United Nations Radio

Arbitrary arrest and detention are widespread in many parts of the Sudan, according to a report issued by the United Nations human rights chief today.~

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navanitham Pillay, says these practices are often linked to serious human rights violations, including torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

The report covers the north, south and some parts of central Sudan but does not deal with Darfur which is reported on separately.

The UN report says that intelligence and security services, the police and the Sudan armed forces, as well as the Sudan People's Liberation Army in South Sudan, have all committed violations of Sudanese and international law.

UN human rights spokesman, Rupert Colville, says that in Khartoum and other parts of northern Sudan the National Intelligence and Security Services arbitrarily arrest and detain political dissidents.

"Detention by the national intelligence and security services are typically accompanied by additional serious human rights violations such as incommunicado detention, ill treatment, torture or detention in unofficial places. And in some cases death threats are made against detainees prior to their release to prevent them from speaking out about abuses they suffered in detention."

The UN human rights report on Sudan is concerned about impunity because even blatantly unlawful arrests rarely result in criminal or disciplinary actions against the officials involved.

Diane Bailey, United Nations

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