A/HRC/15/57
of children. Monitoring and evaluation tools in line with the integrated standards and the
Paris Principles have also been established. Accordingly, a programme for child
disarmament, demobilization and reintegration was initiated in Darfur by the relevant North
Sudan commission with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund based on an
operational plan developed with six armed groups, which were signatories to the Darfur
Peace Agreement. They include the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) Free Will, the SLA/Abu
Ghasim/Mother Wing, the Justine and Equality Movement (JEM) Peace Wing, the
SLA/Mini Minnawi, the SLA/Peace Wing and the Popular Force for Rights and
Democracy. To date, a list of over 2,000 names of children has been submitted by the
groups. With participation of all stakeholders, to date 387 children from SLA Free Will and
SLA Mother Wing have been disarmed, demobilized and registered for the reintegration
programme. The association of children with armed groups, including pro-government
militias, remains nonetheless a major concern. Given the scale of alleged association of
children with the various armed groups, there is need for the availability of sufficient funds
in support of the rehabilitation and reintegration of released children (recommendation
1.3.3).
4.
Protection against summary executions, arbitrary detention, disappearances and
torture
19.
The Government has not issued new instructions that summary executions, arbitrary
detention, enforced or involuntary disappearances and torture are illegal and will not be
tolerated, and that they can amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. Cases of
arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of civilians documented by UNAMID during the
reporting period continue to show that the National Intelligence and Security Service
(NISS) and the Sudanese Military Intelligence are the main governmental authorities most
responsible for the violations in Darfur. Detainees are often held without being informed of
the reason for their arrest, and sometimes detained without charge for prolonged periods
and not brought before a judicial authority. In some instances, detainees are held
incommunicado and subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment.
20.
The 1997 Emergency and Public Safety Act continues to apply in Darfur, where a
state of emergency remains in existence. The law grants wide discretionary powers of arrest
and detention to the State governors of Darfur without any effective judicial review. In
North Darfur, 16 people suspected of involvement in the murder of a local community
leader from the Abou Shok camp for internally displaced persons near El Fasher were
arrested and detained for more than five months under the Emergency Act without access to
lawyers and without being brought before a judicial authority. Six of the detainees remain
in detention and have not been charged with an offence; more than eight months have
passed since their arrest (recommendations 1.4.1 and 1.4.2).
21.
UNAMID Human Rights was denied unfettered access to detention centres and
prisons, including the NISS, Military Intelligence and police detention centres for most part
of the reporting period. Access to detainees, particularly those held under the emergency
law, was extremely difficult. In some instances, limited access was granted on a case-bycase basis, depending on the rapport between human rights monitors and prison officials.
United Nations human rights monitors still have no access to places of detention in
Khartoum, which is of concern for Darfur-related detainees transferred to the capital (either
for trial or interrogation). On 20 December 2009, the National Assembly of the
Government of National Unity passed a bill repealing the 1999 National Security Forces
Act and reforming the NISS. Under the new law, which came into effect on 28 January
2010, the NISS has powers of arrest and detention for a period of four and a half months
without judicial oversight. The new law also grants NISS personnel immunity against
criminal prosecution and civil liability (recommendations 1.4.3 and 1.4.4).
8
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