Is UNAMID next on the UN peacekeeping chopping block? It seems likely, as years of advocacy by the Government of Sudan and the current US administration’s eagerness to cut UN peacekeeping costs seem to come together. But many civilians continue to rely on the peacekeeping mission’s relative protection, as attacks on civilians continue. Today,…
(14 February 2017) Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, a prominent Sudanese human rights defender, has been unlawfully detained for over two months, held by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) at Khartoum’s Kober Prison without charge or access to legal representation, 39 human rights groups and activists said. Dr. Mudawi, who was arrested with his…
The International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) publishes an annual report on progress made in three focus areas: identifying the violations that cause displacement and exile; protecting the rights of those who are displaced, and ensuring the solutions to their displacement are durable, rights respecting, safe and timely. The 2016 report summarizes our work and looks…
(20 December 2016) A prominent Sudanese human rights defender (HRD), Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, is currently detained incommunicado by the country’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). Dr. Mudawi was arrested at the University of Khartoum, where he is a professor, on 7 December 2016 alongside his longtime driver, Adam El Sheikh Mukhtar. Both men…
To: United Nations: Working Group on Arbitrary Detention; Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Ms Agnes Callamard; Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Mr David Kaye; Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, Mr Maina Kiai; Special…
This has been a rough month for the International Criminal Court (ICC). After years of threats of withdrawal from the Rome Statute which created the ICC by African states, South Africa, Gambia and Burundi have made moves to do so this month (South Africa and Burundi have formally notified the UN of their withdrawals while…
Published in Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: The Deterrent Effect of the International Criminal Court, published by the International Nuremburg Principles Academy, 4 November 2016. Read the full article.
(Kampala, 6 September 2016) Five years after the start of the conflict in Sudan’s Blue Nile State, attacks against civilians continue unabated according to a report released by the International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) and the National Human Rights Monitors Organisation (NHRMO) today. A Crisis Normalised: Civilian perspectives on the conflict in Sudan’s Blue Nile…
7 September 2016 Re: Current human rights and humanitarian situation in Sudan Excellency, Our organisations write to you in advance of the opening of the 33rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to share our serious concerns regarding the human rights and humanitarian situation in Sudan. Many of these abuses are detailed in…
This submission focuses on the conflict in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states (also known as the “Two Areas”) between the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation ArmyNorth (SPLA-N). It details attacks against civilians in the Two Areas and is based on information compiled by the Sudan Consortium and the National Human Rights Monitors Organisation…
August 9, 2016 The Honourable Frank-Walter Steinmeier Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs c/o German Embassy 4645 Reservoir Road NW Washington, DC 20007 Dear Minister Steinmeier, We, the undersigned 77 human rights groups, civic leaders, scholars and activists, write to request your assistance in securing the immediate release of internally displaced Darfuris who were arrested by…
July 30, 2016 The Honorable John F. Kerry Secretary Department of State Washington, D.C. 20520 RE: The Office of the U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan Dear Secretary Kerry: Given the urgent crises in Sudan and South Sudan, we, the undersigned 70 human rights groups, activists, scholars and civic leaders, write to request the…
State repression and violent conflict lead to gross human rights violations on a daily basis worldwide. Many of these conflicts and violations barely see the light of day as they often happen in areas less of a priority to international key players. Courageous local human rights monitors struggle to collect evidence and put pressure…
International Justice Day is celebrated on 17 July, the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court (ICC). The day is meant to serve as a reminder of the importance of bringing perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide to justice. Back in 2012, a UN Human Rights…
(23 June 2016) With the UNAMID mandate renewal under discussion at the UN Security Council, a new report released today by the International Refugee Rights Initiative provides an analysis of the joint United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as seen by some of the civilians the force is mandated to protect. The report, “‘No…
Civil Society Statement on Push Factors in Sudan and the Khartoum Process 20 June 2016 On World Refugee Day, we, the undersigned individuals and civil society organisations, wish to draw attention to a number of the human rights violations serving as push factors for Sudan’s refugees and internally displaced. In light of the recent EU-Horn…
On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict the undersigned 24 individuals and civil society organisations call on the Sudanese government to end the widespread sexual violence committed by its security forces and to reverse the atmosphere of impunity that fosters it. In Darfur, as the report of…
The Right Honourable David Cameron MP 10 Downing Street London SW1A 2AA Saturday 4 June 2016 Dear Prime Minister, 5th YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF CONFLICT IN SOUTH KORDOFAN AND BLUE NILE, SUDAN We, as representatives of the population in the Nuba Mountains and wider international and African civil society organisations, as shown in the logos above…
After thirteen years in the country the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), deployed at the end of the country’s civil war in 2003, is preparing to leave the country and hand over full responsibility for security back to Liberia’s government by the end of next month. What is remarkable about this is not that…
At his inauguration ceremony yesterday, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, whilst sharing the stage with Sudan’s President Omar-al Bashir, against whom there is an outstanding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant, stated the ICC was “a bunch of useless people.” “When they started, we used to take the ICC serious but not anymore. They are a…
