Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05THEHAGUE1554
2005-06-03 11:22:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy The Hague
Cable title:  

SUDAN/NETHERLANDS: NGO AND DUTCH ANGER OVER ARREST

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL SU NL 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001554 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SU NL
SUBJECT: SUDAN/NETHERLANDS: NGO AND DUTCH ANGER OVER ARREST
OF DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS IN SUDAN

REF: KHARTOUM 830

Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Schofer for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001554

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL SU NL
SUBJECT: SUDAN/NETHERLANDS: NGO AND DUTCH ANGER OVER ARREST
OF DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS IN SUDAN

REF: KHARTOUM 830

Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Schofer for reasons 1.4 (b) a
nd (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: The Government of Sudan's arrest of the
Country and Darfur directors of the NGO Artsen zonder
Grensen/Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF) angered the NGO and
the Dutch government, which has called in the Sudanese
Ambassador to protest. The NGO confirms the men are free for
now but sees troubling signs in the fact that bond had to be
personally guaranteed by local staff. MSF refuses to retract
or reveal the sources for the report of violence in Darfur
that precipitated the arrests, and they insist the report was
intended to address medical issues, not political ones. The
Dutch report internal GOS dissent, between the MFA -
apparently embarrassed by the event - and the Ministry of
Justice - talking tough. MSF said other NGOs have also been
harassed, but only MSF chose to alert the world to GOS
actions. End Summary


2. (C) One June 1, Stella Kloth (MFA Sudan desk officer)
and Econoff discussed Sudan's arrests of Paul Foreman and
Vince Hoedt, Sudan and Darfur managers for Artsen zonder
Grensen (MSF)/Doctors without Borders. On June 2, Poloff
discussed the case with Jeff Prescott (protect),director of
MSF in Amsterdam. (NOTE: Prescott insisted he not be quoted
publicly in order to protect his NGO from GOS harassment).
Prescott and Kloth said that, despite media reports to the
contrary, a third member of MSF had not/not been detained.

THE CASE


3. (C) Kloth said that the Sudanese Justice Ministry denied
arresting Foreman and Hoedt, instead saying they had been
"called in for interviews." Kloth said the GOS claimed to be
conducting "an investigation" and wanted the names of the
rape victims who had given their testimony for the report
released by MSF. Prescott confirmed that MSF will neither
divulge the victims' names nor disown the report, which MSF
insists is a medical report, not a political one. He angrily
dismissed the arrests of the two workers as a "purely
political" move cleverly intended to decapitate the
organization. "Our reports of rapes and violence in Darfur

are intended to address the medical issues involved,"
Prescott insisted, "however, one can read only politics into
the arrests."


4. (C) Kloth noted that on June 1, the Dutch ambassador in
Khartoum delivered an EU Troika demarche (joined by the U.S.
Charge d'affairs) to the Sudanese Under Secretary for Foreign
Affairs protesting the arrests (reftel). Referring to
current Dutch cable traffic from Sudan, she said that the GOS
foreign affairs under secretary Mutrif Saddiq "was frustrated
by his colleagues in the Justice Ministry" and said that "the
Justice Ministry had agreed to drop the charges." The two
would be free to go in "a couple of days, after
administrative processing." According to Kloth's readout,
the Under Secretary expressed regret for the embarrassment
this was causing the GOS. Following up in the Hague, the
Dutch MFA called in the Sudanese ambassador to the
Netherlands to protest the arrests.


5. (C) Prescott was not sanguine and said he would not relax
until the charges were dropped. He said that the GOS
Attorney General had told MSF that the two were charged with
"spying"; MSF characterized the charges as "intimidation of
the NGO." MSF takes the charges seriously, in spite of GOS
assurances that the penalty would "be only three years." The
MSF posted USD 4000 bail for both men, Prescott reported,
adding that the GOS also held members of the local staff
"personally responsible" for the men. "We are not sure what
"responsible" means in the context of bail, but it creates a
terrible added burden for the affected staff," Prescott
worried. According to the Dutch MFA, both men still have
their passports.

POSSIBLE REASONS FOR SUDAN'S ACTIONS


6. (C) Prescott surmised four reasons for the GOS actions:

a) GOS suspicions that the report would be used by the ICC as
evidence;
b) internal problems in the regime;
c) GOS efforts to silence NGOs;
d) GOS efforts to disrupt humanitarian aid as the rainy
season starts, which especially concerns MSF.

He added that MSF does not normally hand over case
information to others, including courts, since they see
themselves as a medical organization and, if nothing else,
the patient information is privileged. He concluded that the
GOS must worry about the reports of the rapes because they
are based on objective medical data that would be very
persuasive in any prosecution.


7. (C) Prescott wanted to ensure the USG knew that the GOS
had harassed other NGOs as well "but these have remained
silent out of fear." He named: Solidarity (French),which
had one member arrested in January; Oxfam, whose
representatives were PNG'd recently; and a Dutch refugee
agency, which had staff arrested. "Some NGOs want to "keep
quiet about the harassment," Prescott alleged, "but MSF is
different. We are screaming about the mistreatment."


8. (C) The GOS had targeted MSF since they are "by far the
largest aid organization in Sudan," Prescott claimed,
"employing 9000 national staff in Darfur and 180 expats. As
a measure of their involvement, he said that in the last
twelve months in Darfur, MSF fed 50,000 severely malnourished
children (the category includes those who would die in two
months without care) and carried out 1 million medical
consultations.
SOBEL