In May 1999, the Government of Sudan set up a Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC), headed by the Rapporteur of the Government's Advisory Council on Human Rights, Dr Ahmed El Mufti.

In April 1999, and again in April 2000, the UN Commission on Human Rights adopted resolutions expressing concern about "abductions" and "forced labour" in Sudan, rather than to slavery. The Sudanese authorities have been willing to take action in response to what they acknowledge to be abductions and forced labour, but continue to deny that the cases concerned have involved enslavement or slavery. Furthermore, they have on occasion argued that the UN resolutions constitute a confirmation that the cases in Sudan do not constitute slavery. This question appears to be one of semantics and political sensitivity rather than substance. When women and children have been abducted, whether in the course of civil war or as a result of longer term conflict between different communities, and subsequently forced to work, or forced to marry, in the community where they are held captive, their treatment constitutes an abuse under the terms of the UN's conventions on slavery.

There are reports from Sudan that up to 14,000 people originating in southern Sudan and currently located in southern Darfur or southern Kordofan are currently in need of reunification with their families. Many of these people were abducted from their homes in Bahr al-Ghazal and some are still carrying out forced labour. The Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC) is reported to have secured the release of hundreds of women and children held in forced labour. However, no action is yet known to have been taken by the Government of Sudan to end raids in which unarmed civilians are abducted and taken into slavery or forced labour, nor has the Government provided the resources necessary to ensure that those who are freed are reunited with their families.

Since May 1999, charities based in Europe or North America visiting areas of southern Sudan controlled by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) have continued regularly to announce the release of groups of women and children described as "redeemed slaves" -- that is to say, people who were held in slavery, and whom an agent was paid to secure their release. For example, in December 1999, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) announced the "redemption" and freeing more than 5,000 people. There has been no independent monitoring of these releases to confirm that all those for whom ransoms have been paid were indeed held in slavery or any similar form of captivity. Anti-Slavery International has not contributed any money to pay for ransoms, and has expressed concern that the availability of such money can act as an incentive to agents to abduct others or to present individuals as "slaves" who have in fact not been abducted or held in captivity.

Although no accurate figures are available, sources close to the SPLA have reported that less captives were seized by raiders in northern Bahr al-Ghazal during 1999 than in previous years. In February this year, a Reuters report noted a Christian Solidarity International claim that it "had helped black African community leaders liberate over 25,000 slaves" since 1995 and "estimates that 100,000 people are still slaves or are subject to slave-like practices in government-run camps in northern Sudan". Other organisations concerned about slavery, such as Anti-Slavery International, estimate the number of people in need of release or rehabilitation in Sudan to be far fewer, and have not received information to confirm that civilians held in camps around the Nuba mountains are "held in slavery or subject to slave-like practices" as Christian Solidarity International states.

The process for identifying and releasing "slaves" or "abducted persons", set in motion by the CEAWC, is reported to have been more successful in southern Darfur than in southern Kordofan. This appears to be in part because good relations were established in Darfur between CEAWC representatives and leaders of the local Rezeigat Baggara Arab community. In contrast, CEAWC's relations in southern Kordofan with leaders of the Misseriya Baggara community are reported to be less fruitful. Furthermore, the railway leading from southern Kordofan to Bahr al-Ghazal remains one of the main routes used by raiders. The railway is a crucial supply route for Government garrisons in Aweil and Wao, towns in Bahr al-Ghazal situated on the railway, and trains using the line have routinely been accompanied by horse-mounted armed Misseriya civilians who have carried out raids on Dinka settlements. The government is not known to have curtailed the activities of these raiders, or to have acknowledged its own responsibility for their criminal activities, for arming them or providing opportunities for raids. As long as such armed groups accompany trains into Bahr al-Ghazal, it seems probable that abductions will continue.

We do not know exactly how many people have been released with the CEAWC¹s assistance. In May this year, a UNICEF information officer in Sudan is reported to have told journalists in Khartoum that 500 children had been traced over the previous year and that 303 children were back their families. In the same interview the UNICEF spokesperson estimated that between 5,000 and 10,000 children have been seized since 1983.

However, Anti-Slavery International has learnt of unofficial estimates that there are some 14,000 people in Darfur and Kordofan who may have been "abducted" and require reunifying with their families. Most are reported to be women and children belonging to the Dinka ethnic group, the largest single ethnic group in southern Sudan. Hundreds are reported to have been released from the households where they were kept, but few are reported to have been returned home. The CEAWC has apparently concluded that a significant number would prefer to stay where they are, particularly in the case of women who are now married. The process for securing releases is reported to have been impeded by the very real obstacles to "repatriating" civilians across what is in effect a "front line", from areas inhabited by Baggara Arabs, which are under government administration, to those under SPLA control (or, at least, not under the control of government forces). As a result, some children whose release has been secured from the Baggara families for whom they were working have subsequently been detained by government officials, in the absence of adequate plans to arrange for their return home. Those plans which have been put into effect have been relatively expensive, and the CEAWC has launched appeals for very substantial amounts from donors. The Government of Sudan has not yet demonstrated its own willingness to pay these costs.

The CEAWC is also reported to have been unwilling to record details of the identity of the households where abducted children or women have been held, apparently because of a concern that householders might not cooperate if they fear future attempts to prosecute them.

While government officials can reasonably point to real material obstacles to reuniting women and children with their families in Bahr al-Ghazal or elsewhere, it is evident that many of these could be overcome if the Government of Sudan had the will to do so. Similarly, it is essential that the Government of Sudan issues orders to its forces in towns such as Aweil and Wao, and to militia or Popular Defence Forces (PDF) fighters situated further north, to end all attacks on civilians and civilian settlements, and that the Government take action to punish those who carry out such attacks. The Government¹s failure to do so means that it still appears to be condoning raids and thus facilitating or encouraging further abductions.

Recommendations

1. The Government of Sudan should facilitate the work of CEAWC in order to ensure that the thousands of people who have been abducted are released and reunited with their families as a matter of urgency.

2. The Government of Sudan should take measures to bring to trial all those suspected of supporting or participating in the abduction of women and children and should publish details about the number of people abducted, the number freed and the penalties imposed on perpetrators of abductions.

3. The Government of Sudan should be asked to publish information about the action it has taken to stop attacks on civilians and prevent new abductions taking place.

4. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan should investigate reports of abductions and the use of forced labour in Sudan to assess the scale of the problem and whether the large number of people whose release from slavery has been publicised by the media were indeed victims of abduction and forced labour.