Sudanese army is killing civilians says report

The Human Rights Watch report said on Wednesday that the Sudanese army is killing civilians in areas controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). In its report, the organisation accused government forces of committing human rights abuses, including indiscriminate artillery shelling and aerial bombardment that killed and wounded dozens of civilians. In remarks to Arabstoday a member of the ruling party in Sudan Dr Rabie Abdelati Obeid criticised what was stated in the report, describing it as “politicised,” adding that the SPLM-N’s attack on the state caused mass displacement and the Sudanese government has sought to provide for the needs of those displaced people. He added that women, children and the elderly are victims of the actions of the South-backed SPLM-N. On the other hand, former Sudanese Minister of justice, Abdul Basit Sabdarat said that the report is important if - it is really targeting the protection of the human rights- but the problem is that some of these organisations “want to turn the human rights issue in to a religious conflict”. In an interview with Arabstoday, Sabdarat noted his own experience with some organisations when he was minister of justice, saying that some produced counterfeit footage. However, he maintained that he cannot accuse all organisations of such deception. Deputy Secretary General of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Ibrahim Alsanusi said that the governments’ history is full of human rights violations such as what happened lately at the University of Aljazeera. He added that the authorities arrested him seven times on charges of collaborating with foreign intelligence services, the punishment for which could stretch to execution. He added that he spent six months under arrest before being released without a trial. He and concluded his comments to Arabstoday by saying we must not “bury our heads in the sand” and pretend that the human rights situation has actually improved.