The General Assembly,
Guided by the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,
Reaffirming that all Member States have an obligation to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to comply with the obligations laid down in the various instruments in this field,
Recalling resolution AHG/Res.213 (XXVIII) on the strengthening of cooperation and coordination among African States, adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity at its twenty-eighth ordinary session, held at Dakar from 29 June to 1 July 1992, as well as the declaration AHG/Decl.1 (XXVI) adopted at the twenty-sixth ordinary session, held at Addis Abbaba from 9 to 11 July 1990,
Noting with deep concern reports of grave human rights violations in the Sudan, particularly summary executions, detentions without trial, forced displacement of persons and torture, described in part in the reports submitted to the Commission on Human Rights at its forty-ninth session by the Special Rapporteurs on the question of torture and on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions,
Disturbed by the failure of the Government of the Sudan to provide for a full impartial investigation of the killings of Sudanese nationals employed by foreign government relief organizations, despite the announcement by the Government of its intention to convene an independent judicial inquiry commission,
Concerned over the reported attack on 12 November 1993 by aeroplanes of the Government of the Sudan on an airstrip in Thiet that resulted in injuries to three relief workers, and further concerned by the reported bombing of civilian areas in Loa and Pageri on 23 November 1993 that may have resulted in deaths or injuries,
Deeply concerned that access by the civilian population to humanitarian assistance is being impeded, which represents a threat to human life and an offence to human dignity, but welcoming the continuing dialogue between the Government of the Sudan and other parties, donor Governments and international private voluntary agencies regarding the delivery of humanitarian aid, and expressing the hope that such dialogue will result in improved cooperation for the delivery of humanitarian assistance,
Alarmed by the large number of internally displaced persons and victims of discrimination in the Sudan, including members of minorities who have been forcibly displaced in violation of their human rights and who are in need of relief assistance and of protection,
Alarmed also by the mass exodus of refugees into neighbouring countries, and conscious of the burden that this places on those countries, but expressing its appreciation for the continuing efforts to assist them, thereby easing the burden on host countries,
Emphasizing that it is essential to put an end to the serious deterioration of the human rights situation in the Sudan, including that in the Nuba Mountains,
Recognizing the fact that the Sudan has been hosting large numbers of refugees from several neighbouring countries over the last three decades,
Welcoming the efforts of the United Nations and other humanitarian organizations to provide humanitarian relief to those Sudanese in need,
Noting with appreciation the efforts of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights, and commending him for his interim report on the situation of human rights in the Sudan,
1. Expresses its deep concern at the continuing and serious human rights violations in the Sudan, including summary executions, detentions without due process, forced displacement of persons and torture;
2. Takes note of paragraph 24 of the report of the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, in which he stated that the Government of the Sudan had cooperated with the him by arranging the meetings he had requested and further facilitated visits to the locations he had wished to see;
3. Notes with concern the reprisals taken by the Government of the Sudan against those who contacted or attempted to contact the Special Rapporteur;
4. Urges the Government of the Sudan fully to respect human rights, and calls upon all parties to cooperate in order to ensure such respect;
5. Calls upon the Government of the Sudan to comply with applicable international human rights instruments, in particular the International Covenants on Human Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which the Sudan is a party, and to ensure that all individuals in its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, including members of all religious and ethnic groups, enjoy the rights recognized in those instruments;
6. Calls upon all parties to the hostilities to respect fully the applicable provisions of international humanitarian law, including article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and the Additional Protocols thereto, of 1977, to halt the use of weapons against the civilian populationand to protect all civilians from violations, including arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, torture and summary execution;
7. Expresses its appreciation to the humanitarian organizations for their work in helping displaced persons and drought and conflict victims in the Sudan, and calls upon all parties to protect humanitarian relief workers;
8. Calls upon the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions again to address the killing of Sudanese nationals employed by foreign government relief organizations;
9. Calls upon the Government of the Sudan to explain fully the actions to obstruct the efforts of the Special Rapporteur, especially the ill-treatment afforded those who contacted or attempted to contact him;
10. Also calls upon the Government of the Sudan to ensure a full, thorough and prompt investigation by the independent judicial inquiry commission of the killings of Sudanese nationals employed by foreign government relief organizations, to bring to justice those responsible for the killings and to provide just compensation to the families of the victims;
11. Further calls upon the Government of the Sudan to investigate and explain without delay the circumstances behind the air attacks on 12 and 23 November 1993;
12. Strongly urges all parties to the hostilities to redouble their efforts to negotiate an equitable solution to the civil conflict to ensure respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Sudanese people, and thereby create the necessary conditions to end the exodus of Sudanese refugees to neighbouring countries and facilite their early return to the Sudan, and welcomes efforts to facilitate dialogue among the parties to that end;
13. Notes with appreciation, in this connection, the current regional efforts of heads of State of the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and Development (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda) to assist parties to the conflict in the Sudan to reach a peaceful settlement;
14. Calls upon the Government of the Sudan and other parties to permit international agencies, humanitarian organizations and donor Governments to deliver humanitarian assistance to the civilian population and to cooperate with the recent initiatives of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat to deliver humanitarian assistance to all persons in need;
15. Recommends that the serious human rights situation in the Sudan be monitored, and invites the Commission on Human Rights to give urgent attention to this questionat its fiftieth session;
16. Decides to continue its consideration of this question at its forty-ninth session.
85th plenary meeting
20 December 1993
