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ANTI-SLAVERY INTERNATIONAL STATEMENT
ON SUDAN – 23 MARCH 1999
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A public denial last week by a senior
Government of Sudan official that any cases of slavery occur in Sudan
lacks all credibility, according to the world¹s first human rights
organisation, London-based Anti-Slavery International.
Sudan's Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Hassan Abdin, was quoted
on 17 March as claiming that "negative practices arising from conditions
of the civil war and tribal conflict cannot be classified as a sort
of slavery”.
"When people are held by force and made to work, it¹s ridiculous to
quibble about words and pretend that it¹s not slavery,” said Anti-Slavery's
International's Director, Mike Dottridge. "There have been consistent
reports over the past 12 years that government-armed militia have
taken women and children captive during raids, and have forced them
to work. Attempts by the Government of Sudan to dismiss this as 'tribal
practices' and to deny that it amounts to slavery don¹t convince us
or anyone else. They are simply an excuse for not taking action against
illegal imprisonment and slavery, and mean the government is guilty
of condoning slavery”, he added.
Hassan Abdin made his comments while demanding that UNICEF retract
a statement that "irrefutable evidence" exists of slavery in Sudan.
UNICEF has recently been under attack from several sides. It was criticised
last week by a US-based group, the American Anti-Slavery Group, for
its refusal to support the practice of paying to redeem and free slaves
in Sudan. In a statement on 16 March, the American Anti-Slavery Group
accused UNICEF of inaction on slavery in Sudan and "moral obtuseness".
The American Anti-Slavery Group was established in 1994 but is not
connected with Anti-Slavery International, which in turn does not
support the American Group's accusations against UNICEF in any way.
"Our aim at Anti-Slavery International is to put an end to patterns
of slavery altogether and to ensure that no one is subjected to slavery
in the first place,” says Mike Dottridge. "We realise it is
tempting to pay ransoms or pay off loans which keep people in slavery.
However, when anti-slavery activists have paid money to the 'owners’
of slaves in the past, we often realised afterwards that the same
'owners’ used the money they had received to acquire more slaves,
replacing those who had been released. Because of this danger, we
do not support schemes to pay for the release of slaves”.
Commenting on the specific situation in Sudan, Anti-Slavery's Director
added: "The current rumpus about 'paying’ for slaves in Sudan is
preventing the real issues from being addressed: the Government of
Sudan is continuing its policy of supporting militia raids and captives
are still being enslaved. In view of the Government¹s refusal to change
this, UN agencies such as UNICEF should be encouraged to intervene
to secure the release of slaves. It is completely unacceptable that,
because no solutions have been found to end Sudan's civil war, slavery
is going to continue into the next century.”
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| 23 March 1999 |
PR/3/99 |
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