Medical evidence of human rights violations against non-Arabic-speaking civilians in Darfur: a cross-sectional study.

<h4>Background</h4>Ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis. We sought to characterize the nature and geographic scope of allegations of human rights violations perpetrated against civilians in Darfur and to evaluate their consistency wi...

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Autores principales:	Alexander C Tsai, Mohammed A Eisa, Sondra S Crosby, Susannah Sirkin, Michele Heisler, Jennifer Leaning, Vincent Iacopino
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012
Materias:	Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/3c80f8ba921c4a36bc9f2042ea85f24c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:3c80f8ba921c4a36bc9f2042ea85f24c2021-11-18T05:42:18ZMedical evidence of human rights violations against non-Arabic-speaking civilians in Darfur: a cross-sectional study.1549-12771549-167610.1371/journal.pmed.1001198https://doaj.org/article/3c80f8ba921c4a36bc9f2042ea85f24c2012-01-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/22509136/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1549-1277https://doaj.org/toc/1549-1676<h4>Background</h4>Ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis. We sought to characterize the nature and geographic scope of allegations of human rights violations perpetrated against civilians in Darfur and to evaluate their consistency with medical examinations documented in patients' medical records.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>This was a retrospective review and analysis of medical records from all 325 patients seen for treatment from September 28, 2004, through December 31, 2006, at the Nyala-based Amel Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, the only dedicated local provider of free clinical and legal services to civilian victims of torture and other human rights violations in Darfur during this time period. Among 325 medical records identified and examined, 292 (89.8%) patients from 12 different non-Arabic-speaking tribes disclosed in the medical notes that they had been attacked by Government of Sudan (GoS) and/or Janjaweed forces. Attacks were reported in 23 different rural council areas throughout Darfur. Nearly all attacks (321 [98.8%]) were described as having occurred in the absence of active armed conflict between Janjaweed/GoS forces and rebel groups. The most common alleged abuses were beatings (161 [49.5%]), gunshot wounds (140 [43.1%]), destruction or theft of property (121 [37.2%]), involuntary detainment (97 [29.9%]), and being bound (64 [19.7%]). Approximately one-half (36 [49.3%]) of all women disclosed that they had been sexually assaulted, and one-half of sexual assaults were described as having occurred in close proximity to a camp for internally displaced persons. Among the 198 (60.9%) medical records that contained sufficient detail to enable the forensic medical reviewers to render an informed judgment, the signs and symptoms in all of the medical records were assessed to be consistent with, highly consistent with, or virtually diagnostic of the alleged abuses.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Allegations of widespread and sustained torture and other human rights violations by GoS and/or Janjaweed forces against non-Arabic-speaking civilians were corroborated by medical forensic review of medical records of patients seen at a local non-governmental provider of free clinical and legal services in Darfur. Limitations of this study were that patients seen in this clinic may not have been a representative sample of persons alleging abuse by Janjaweed/GoS forces, and that most delayed presenting for care. The quality of documentation was similar to that available in other conflict/post-conflict, resource-limited settings.Alexander C TsaiMohammed A EisaSondra S CrosbySusannah SirkinMichele HeislerJennifer LeaningVincent IacopinoPublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRENPLoS Medicine, Vol 9, Iss 4, p e1001198 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R
spellingShingle	Medicine R Alexander C Tsai Mohammed A Eisa Sondra S Crosby Susannah Sirkin Michele Heisler Jennifer Leaning Vincent Iacopino Medical evidence of human rights violations against non-Arabic-speaking civilians in Darfur: a cross-sectional study.
description	<h4>Background</h4>Ongoing conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis. We sought to characterize the nature and geographic scope of allegations of human rights violations perpetrated against civilians in Darfur and to evaluate their consistency with medical examinations documented in patients' medical records.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>This was a retrospective review and analysis of medical records from all 325 patients seen for treatment from September 28, 2004, through December 31, 2006, at the Nyala-based Amel Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture, the only dedicated local provider of free clinical and legal services to civilian victims of torture and other human rights violations in Darfur during this time period. Among 325 medical records identified and examined, 292 (89.8%) patients from 12 different non-Arabic-speaking tribes disclosed in the medical notes that they had been attacked by Government of Sudan (GoS) and/or Janjaweed forces. Attacks were reported in 23 different rural council areas throughout Darfur. Nearly all attacks (321 [98.8%]) were described as having occurred in the absence of active armed conflict between Janjaweed/GoS forces and rebel groups. The most common alleged abuses were beatings (161 [49.5%]), gunshot wounds (140 [43.1%]), destruction or theft of property (121 [37.2%]), involuntary detainment (97 [29.9%]), and being bound (64 [19.7%]). Approximately one-half (36 [49.3%]) of all women disclosed that they had been sexually assaulted, and one-half of sexual assaults were described as having occurred in close proximity to a camp for internally displaced persons. Among the 198 (60.9%) medical records that contained sufficient detail to enable the forensic medical reviewers to render an informed judgment, the signs and symptoms in all of the medical records were assessed to be consistent with, highly consistent with, or virtually diagnostic of the alleged abuses.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Allegations of widespread and sustained torture and other human rights violations by GoS and/or Janjaweed forces against non-Arabic-speaking civilians were corroborated by medical forensic review of medical records of patients seen at a local non-governmental provider of free clinical and legal services in Darfur. Limitations of this study were that patients seen in this clinic may not have been a representative sample of persons alleging abuse by Janjaweed/GoS forces, and that most delayed presenting for care. The quality of documentation was similar to that available in other conflict/post-conflict, resource-limited settings.
format	article
author	Alexander C Tsai Mohammed A Eisa Sondra S Crosby Susannah Sirkin Michele Heisler Jennifer Leaning Vincent Iacopino
author_facet	Alexander C Tsai Mohammed A Eisa Sondra S Crosby Susannah Sirkin Michele Heisler Jennifer Leaning Vincent Iacopino
author_sort	Alexander C Tsai
title	Medical evidence of human rights violations against non-Arabic-speaking civilians in Darfur: a cross-sectional study.
title_short	Medical evidence of human rights violations against non-Arabic-speaking civilians in Darfur: a cross-sectional study.
title_full	Medical evidence of human rights violations against non-Arabic-speaking civilians in Darfur: a cross-sectional study.
title_fullStr	Medical evidence of human rights violations against non-Arabic-speaking civilians in Darfur: a cross-sectional study.
title_full_unstemmed	Medical evidence of human rights violations against non-Arabic-speaking civilians in Darfur: a cross-sectional study.
title_sort	medical evidence of human rights violations against non-arabic-speaking civilians in darfur: a cross-sectional study.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/3c80f8ba921c4a36bc9f2042ea85f24c
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Medical evidence of human rights violations against non-Arabic-speaking civilians in Darfur: a cross-sectional study.

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