From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Date: 07 Sep 92 11:48 PDT
Subject: SUDAN: WRANGLE OVER DISAPPEARANCE O
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700418:000:5244
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Sep  7 11:48:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: SUDAN: WRANGLE OVER DISAPPEARANCE O

/* Written 12:06 am  Aug 30, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: SUDAN: WRANGLE OVER DISAPPEARANCE OF MINORS


an inter press service feature

by horace awori

nairobi, aug 27 (ips) -- officials of the u.n. high commissioner
for refugees (unhcr) are embroiled in a wrangle with the rebel
sudan people's liberation movement (splm) over the disappearance
of 3,000 unaccompanied refugee minors from southern sudan.

the minors vanished from a northern kenya refugee camp at
lokichogio a week ago and, according to unconfirmed reports,
they were later seen at narus in southern sudan where they had
been ''abducted'' by the movement's guerrilla wing for military
training.

''we categorically deny any involvement or possible abduction
of these children back to southern sudan for military
training'', says splm representative in nairobi, elijah malok.

since the june fall of kapoeta town in southern sudan to
government forces, and the subsequent ''evacuation of 12,000
unaccompanied minors to lokichogio, the safety and care of these
children passed on to various u.n. agencies and it is to these
agencies that the splm is looking for their security'', he adds.

according to the splm official, sudan's military government
has been ''making noises demanding the repatriation of these
children to khartoum'' (the sudanese capital).

malok has accused some u.n. agencies of ''responding with
mixed tones'' to government demands, saying it is possible the
children might have been taken to khartoum ''with their
connivance''.

the splm and its military wing, sudan people's liberation
army (spla), are accused of stealing the children ''to cover up
the conspiracy hatched up in khartoum with the collaboration of
operation lifeline sudan office'', says malok.

launched in 1990, the operation is run by the united nations
to provide relief assistance to the sudanese people after the
country experienced serious drought and famine, compounded by an
overwhelming number of displaced persons and refugees.

however, a sudanese embassy spokesperson here describes the
children's disappearance as proof of what ''we have been telling
the world that the minors were recruits for the spla''.

maintaining that the unhcr had a hand in the incident, malok
told ips: ''we find it an uncanny coincidence that shortly after
the disappearance of the minors from lokichogio, a demonstration
of children from southern sudan is held in khartoum ostensibly
against the spla''. (more/ips)


sudan: wrangle (2)

the spla has declared ''operation lifeline sudan''
coordinator thomas ekvall 'persona non grata' in the territory
under its control. the guerrillas claim he allowed the khartoum
government to use planes with u.n. markings to ferry troops and
weapons into the besieged southern sudan capital of juba.

meanwhile, the unhcr is ''mad as hell'' over the
disappearance of the refugee minors, the agency's public
information officer, panos mountzis, told ips.

according to the official, the children disappeared while in
transit from one u.n. camp to another in northern kenya. ''they
have been positively traced to the narus spla camp'', he says.

but malok denies the allegation that the children are in the
spla camp at narus in southern sudan. ''the garrison commander
at narus has invited anyone to go there and verify for himself
(that the children were not in the camp)'', he told ips.

sources at the international committee of the red cross
(icrc) here say their responsibility ceased after the minors
left sudan early this year and were handed over to the unhcr.

''most of the children were aged between eight and 18 years
and certainly there were no 3,000 minors who were over the age
of 18'', says an icrc official.

if it is proved the children are missing, the same official
adds: ''the splm-spla reserve the right to know from the united
nations where it has taken the children of southern sudan''.

the unhcr is enraged by the secrecy surrounding the
disappearance. ''if they had told us they wanted to go back
to sudan we would not stop them. what we must establish is
whether pressure was exerted on the children to make them
abandon the camp and return to southern sudan'', says mountzis.

a team of legal experts has been sent to lokichogio and narus
to establish the ''legality or otherwise of the spla action in
ferreting the boys out of the camp at lokichogio. the unhcr
wants to be sure that there was no coercion''.

the refugee minors from southern sudan were largely orphans
who lost parents in the nine-year war waged by the spla against
marginalisation of the people of southern sudan by the arab and
islamic northern half of the country.

the islamic fundamentalist government in khartoum has often
depicted the southern displaced persons as a ''fifth column''
for the spla. of late it has applied various methods to force
those who fled to khartoum in the so-called ''peace cities'' as
an attempt to promote adoption of the islamic faith among them.
(end/ips/ha/ar/apc/92)