NORTHERN SUDAN - USAID-FUNDED NATIONAL NGO CPA ADVOCATES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 002005 SIPDIS AIDAC SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AFR/SP NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS GENEVA FOR NKYLOH NAIROBI FOR SFO NSC FOR PMARCHAM, MMAGAN, AND BPITTMAN ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU USUN FOR TMALY BRUSSELS FOR PBROWN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI UN SU SUBJECT: NORTHERN SUDAN - USAID-FUNDED NATIONAL NGO CPA ADVOCATES HARRASSED KHARTOUM 00002005 001.2 OF 002 -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The recall of Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) officials from the Government of National Unity (GNU) and the political crisis that followed has derailed implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and CPA-related activities throughout Sudan. Since mid-October, harassment of USAID-funded national non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in northern Sudan that are engaged in disseminating the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) has significantly increased. The NGOs have been harassed through various means, including detainment and interrogation on the premises of the Sudanese government's National Security offices, closure and obstruction of CPA-related activities, and intense monitoring of NGOs doing CPA-related activities. While motivation for the heightened scrutiny of CPA-related activities is uncertain, it is likely linked to political crisis that began with the SPLM recall. End Summary. -------------- -------------- KHARTOUM CENTER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS STAFF DETAINED AND INTERROGATED -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (USAID/OTI) has given the Khartoum Center for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED) five grants since 2005. The most recent was a grant to hold a seminar for civil society activists on transparency in budgeting that occurred in March 2007. In January 2007, USAID funded a theatrical piece on human rights and the CPA, as well as funded the production of a comic book for children on human rights. In November 2006, USAID funded CPA awareness training for university students in the fine arts, who then displayed their messages in public parks. In December 2005, USAID funded KCHRED to conduct a ratification campaign for the UN Convention Against Torture. ¶3. (SBU) On December 10, USAID staff met with Mashair Abdullah Omer and Amir Mohamed Suleiman, KCHRED's financial officer and chairperson. The staff recounted that on November 21 Omer and Suleiman were called into National Security offices and held during the day and asked to return to the office at a later date. On November 28, Omer was called in again by National Security and was placed in an extremely cold room for a full day and was not allowed to use the restroom. She was then interrogated about funding sources, specifically USAID funding. They spoke to her harshly and told her they could make her spend the night in these conditions. The National Security officials told her they knew where she lived and could reach her at any moment. They were also interested in Faisal Al-Bagir's activities, a prominent journalist in Sudan with whom KCHRED collaborated on several activities. ¶4. (SBU) KCHRED collaborated with Faisal Al-Bagir on the recent Article 19 media report on Sudan entitled "Media in Sudan at a Crossroads," which was released in November 2007. Faisal Al-Bagir is a stalwart journalist in the human rights community in Khartoum. On November 5 and 6, Al-Bagir was also detained and questioned along with other journalists Lemia el Jaili Abu Bakr and Sabah Mohamed Adam, who is also a USAID grantee. ¶5. (SBU) KCHRED has gone publiQwith details of this harassment and requested USG assistance in engaging the Sudanese government to stop this kind of activity. The two staff members told USAID that KCHRED is relatively sophisticated and does not feel threatened as an institution. However, KCHRED noted that it knew of similar instances of National Security harassment of smaller NGOs who had not come forward and felt that the smaller NGOs could be much more threatened and at risk. ¶6. (SBU) KCHRED members said they believe civil society activism in northern Sudan, specifically in Khartoum, had significantly increased after the signing of the CPA. The staff members perceive this type of harassment as the Sudanese government's attempt to separate civil society from USAID and other donors. This type of interrogation makes NGOs afraid to accept donor funding for fear of further harassment. -------------- OTHER CPA ACTIVITIES STOPPED OR OBSTRUCTED -------------- KHARTOUM 00002005 002.2 OF 002 ¶7. (SBU) Since late October, at least eight other CPA-related activities have been stopped or obstructed in Kassala State, Port Sudan in Red Sea State, Khartoum, Haj Yousif internally displaced person (IDP) camp outside of Khartoum, Al Fateh settlement northwest of Omdurman, and Wadi Halfa near the Sudan-Egypt border. In some cases, authorities have stopped the activities directly and in other cases the grantees stop the activities out of fear after visits from National Security. USAID/OTI grantees report that National Security has accused them of conducting political work that is anti-government. In one case, when a new civic education center was started with USAID funding National Security moved into the building next door and monitored activities at the center. As a result of the scrutiny, the national NGO ceased its activities for nearly a two-month period and has not yet resumed activities. ¶8. (SBU) USAID's CPA-related activities frequently experience obstruction from national and local authorities. However, the harassment has dramatically increased in the last 1.5 months. While this spike in harassment is likely linked to the SPLM recall of officials from the GNU, the harassment of USAID's partners involved in CPA-related activities is not a new phenomenon. With the census and elections nearing, USAID and its implementing partners must prepare for further scrutiny from government authorities. ¶9. (SBU) USAID/Sudan is working with the Embassy to determine appropriate follow-up to KCHRED's request for USG assistance in preventing future harassment. ¶10. (SBU) Comment: The SPLM-NCP cabinet crisis has weakened or frozen many CPA-related activities throughout the country. Political activity of any sort in the NCP "heartland" of northern Sudan is a highly sensitive issue in the best of times for a ruling party that sees the marginalization and poverty of that area as potential fertile soil for its opponents (especially its partner/rival in government, the SPLM) and for the United States. It is important for us to "push the envelope" as much as possible in this part of Sudan for the sake of CPA implementation and Sudan's transformation into a fully democratic state. End Comment. FERNANDEZ