had demobilized an
estimated 16,000 children, including 600 girls, according to Child
Soldiers Global Report 2004. At that time an estimated 2,500 to 5,000
children were still believed to remain inside the SPLA.
The Camel Police is a legally regulated force used to mediate and
control disputes between pastoralists and farmers.
For more information on the Security Council Mission to Sudan 4–10
June 2006, see UN document S/2006/433.
Readers should note that many of these recommendations concur
with others made by organizations, government agencies and other
institutions working to protect civilians and promote peace in Sudan.
In Sudan, non-consensual sexual intercourse cannot be proven without
the eyewitness testimony of four adult witnesses (the testimony
of two women is equal to the testimony of one man). In cases where
the testimony of four witnesses cannot be provided, a woman may be
charged with adultery. These testimonies are a prerequisite to proving
rape. Punishment for adultery, according to the 1991 Criminal Act
(article 146), is death by stoning if a woman is married and 100 lashes
if she is unmarried.
Approximately 90 percent of girls in northern Sudan are subject to
FGM. This may not be a direct result of conflict, but it is a harmful
traditional practice based on customary behaviors that has sustained
and reinforced abuses against girls throughout the armed conflict.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 62
Sources Aegis Trust www.protectdarfur.org
Lives in Our Hands, Darfuri Asylum Seekers Facing Removal to
Khartoum, 6/30/06
Safe as Ghost Houses: Prospects for Darfur African Survivors Removed
to Khartoum, 6/06
Agence France-Presse www.afp.com
Sudan: Darfur rebels split on participation in peace talks, 9/16/05
Aid workers beaten, raped, 1/5/06
Amnesty International www.ai.org
Sudan: Death and Devastation Continue in Darfur, 6/3/04
Sudan: Rape as a Weapon of War: Sexual Violence and Its Consequences,
7/19/04
Sudan: Arming the Perpetrators of Grave Abuses in Darfur, 11/16/04
Sudan: The Rights of Khartoum’s Displaced Must Be Respected,
8/23/05
Sudan: Leading Sudanese Human Rights Group Targeted by Government,
10/6/05
Sudan: Overview Covering Events from January to December 2005
Darfur Action Appeal: Korma: Yet More Attacks on Civilians, 7/06
Africa: Forced Evictions Reach Crisis Levels, 10/4/06
ANPPCAN and Anti-Slavery
Report of the Eastern and Horn of Africa Conference on Human Trafficking
and Forced Labor, July 2005
BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk
Second Sudan aid worker arrested, 5/31/05
Sudan ‘drops aid worker charges,’ 6/1/05
Sudan Struggles as Millions Head South, 9/30/05
Sudan ‘Attacks’ Eastern Rebel HQ, 1/12/06
AU’s Darfur Troops in Abuse Probe, 4/4/06
Darfur Malnutrition “Rises Again,” 4/26/06
‘Little Cheer’ from Sudan Peace, retrieved 6/8/06
Dying as Darfur Awaits Peacekeepers, 9/21/06
Uganda ‘attack’ Threatens Talks, 10/16/06
Canadian Medical Association Journal www.cmaj.ca
Massive Aid Mobilization Needed in Darfur: MSF, Vol. 171, Issue 9,
10/04
Care International www.careinternational.org
Last Month Darfur’s Worst-Ever Month for Violence towards Aid
Workers, 8/8/06
Center on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) www.cohre.org
Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights, 12/06
63 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
SO URCES
Christian Science Monitor www.csmonitor.com
Darfur Refugees Forced to Join the Fight, 4/28/06
Civilian Protection Monitoring Team (CPMT)
Report of Investigation No. 102: Assault, Illegal Taxation and Militarization
of Misseriya Against Indigenous Dinka by the Government of
Sudan (GoS) in Abyei, 8/16/05
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers www.child-soldiers.org
Child Soldiers Global Report 2004
Daily Telegraph (UK) www.telegraph.co.uk
UN to Hold Inquiry into Sudan Abuse, 1/5/07
F.A.R., IOM, IRC, Medair, MSF-F, OCHA and War Child
Khartoum State Interagency Rapid Assessment Report, 1/19/05
Forced Migration Review www.forcedmigration.org
Separated Children in the South, 11/05
Country Guide: Sudan (Forced Migration Online), 2/06
Government of Southern Sudan and UNICEF
Rapid Assessment of Learning Spaces: Southern Sudan, 2006
Government of Sudan
Sudan Reporting to the Second Session of the Standing Committees
to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, Geneva, 6/21–25/04
Government of Sudan and SPLM/A
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), 1/9/05
Government of Sudan and United Nations Country Team
2005 Sudan Millennium Development Goals Interim Unified Report,
12/04
Guardian (UK)
Aid Workers Abandon Darfur Refugee Camp, 10/2/06
Hoile, David
Darfur in Perspective, European-Sudanese Public Affairs Council, 3/05
Humanitarian Practice Network www.odihpn.org
Standards Put to the Test: The Preliminary Implementation
of the INEE Minimum Standards for Education in
Emergencies, Chronic Crisis and Early Reconstruction,
HPN Network Paper Number 57, 12/06
Human Rights Watch www.hrw.org
Sudan: “If We Return, We Will Be Killed”: Rebel Abuses, 11/04
No Protection: Rape and Sexual Violence Following Displacement,
4/05
Sexual Violence and Its Consequences among Displaced Persons in
Darfur and Chad, 4/12/05
Egypt: Investigate Police for Sudanese Deaths, 12/30/05
They Came to Kill Us: Militia Attacks and Ethnic Targeting of Civilians
in Eastern Chad, 1/07
IANSA www.iansa.org
Sudan: Tougher UN Arms Embargo, 2005
Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Sudan: New US Envoy Facing Uphill Battle, 10/19/06
Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)
Guidelines for Gender-based Violence Interventions in Humanitarian
Settings – Focusing on Prevention of and Response to Sexual Violence
in Emergencies, 9/05
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC)
www.internal-displacement.org
1.8 Million IDPs Live in and around Khartoum, 2004
Forced Recruitment and Abduction Main Protection Concerns Affecting
Displaced Children, 2005
Returning IDPs Face Serious Human Rights Abuses En Route and in
Return Areas, 8/05
Limited or No Access to Education in Southern Rural Areas Deterring
IDPs from Returning, 2003–2006
Children Kept out of School in Khartoum IDP Camps, 2006
More than 5 Million Estimated IDPs in Sudan, 4/06
Most IDPs Went Home to the South Without Assistance, 7/06
Slow IDP Return to South While Darfur Crisis Continues Unabated,
8/06
International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL) www.icbl.org
Landmine Monitor 2004
Landmine Monitor 2005
Landmine Monitor 2006
International Committee of the Red Cross www.icrc.org
Sudan: ICRC Responds to Cholera Outbreak in Juba, 2/21/2006
International Crisis Group www.icg.org
Sudan: Saving Peace in the East, Africa Report No. 102, 1/5/06
Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement: The Long Road Ahead,
Africa Report No. 106, 3/31/06
Sudan page www.crisisgroup.org, retrieved 11/15/06
International Network on Education in Emergencies www.ineesite.org
INEE Members – Getting Things Done: Save the Children UK South
Sudan, accessed 3/21/06
Roundtable on Teacher Compensation in Fragile States, Situations of
Displacement and Post-conflict Return, 11/06
International Rescue Committee (IRC) www.theirc.org
Freedom from Fear: Promoting Human Security for the Return and
Reintegration of Displaced Persons in Sudan, A Protection Assessment,
5/04
IRC Responses to Emerging Health Crisis Among Sudanese Refugees
in Chad, 5/14/04
Food for Thought: Malnutrition’s Insidious Impact on Children,
8/19/04
Increased Sexual Assaults Signal Darfur’s Downward Slide, 8/23/06
IRC Health Worker Killed in Darfur, 9/4/06
IRIN News www.irinnews.org
Sudan: Government to Ban FGM, 9/3/03
Sudan: Living with the Trauma of FGM, 5/25/05
Sudan: Three Quarters of Southern Children without Education-
MDG Report, 9/13/05
SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 64
SO URCES
Sudan: Displaced Girls Trying to Cope on the Streets, 10/1/05
Sudan: Growing Up in Prison, 10/9/05
Sudan: Campaign to Focus on HIV/AIDS Affected Children, 12/7/05
Egypt: Calls to Investigate Refugee Riots as Death Toll Hits 30, 1/2/06
Uganda: Year in Review 2005: Rebel Activity and Political Upheaval,
1/13/06
Sudan: Thousands Displaced by Recent Attacks in South Darfur
2/1/06
Uganda: Chronology of Key Events 2006, 4/21/06
Sudan: Child Soldiers Return to Their Families in the South, 4/24/06
Chad: Some 80,000 Children at Risk in Lawless East, 5/17/06
Sudan: Gov’t, Eastern Rebels Sign Ceasefire as SPLM/A Pulls Out,
6/20/06
Sudan: ‘Neglected Diseases’ Re-Emerge in the South, 8/1/06
Sudan: Armed Youth Voluntarily Disarm in Jonglei, 8/2/06
Uganda: Key Points in the Cease-Fire Agreement Between the Government
and the LRA, 8/29/06
Uganda: ICC Indictments Against Rebels Should Stay, Say Rebels,
9/21/06
Sudan: Living on the Streets, 9/26/06
Uganda: Most Rebels Have Left Uganda for Sudan – Army, 9/26/06
Sudan: Investigate Darfur Attacks, Government Urged, 10/6/06
Uganda: Rebels Propose Federalist Solution at Juba Talks, 10/11/06
Sudan: Darfur at Risk of Mounting HIV/AIDS Epidemic, 12/7/06
Sudan-Uganda: Suspected Rebels Kill 13 in Southern Sudan, 1/4/07
IRIN Plus News www.plusnews.org
War-Scarred South Ill-Equipped to Deal with HIV/AIDS, 4/10/06
Sudan: Preventing HIV/AIDS in the South – A Cash-Strapped Mission,
8/16/06
Jesuit Refugee Services USA www.jrsusa.org
Dispatches Number 170, 4/29/05
Joint Assessment Mission (JAM)
JAM Sudan: Volume III, Cluster Reports, 3/18/05
Médecins du Monde www.medecinsdumonde.org
Médecins du Monde Opens New Mobile Clinics in Thur Region,
South Darfur, 3/23/06
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) www.msf.org
The Crushing Burden of Rape: Sexual Violence in Darfur, 3/8/05
Darfur: Sudan, the Chronic Insecurity Has Led Us to Redefine and
Step Up Our Activities, 2/16/06
Upsurge of Violence Harming Civilians in Southern Sudan, 5/23/06
Darfur, Sudan: No Peace, No Food, 5/25/06
Press Release: Increased Insecurity Hampers MSF Medical Assistance
to the Population in Darfur, 8/3/06
Mines Advisory Group (MAG) www.mag.org.uk
Clearing Small Arms and Light Weapons, 6/19/06
New Sudan Centre for Statistics and Evaluation in Association with
UNICEF
Towards a Baseline: Best Estimates of Social Indicators for Southern
Sudan, May 2004, NSCSE Series Paper 1/2004, 5/31/04
New York Times www.nytimes.com
Refugee Crisis Grows as Darfur War Crosses a Border, 2/28/06
Darfur Effort Said to Face Collapse, 5/19/06
Ockenden International www.ockenden.org
Combating HIV/AIDS in Eastern Sudan: The Case for Preventative
Action, 2/05
OHCHR www.ohchr.org
Second Periodic Report of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan, (in
cooperation with UNMIS), 1/27/06
Mission Report to Kosti, 3/06
Third Periodic Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan, (in cooperation
with UNMIS), 4/06
Fourth Periodic Report of the United Nations High Commissioner
for Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan, (in
cooperation with UNMIS), 6/06
Fifth Periodic Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan: Killings of
Civilians by Militia in the Buram Locality, South Darfur (in cooperation
with UNMIS), 10/06
Sixth Periodic Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights on the Human Rights Situation in Sudan: Attack on
Villages Around the Jebel Moon Area (in cooperation with UNMIS),
10/06
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) www.phrusa.org
The Use of Rape as a Weapon of War in the Conflict in Darfur,
Sudan, October 2004
Darfur: Assault on Survival: A Call for Security, Justice and Restitution,
2006
Protect Darfur www.protectdarfur.org
Protection Project www.protectionproject.org
2005 Human Rights Report on Trafficking in Persons, Especially
Women and Children, 2005
Refugees International (RI) www.refugeesinternational.org
Sudan: Inform Rape Survivors of the Right to Seek Life-Saving Treatment,
12/21/05
Sudan: Strengthen the African Union Force During Transition to UN
Peacekeepers, 2/28/06
Refugee Voices: Abductions and Displacement in Sudan, 4/20/06
UNHCR Weaknesses Threaten Return Process in the South, 4/24/06
Sudan Human Rights Denied in the South, 5/3/06
Reuters www.alertnet.org
Sudan Signs Wealth Sharing Deal with Eastern Rebels, 1/10/06
Sudan’s Slaves, 8/22/06
Sudan Bombing Civilians in Darfur, EU Envoy, 9/12/06
Sudan, Eastern Rebels Sign Peace Deal, 10/14/06
Save the Children
Save the Children UK, Tragic Loss in Darfur, 10/12/04, www.
savethechildren.org.uk
65 Watchlist on Children an d Armed Conflict
SO URCES
Save the Children Sweden, Bulletin Eastern and Central Africa #3,
2005, www.rb.se/eng
Save the Children Alliance, Oxfam UK, UNICEF, Khartoum Council
for Child Welfare (KKCS) and Government of Sudan
Children of the Sug, 2001
Small Arms Survey www.smallarmssurvey.org
Small Arms Survey 2005
Small Arms Survey 2006
Human Security Baseline Assessment, Sudan Issue Brief, Number 1,
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Islands of Education: Schooling, Civil War, and the Southern Sudanese,
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Sudan Human Rights Organization-Cairo (SHRO-Cairo)
www.shro-cairo.org
An Urgent Appeal to UNHCR High Commissioner for Refugees to
Stop the Deportation of Displaced Southern Sudanese in Syria,
2005
Sudan Mine Action Programme www.sudanmap.org
Mine Risk Education in Sudan, 2006
Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT) www.soatsudan.org
Female Genital Mutilation in Sudan, 1999
Sudan Tribune www.sudantribune.com
Not Even 9,000 Have Died in Darfur, Sudanese President, 11/28/06
Turnbull, Fr. Bill W.F. home.btconnect.com/White-Fathers/378su.pdf
The Darfur Conflict, The Sudan, 11/04
UNAIDS and WHO www.unaids.org
AIDS Epidemic Update, December 2005
UNAIDS, WHO and UNICEF
www.who.int/hiv/pub/epidemiology/pubfacts/en
Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted
Infections: Sudan, August 2006
UNFPA and UNICEF
The Effects of Conflict on Health and Well-being of Women and
Girls in Darfur, 10/3/05
UNHCR www.unhcr.ch
HIV/AIDS Training Mission Sudan (Es Showak, El Geneina, Malakal,
Khartoum) August 23–September 12, 2005
HIV/AIDS and Internally Displaced Persons in 8 Priority Countries,
1/06
UNHCR Mission Report to Kosti, 3/06
On International Mine Awareness Day, UNHCR Concerned Over
Dangers Facing Returning Refugees to South Sudan, 4/3/06
UNHCR Chief Warns That Worsening Darfur Crisis Threatens Entire
Region, 9/8/06
Sudan Repatriation Operation 2006, Weekly Statistics Report, Refugee
Returns, Week 50, 12/06
UNICEF www.unicef.org
One Million People Displaced by Conflict, 5/3/04
UNICEF Darfur Emergency: July to August 2005 Report
Child Alert: Darfur, 12/05
Sudan: Keeping HIV/AIDS in Check, 12/14/05
In Response to Disease Outbreak, UNICEF Rushes Aid to Southern
Sudan Town, 2/9/2006
Schools Reopen Just Weeks After Thousands Fled a Militia Attack in
South Darfur, 3/7/06
Sudan: UNICEF Representative Sees Opportunities in Southern
Sudan and Urgent Need in Darfur, 3/16/06
Darfur Nutrition Update, Issue 3, March/April 2006
Press Centre: Southern Sudan “Goes to School,” 4/1/06
Press Centre: Darfur Funding Crisis Threatens Children’s Health and
Protection, 4/17/06
Sudan: In Southern Sudan, 250 Demobilized Child Soldiers Trade
Weapons for Textbooks, 4/25/06
More Than 200 Sudanese Boys and Girls Head Home After Release
from Armed Groups, 6/29/06
Getting Children into School in Southern Sudan, 6/30/06
Sudan: For Girls in South Darfur, Finishing Primary School Is a
Major Milestone, 7/18/06
Returning Students Crowd Schools in Southern Sudan, 7/31/06
State of the World’s Children: Women and Children, The Double
Dividend of Gender Equality, 2007
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Sudan: Background, accessed 01/05/07
UNICEF/AET
School Baseline Assessment Report for Southern Sudan, 2003
UNICEF and UNIFEM
Throwing the Stick Forward: The Impact of War on Southern Sudanese
Women, 2004
UNIFEM www.unifem.org
UNIFEM to Join African Union Committee of Inquiry on Allegations
of Sexual Misconduct by Forces in Darfur, 5/4/06
United Nations www.un.org
United Nations and Partners: 2005 Work Plan for Sudan, 11/30/04
Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict
(S/2005/72), 2/9/05
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(2005) Concerning the Sudan Prepared in Accordance with Paragraph
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SUDAN’S CHILDRE N AT A CROSSRO ADS : An Urgent Need for Protection 66
SO URCES
Press Release: Much More Needs to Be Done to Ensure Protection of
Internally Displaced of Southern Sudan, Rights Expert Says, 10/14/06
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2/13/06
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UNOCHA
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Executive Order Blocking Khartoum’s Property and Transactions,
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Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
Sudan, March 2003
Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children
www.womenscommission.org
Don’t Forget Us: The Education and Gender-Based Violence Protection
Needs of Adolescent Girls from Darfur in Chad, 7/05
Finding Trees in the Desert: Firewood Collection and Alternatives in
Darfur, 3/06
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Education in Darfur: A Critical Component of Humanitarian Response,
11/06
From the Ground Up, 1/07
World Food Programme www.wfp.org
Difficult Return for South Sudanese Coming Home, 1/16/06
Sudan Boosts Self-Help with School Meal Support, 4/5/06
New Donations Boost Rations in Darfur but More Contributions
Needed For Sudan, 5/29/06
World Health Organization www.who.int
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Guide to Essential Practice, 2005
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Sudan: Minor Girl Raped During Attack on Passenger Bus by Men in
Military Uniform, 7/6/05
Case SDN 091204.VAW.CC
Case SDN 23095.VAW.CC
Case SDN 300306.CC
Watchlist works within the framework of the provisions adopted in Security
Council Resolutions 1261, 1314, 1379, 1460, 1539 and 1612, the principles
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its protocols and other
internationally adopted human rights and humanitarian standards.
Information is collected through an extensive network of organizations that
work with children around the world. Analysis is provided by a multidisciplinary
team of people with expertise and/or experience in the particular
context. Information in the public domain may be directly cited in the
report. All sources are listed in alphabetical order at the end of this report to
protect the security of sources.
General supervision of Watchlist is provided by a Steering Committee of
international nongovernmental organizations known for their work with
children and human rights. The views presented in this report do not
represent the views of any one organization in the network or the Steering
Committee.
For further information about Watchlist or specific reports, or to share
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www .watchlist.org

Buram
Dongola
Halaib
Kapoeta
Karima
Muhammad
Qol
Nagishot
Radom
Selima Oasis Salala
Suakin
Yei
Haiya
Kerma
Maridi
Sodiri
Laqiya Arba‘in
Muglad
Nukheila
El‘Atrun
Miski
Karora
Shendi
Abu ‘Uruq
Kafia Kingi
Tullus
Abu Zabad
Kologi
Talodi
En Nahud
Umm Badr
Renk
Kigille
Raga
Li
Yubu
Fathai
Akobo
Ukwaa
Towot
Famaka
Gonder
Omdurman
Halfa al
Gadida
Gadamai
Atbara
Tokar
Abu Hamed
Paloich
Ed Da‘ein
Abyei
Wadi Halfa
Amadi
Merowe
Kosti
Nyala
Yambio Juba Torit
Bentiu
Geneina Al Fasher
Wau
El Obeid
Malakal
Al Fula
Sinnar
Rumbek
Ed Damer
Wad Medani
Port Sudan
Gedaref
Kassala
Aweil
Kadugli
Bor
Ed Damazin
Adis Abeba
(Addis Ababa)
Khartoum Asmara
Jebel Abyad Plateau
Jebel Nagashush
Qoz Abu Dulu
Administrative
boundary
D a r H a m i d
N u b i a n
D e s e r t
Administrative
boundary
Semna West
Kumma
Meroë
Old Dongola
L i b y a n D e s e r t
Nuba Mts.
S u d d
Abay
Pibor
Pongo
Victoria
Nile
Wadi
el Milk
Bahrel'Arab
Lol
Jur
Albert Nile
Omo
Dinder
Sobat
R E D S E A
Wadi Howar
Jonglei Canal
Wadi Odib
Nile
Abay (Blue Nile)
Lotagipi
Swamp
Lake
Nubia
Lake
Nasser
L. Albert L. Salisbury
L. Turkana
(L. Rudolf)
Ch'ew Bahir
L. Kyoga
Kenamuke
Swamp
T'ana
Hayk'
Kobowen
Swamp
Tekeze
White Nile
Bahr ez Zaraf
White Nile
Atbara
NORTHERN
DARFUR
WESTERN
DARFUR
SOUTHERN DARFUR
UPPER
NILE
BLUE
NILE
WHITE
NILE
RIVER
NILE
JONGLI
EASTERN
EQUATORIA
WESTERN
EQUATORIA
WESTERN
BAHR
AL GHAZAL
NORTHERN
BAHR
AL GHAZAL
KHARTOUM
R E D S E A
N O R T H E R N
S T A T E
NORTHERN
KORDOFAN
SOUTHERN
KORDOFAN
WESTERN
KORDOFAN
UNITY
STATE
WARAB
BAHR AL
JEBEL
KASSALA
GEDAREF
SINNAR
GEZIRA
BUHEYRAT
K E N Y A
U G A N D A
E G Y P T
C H A D
CENTRAL
AFRICAN
REPUBLIC
SAUDI ARABIA
E T H I O P I A
ERITREA
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF
THE CONGO
SUDAN
National capital
State (wilayah) capital
Town
Major airport
International boundary
State (wilayah) boundary
Main road
Track
Railroad
0 100 200 300 km
0 100 200 mi
The boundaries and names shown and the designations used
on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance
by the United Nations.
Map No. 3707 Rev. 7 UNITED NATIONS
May 2004
Department of Peacekeeping Operations
Cartographic Section
SUDAN
MAP OF SUDAN
The Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict is a network
of non-governmental organizations working to monitor and report on
violations against children in situations of armed conflict.
Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict
c/o Women’s Commission for Refugee Women and Children
122 East 42nd Street, 11th floor
New York, NY 10168-1289
Phone: 212.551.2941
Fax: 212.551.3180
Email: watchlist@womenscommission.org
Access reports at: www.watchlist.org

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Friday, April 20, 2007

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