Sudan UPR Report Adoption Intervention

Delivered by Ambassador Eileen Donahoe
United States of America

Human Rights Council 18^th Session
September 23, 2011

Thank you Madame President.

The United States commends the Sudan for respecting the results of the January referendum on independence which paved the way for an independent South Sudan.

However, we remain deeply troubled by ongoing reports of human rights abuses, including: arbitrary arrests and detention of journalists; restrictions on freedom of assembly; and ongoing violence with impunity in Darfur.  We are also troubled by the restrictions on humanitarian access and assistance in Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile.  We welcome Sudan’s acceptance of recommendations related to these matters. We strongly urge Sudan to fully cooperate with the Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan. We remain deeply troubled by widespread sexual violence against women and girls and continued reports of the unlawful recruitment of child soldiers.  We commend Sudan’s 2010 passage of the National Child Act, but urge the government to take greater measures to prevent and prosecute acts of sexual violence and the unlawful recruitment of children for use in armed conflict.  We note Sudan’s acceptance of many recommendations relating to these issues, and urge Sudan to fully meet its commitments and obligations to protect the human rights in implementing these recommendations.

In that spirit, we  urge Sudan to decriminalize the so-called “indecent and immoral” acts.

The United States congratulates the Government of the Republic of South Sudan on becoming the international community’s newest nation.  We urge the government to hold perpetrators of ethnic and communal violence accountable.  We also urge the government to enshrine human rights and fundamental freedoms in the country’s new constitution.

Thank you.

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