Sudan arrests aid worker for “crimes against the state”

The arrest of Paul Foreman, head of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Holland, for publishing a report on rape in Darfur has caused repercussions in Africa and Europe. But despite the outrage caused by his detention, the Sudanese government went a step further by also arresting the agency's Darfur regional coordinator, Vincent Hoedt.

“These arrests are totally unacceptable. The government is punishing humanitarian aid workers for doing their job for victims of the conflict,” said MSF's director in Holland, Geoff Prescott. “As providers of medical assistance and as human beings we find it impossible to stay silent when we are witnessing these abuses.” He pointed out that his agency was the largest in the region, working in more than 29 locations with 180 expatriate and 3000 national staff, who have carried out more than a million consultations in the past 12 months.

Figure 1.

The Sudanese government wants Paul Foreman (above) to denounce his report on rape in Darfur

Credit: MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES

“The arrest of two senior coordinators severely undermines our ability to provide humanitarian assistance,” he said. “The people of Darfur, who have been through so much already, must not be allowed to suffer as a result of these actions.”

The United Nations' high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, said, “Rape and sexual violence are very real features of the life of the women of Darfur. This is the conclusion of our monitors, of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, and of all serious investigations into the unfolding human rights crisis in the region. MSF has done nothing more than record these horrendous crimes and try to focus critically needed attention on them.”

She warned that targeting the humanitarian community would “not only do a disservice to the people of Darfur, it will draw attention away from the real criminals, those who continue to rape, kill, and pillage with impunity.”

Although both were subsequently released, Mr Foreman said that he had been charged with crimes against the state, publishing false information, and espionage. “They want me to denounce the report or jeopardise the doctor-patient confidentiality of MSF by releasing the medical dossiers. I'm not going to do either of those.”

The foreign minister, Mustafa Osman Ismail, commented, “Organisations operating in Sudan should observe the country's national security in their dealings, and they should not seek to tarnish Sudan's image through issuance of false information.”

• The agency has announced that two of its staff were abducted at gunpoint by unknown assailants near Bunia in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 2 June—the same day as five of its volunteers were killed last year in Afghanistan.