SUDAN - INITIAL RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INCREASED

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 KHARTOUM 000844

DEPT FOR AF A/S CARSON, SE GRATION, S/USSES, AF/C, AF/E
NSC FOR MGAVIN
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU
BRUSSELS FOR PBROWN
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
UN ROME FOR HSPANOS
NEW YORK FOR DMERCADO

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL EAID SOCI KWMN KOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN - INITIAL RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INCREASED
ENGAGEMENT ON EFFORTS TO CURB GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE

REFS: A. STATE 64939

B. KHARTOUM 736

C. KHARTOUM 697

KHARTOUM 00000844 001.2 OF 004


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Summary
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1. (SBU) Protection concerns--particularly incidents of sexual and
gender-based violence (SGBV)--persist throughout conflict-affected
areas of Sudan. Nearly six years after conflict erupted in Sudan's
Darfur region, SGBV continues to negatively affect Darfuri
communities; however, reliable statistics are unavailable due to the
political and cultural sensitivities surrounding SGBV. In Southern
Sudan, child abduction and rape remain weapons utilized in
inter-ethnic clashes and Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) attacks. The
Government of National Unity (GNU) recently released a Women's
Empowerment Policy, which identifies the establishment of legal and
public information mechanisms to combat violence against women as
priority actions. However, the GNU is not aggressively acting on
these priorities. In some cases, its agencies, including the
Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) have impeded the work of
humanitarian agencies involved in protection of women and children.
The March 2009 expulsions of key non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) running women's livelihoods programs and providing medical
and psychosocial assistance to SGBV survivors in northern Sudan
weakened these efforts in northern Sudan. Despite the challenging
operating environment, the U.S. Government (USG) continues to
prioritize protection assistance and incorporate protection
sensitivity into other humanitarian assistance throughout
conflict-affected areas of Sudan. End summary.


2. This message provides Embassy Khartoum's initial response to ref

A. request. Post will continue to engage proactively with the GNU,
the Government of Southern Sudan, and the UN on SBGV, and report
developments and additional information as they become available.

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GNU Efforts to Curb SGBV - Darfur
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3. (SBU) The GNU'S Women's Empowerment Policy, released In June
2009, includes provisions for establishment of legal and media
mechanisms to combat violence against women and provide legal aid
for victims, review implementation of current Sudanese laws, provide
psycho-social rehabilitation for women affected by conflict, and
assist with family reunification. However, this policy includes few
details on implementation. Many government institutions are charged
with working to combat SGBV and assist SGBV victims, including the
Federal and State Ministries of Health, the Ministry of Social
Welfare, Ministry of Education, the Violence Against Women units,
and the State Committees to Combat Violence Against Women and
Children. These ministries and committees continue to require
training and assistance in providing a range of SGBV services.


4. (SBU) Nevertheless, in practice, protection-related programming,
particularly related to SGBV, remains an extremely sensitive one,
due to Sudanese government suspicion that organizations working on
these issues provided information about SGBV incidents to the
International Criminal Court and other international bodies. Prior
to the early March NGO expulsions, the HAC already had begun
impeding NGOs that provided protection and/or SGBV support in Darfur
through bureaucratic means. Starting in June 2008, the HAC began
conducting detailed assessments of NGO operations, specifically
activities in support of SGBV victims. In late 2008, the HAC
refused to sign a technical agreement with a USAID partner, obliging
the organization to close protection and rule of law programs in
Darfur. Subsequently, in October 2008, the HAC suspended another
NGO's health programs in Kalma IDP camp in South Darfur,
specifically ordering the organization to cease all SGBV counseling
activities prior to January 2009.


5. (SBU) Despite increased protection concerns following the early
March expulsions of key protection implementing partners, UN

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agencies report limited capacity and/or availability for Sudanese
government ministries or national NGOs to fill gaps in SGBV
monitoring and protection activities due to the sensitive nature of
these programs. Sudanese government-supported health centers are
not present in many rural areas of Darfur, and where they are, they
lack SGBV emergency treatment and post-rape kits. In non-signatory
armed opposition group areas, the government lacks control and
access, preventing GOS ministries or aligned national NGOs from
providing services. The same applies to many IDP camps, where
displaced populations do not trust the government and do not accept
GOS-provided services.

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GOSS Efforts to Curb SGBV -- Southern Sudan
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6. (SBU) The recent surge in ethnic-based violence and LRA attacks
in areas of Southern Sudan has had a negative impact on civilian
populations, particularly women and children. According to the UN
Children's Fund (UNICEF),the scale of child abductions between
ethnic groups in Jonglei State is unprecedented since the signing of
the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005. In addition, LRA attacks
have resulted in extensive looting, abductions, and incidents of
rape, as well as the displacement of a total of 51,564 IDPs within
and 12,842 Congolese refugees to Southern Sudan as of early June

2009.


7. (SBU) UNICEF and the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) - Protection
Unit have advocated raising child protection issues related to the
recent violence in Jonglei State in all meetings with senior
Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) officials. In addition, UNICEF
has issued a statement urging proactive GoSS intervention on
Jonglei.

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and Mainstreaming Protection into Humanitarian Activities
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8. (SBU) In Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, the USG funded seven stand-alone
humanitarian protection programs in Darfur. USAID humanitarian
protection programs work not only to respond to incidents of
violence, but also to prevent them. In addition to medical and
psycho-social treatment, USAID has supported women's empowerment,
skills building, and income-generation programs. These programs
aimed to provide women with safer livelihoods alternatives to
traveling outside of IDP camps to collect firewood and fodder to
sell, which often leaves women vulnerable to sexual violence. This
programming, typically located in women's centers, also provided
venues for group discussion and general counseling for SGBV victims.
Other protection activities include identification of extremely
vulnerable individuals and provision of linkages to special support
networks, child-friendly spaces, and protection coordination and
advocacy.


9. (SBU) In addition, in FY 2008, 16 of 22 humanitarian NGO partners
in Darfur identified protection as a cross-cutting theme in their
programs. NGOs mainstreamed protection into their programming in a
variety of ways, including supporting protection-sensitive shelter
in camps, offering *confidential* health care services for survivors
of sexual and gender-based violence, referring extremely vulnerable
persons in health or nutrition programs to psychosocial or
income-generation programs, and consulting women and children about
their safety preferences when establishing new water points or
latrines.


10. (SBU) The USG has also supported multiple activities that
helped minimize women's exposure to violence, monitor and document
abuses, increase safe access to victims' services, and combat
impunity. USAID funding provided training on SGBV to key groups,
including judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and paralegals to improve
awareness of how to handle SGBV cases. In addition, USG-funded
partners have provided trainings to IDP leaders on different forms
of SGBV and the difficulties survivors face in accessing support
services. Traditional leaders (including sheiks and umdas) remain

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influential figures who are regularly consulted by SGBV survivors
and their families. Their involvement is vital to shoring up
community support to address SGBV.


11. (SBU) In the rest of Sudan, USAID has prioritized protection
programming in response to attacks and abductions of individuals
during LRA and inter-ethnic violence in Jonglei and Western
Equatoria states. These attacks have particularly affected women
and children. In Abyei, USAID funding supports child protection
activities, including registration and reunification of children
separated from their families as a result of the May 2009 clashes
and subsequent displacement.

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Effectiveness of Programs
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12. USG-funded assistance programs have been effective in
addressing the atmosphere of impunity in a number of ways. SGBV
sensitization programs have been very successful in changing ethnic
leaders' attitudes and have helped unite communities around this
issue. In addition, USAID-funded programs have supported legal aid
centers, educated young Darfuri lawyers, and increased the resources
available to paralegals working on SGBV cases.


13. (SBU) However, of all sectors affected by the March NGO
expulsions, the protection sector lost the most NGO capacity. Ten
out of the 13 expelled international organizations either directly
or indirectly had been involved in protection-related activities,
and two of the three dissolved national NGOs previously implemented
protection programs. The expulsions included key NGOs running
women's livelihoods programs and providing medical and psycho-social
assistance to SGBV victims. The expulsions also undermined the
confidence of IDP communities that SGBV services would be provided
in the future by other NGOs. . In fact, many of the remaining NGOs
either lack the technical capacity and systems to handle SGBV cases
and/or have demonstrated reluctance to engage in protection
activities, fearing that working in this sector will jeopardize
their other activities.

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Justice for SGBV Crimes
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14. (SBU) Perpetrators of SGBV are generally not brought to justice,
although there have been isolated convictions. The constraints are
many: those accused of SGBV are often members of the security
forces; victims are typically afraid to come forward because for
fear they might be charged and convicted of having illegal sexual
relations out of wedlock; and local authorities are not willing/able
to pursue these crimes.


15. (SBU) Over time, however, there has been improvement in the
willingness of the GNU to acknowledge SGBV as a reality in this
society. Sudanese government authorities in Khartoum and Darfur no
longer routinely deny nearly all reports of widespread rape and
violence against civilians in Darfur. Instead, they now publically
acknowledge there is a SGBV e problem, and in response have formed
various SGBV related-committees that have prepared action plans.
Despite these positive steps, impunity and lack of implementation of
the plans continue to prevent effective action to counter SGBV.
SGBV remains widespread throughout Darfur, although reliable
statistics are hard to come by and the total number of cases is
unknown. In the past three years, there were a total of 50 rape
convictions in Darfur.


16. (SBU) In the latter half of 2005, the Sudanese government began
clarifying Form 8 procedures, which removed the requirement, in
theory, for SGBV victims to file documentation before seeking
medical treatment. [Note: Form 8 is a one-page reporting document
produced by the Ministry of Justice to record physical injuries
related to criminal acts. End note.] In 2005, the Ministry of
Justice established a national action plan on Form 8, with the
message that rape victims may receive medical treatment and file

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legal charges against perpetrators without filling the form. The
Ministry of Justice also set up a Committee for Combating
Gender-Based Violence in each Darfur state. However, after nearly
four years, application and dissemination of these reforms
throughout police ranks and to public prosecutors, public health
workers, and medical practitioners remains inconsistent and
misunderstood. Few women police officers have been recruited and
trained to interview and assist SGBV victims. In many cases, police
investigations will not proceed without a Form 8. In some
instances, police stations claim not to have the Form 8. In others,
the form is not completed correctly. Often, police insist that
victims fill out the form prior to receiving medical treatment and
before launching an investigation. Thus, Form 8 is still regarded
as a key barrier for SGBV victims seeking medical care and access to
justice in Darfur.


17. (SBU) Comment: During the May visit to Sudan of CODEL Isakson
(ref C),the Embassy facilitated briefings and subsequent meetings
for Senators Isakson and Corker in which they raised SGBV concerns
with senior government officials. The Post will continue to stress
the need for action on this issue in its meetings with the GNU. We
will also work with UN agencies to promote SGBV prevention/ response
and awareness in Sudan.


WHITEHEAD