MSF in Sudan

The NGO Doctors Without Borders / Medicins Sans Frontiers is operating their largest effort ever in the Darfur region of the Sudan. They are the primary NGO in the area, and have been called the single most important NGO in the region by UN officials. Recently, the Sudanese government arrested the head of the organization there, Paul Foreman, for crimes against the state as well as another MSF-Holland aid worker, Vincent Hoedt. The arrests stem from a report from MSF about the violent rapes that have occured in the refugee camps by militia-men and government soldiers.

MSF says that the Sudan is trying to silence them; and indeed it seems as though they certainly are. The Sudan government disagrees. They see it as an issue of soverignity.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, fresh from a trip to the Sudan a week ago, is not amused:

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative to Sudan, Jan Pronk, said the U.N. also deplored the arrests. He told reporters Wednesday that he backed the MSF report on rapes in Darfur "100%."

In the report, published in March, the agency said its doctors working in Darfur had collected medical evidence of 500 rapes over 4 1/2 months. The report said more than 80% of the victims reported that their attackers were soldiers or members of government-allied militia.

Sudan's government denied the claims. However, the U.N. mission in Sudan said Tuesday that in response to allegations of sexual abuse by government troops the Sudanese government "has issued a directive to the military commanders in different locations that serious action will be taken against them if found implicated in such acts."

This is a terrible situation for the NGOs attempting to operate in the areas. Click the link to MSF on the right for updates....