(RSF/IFEX) – The methods being used by the Sudanese authorities to try to intimidate the staff of the humanitarian aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) over a report on rape in the western Darfur region are “disgraceful and ridiculous,” RSF says. On 30 May 2005, MSF’s director of operations in Sudan, Paul Foreman, was charged […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The methods being used by the Sudanese authorities to try to intimidate the staff of the humanitarian aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) over a report on rape in the western Darfur region are “disgraceful and ridiculous,” RSF says.
On 30 May 2005, MSF’s director of operations in Sudan, Paul Foreman, was charged with “publishing false information”, while MSF’s regional coordinator for Darfur, Vincent Hoedt, was arrested for what was probably the same reason.
“If anyone should be brought before a court, it should be those responsible for the sexual violence and not the doctors who are trying to help the victims and make their suffering known,” RSF said.
“We salute the courage of MSF’s employees who, in very difficult circumstances, have been reporting truths which the authorities cannot stand,” the organisation said. “This Sudanese government offensive against embarrassing witnesses has assumed alarming proportions and the international community must be firm in its response, insisting that all charges be dropped unconditionally and demanding guarantees that aid workers can henceforth work freely in Sudan.”
Foreman was summoned by the Justice Ministry on 30 May and charged with “spying”, “publishing false reports” and “undermining the Sudanese state” over a 7 March report entitled, “The Crushing Burden of Rape: Sexual Violence in Darfur”, published by MSF-Holland, which coordinates all RSF activity in Sudan. Compiled by MSF doctors, the report details some 500 cases of rape in the course of four and a half months in Darfur, where armed insurgents have been fighting government forces backed by militias since 2003.
After a warrant was issued for his arrest, Foreman was interrogated at length by police. He was released on bail later the same day pending trial.
Attorney General Mohamed Farid told the news agency Reuters that the report was false and that the authorities had asked MSF several times to produce evidence in support of its claims. When MSF refused to name its sources or share their medical files, Farid said he decided to bring Foreman before a criminal court on a charge of “publishing false reports that undermine public order”. “This kind of false report damages Sudan’s image,” he said.
Foreman faces up to three years in prison and permanent deportation if found guilty. The operations director said he was prepared to confront the Sudanese authorities in court but under no circumstances would he disclose his sources.
Hoedt was transferred to Khartoum following his 31 May arrest in Nyala, in the southern part of Darfur. The charges against him are not yet known.
A Norwegian humanitarian NGO reported on 6 January that five of its members were arrested and charged in Darfur after filming bodies taken from mass graves and interviewing rape victims about their ordeals.