US embassy cable - 05THEHAGUE1554

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 THE HAGUE 001554 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, PREL, SU, NL 
SUBJECT: SUDAN/NETHERLANDS: NGO AND DUTCH ANGER OVER ARREST 
OF DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS IN SUDAN 
 
REF: KHARTOUM 830 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Andrew Schofer for reasons 1.4 (b) a 
nd (d) 
 
1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  The Government of Sudan's arrest of the 
Country and Darfur directors of the NGO Artsen zonder 
Grensen/Medicins sans Frontieres (MSF) angered the NGO and 
the Dutch government, which has called in the Sudanese 
Ambassador to protest.  The NGO confirms the men are free for 
now but sees troubling signs in the fact that bond had to be 
personally guaranteed by local staff.  MSF refuses to retract 
or reveal the sources for the report of violence in Darfur 
that precipitated the arrests, and they insist the report was 
intended to address medical issues, not political ones.  The 
Dutch report internal GOS dissent, between the MFA - 
apparently embarrassed by the event - and the Ministry of 
Justice - talking tough.  MSF said other NGOs have also been 
harassed, but only MSF chose to alert the world to GOS 
actions.  End Summary 
 
2.  (C)  One June 1, Stella Kloth (MFA Sudan desk officer) 
and Econoff discussed Sudan's arrests of Paul Foreman and 
Vince Hoedt, Sudan and Darfur managers for Artsen zonder 
Grensen (MSF)/Doctors without Borders.  On June 2, Poloff 
discussed the case with Jeff Prescott (protect), director of 
MSF in Amsterdam. (NOTE:  Prescott insisted he not be quoted 
publicly in order to protect his NGO from GOS harassment). 
Prescott and Kloth said that, despite media reports to the 
contrary, a third member of MSF had not/not been detained. 
 
THE CASE 
 
3.  (C)  Kloth said that the Sudanese Justice Ministry denied 
arresting Foreman and Hoedt, instead saying they had been 
"called in for interviews."  Kloth said the GOS claimed to be 
conducting "an investigation" and wanted the names of the 
rape victims who had given their testimony for the report 
released by MSF.  Prescott confirmed that MSF will neither 
divulge the victims' names nor disown the report, which MSF 
insists is a medical report, not a political one.  He angrily 
dismissed the arrests of the two workers as a "purely 
political" move cleverly intended to decapitate the 
organization.  "Our reports of rapes and violence in Darfur 
are intended to address the medical issues involved," 
Prescott insisted, "however, one can read only politics into 
the arrests." 
 
4.  (C)  Kloth noted that on June 1, the Dutch ambassador in 
Khartoum delivered an EU Troika demarche (joined by the U.S. 
Charge d'affairs) to the Sudanese Under Secretary for Foreign 
Affairs protesting the arrests (reftel).  Referring to 
current Dutch cable traffic from Sudan, she said that the GOS 
foreign affairs under secretary Mutrif Saddiq "was frustrated 
by his colleagues in the Justice Ministry" and said that "the 
Justice Ministry had agreed to drop the charges."  The two 
would be free to go in "a couple of days, after 
administrative processing."  According to Kloth's readout, 
the Under Secretary expressed regret for the embarrassment 
this was causing the GOS.  Following up in the Hague, the 
Dutch MFA called in the Sudanese ambassador to the 
Netherlands to protest the arrests. 
 
5.  (C) Prescott was not sanguine and said he would not relax 
until the charges were dropped.  He said that the GOS 
Attorney General had told MSF that the two were charged with 
"spying"; MSF characterized the charges as "intimidation of 
the NGO."  MSF takes the charges seriously, in spite of GOS 
assurances that the penalty would "be only three years."  The 
MSF posted USD 4000 bail for both men, Prescott reported, 
adding that the GOS also held members of the local staff 
"personally responsible" for the men.  "We are not sure what 
"responsible" means in the context of bail, but it creates a 
terrible added burden for the affected staff," Prescott 
worried.  According to the Dutch MFA, both men still have 
their passports. 
 
POSSIBLE REASONS FOR SUDAN'S ACTIONS 
 
6. (C)  Prescott surmised four reasons for the GOS actions: 
 
a) GOS suspicions that the report would be used by the ICC as 
evidence; 
b) internal problems in the regime; 
c) GOS efforts to silence NGOs; 
d) GOS efforts to disrupt humanitarian aid as the rainy 
season starts, which especially concerns MSF. 
 
He added that MSF does not normally hand over case 
information to others, including courts, since they see 
themselves as a medical organization and, if nothing else, 
the patient information is privileged.  He concluded that the 
GOS must worry about the reports of the rapes because they 
are based on objective medical data that would be very 
persuasive in any prosecution. 
 
7.  (C)  Prescott wanted to ensure the USG knew that the GOS 
had harassed other NGOs as well "but these have remained 
silent out of fear."  He named: Solidarity (French), which 
had one member arrested in January; Oxfam, whose 
representatives were PNG'd recently; and a Dutch refugee 
agency, which had staff arrested.  "Some NGOs want to "keep 
quiet about the harassment," Prescott alleged, "but MSF is 
different.  We are screaming about the mistreatment." 
 
8.  (C)  The GOS had targeted MSF since they are "by far the 
largest aid organization in Sudan," Prescott claimed, 
"employing 9000 national staff in Darfur and 180 expats.  As 
a measure of their involvement, he said that in the last 
twelve months in Darfur, MSF fed 50,000 severely malnourished 
children (the category includes those who would die in two 
months without care) and carried out 1 million medical 
consultations. 
SOBEL