NGOs urge the EU to defend human rights in Sudan
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Joint letter Mr. Josep Borrell
Vice-President of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Members of the Council,
Dear Mr Borrell,
We are writing as a coalition of human rights organizations to convey our grave concerns about the situation in Sudan, particularly the human rights violations targeting demonstrators and political activists.
Since December 2021, security forces have forcibly disappeared scores of demonstrators and unjustly detained hundreds more as part of a bigger crackdown on dissent to the October coup.
Security agents allegedly used sexual abuse and rape threats against demonstrators.
When arresting demonstrators during rallies, police, particularly anti-riot police and the Central Reserve Police (CRP), as well as other military forces sympathetic to Al Burhan, have brutally beaten and kicked them, in some instances indulging in sexual abuse.
Many significant cities in Sudan have arbitrary detentions.
Security forces often send protestors caught on the streets or at their homes to Khartoum’s two Criminal Investigation Department (CID) facilities, one in Khartoum and the other in Bahri.
The Federal Investigation Police, as it is popularly called, is a component of the police that investigates major crimes. Children who took part in the protests have not been spared maltreatment or arbitrary arrest. The government has curtailed freedom of speech by shutting down the internet, and women’s rights are jeopardized.
Domestic and other gender-based violence is on the rise in Sudan, as are new discriminatory legislation and patriarchal limits on women’s rights. Laws prohibiting women from working outside the house without the approval of their husband or father, as well as inequity in the family and workplace, were among the limitations emphasized. The government erected various legislative barriers to equality and reinforced existing social practices that oppress women and girls.
We firmly think that the EU represents human rights, individual liberties, democracy, and gender equality. We encourage the European Union to denounce human rights crimes in Sudan and to put an end to the Burhan regime’s persecution of the Sudanese people immediately.
In the name of
Belgium’s Sudanese Community
AIDL (International Alliance for the Defense of Human Rights and Liberties)
The European Association for the Defense of Minorities
The Fundamental Rights Movement
The International Hindu Struggle Committee
World Council for Public Diplomacy and Community Dialogue
and others