Africa Association of the German economy pays court to the Sudan's unjust regime – protests in Berlin

On Wednesday, the conference of the "Afrika-Verein" (Africa Association) of the German economy in Berlin, which promotes investments in Sudan, was accompanied by a solemn vigil organized by the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP). With banners, the human rights organization demanded the release of the Christian woman Mariam Ibrahim Yahia, who was recently sentenced to death. Also, the vigil was meant to draw attention to the ongoing crimes against humanity in Darfur and South Kordofan and to serve as a form of protest against the participation of the Sudanese Ministers at the conference.

"While Darfur sinks deeper into violence and anarchy, the Africa-Association pays court to those who are partly responsible for the violence," Ulrich Delius, the STP's Africa-consultant, accused the hosts. In Darfur, 322,000 people were forced to escape the terror of pro-government militias since January 2014 alone. Delius recalled that the International Criminal Court had issued a warrant against Sudan's President Omar al Bashir for genocide crimes, which is still valid. The Sudanese Foreign Minister Ali Karti, the Investment Minister Ali Mohamed Musa Tawir and the Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, Ali Mahgoub, were invited to the conference in Berlin.

"In general, we welcome interest towards investing in the African countries, but the German economy's self-commitment to ethical issues is not worth the paper if unjust regimes are blindly promoted like this," said Delius. "There have been repeated statements to assure that business and ethics are not necessarily contradictory – so the German economy has to be taken by its word in the case of Sudan, where this could be proven. A country in which serious crimes against humanity are common should not receive any tourism promotion."

Almost every day, there are reports about rape and expulsions in Darfur, committed by the "Rapid Support Forces" militia, which was established by the Sudanese army. The head of the UNAMID peacekeepers in Darfur, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, recently compared the dramatic situation to the worst phase of the genocide in 2003. In western Sudan and in South Kordofan, the Sudanese air force continues to attack villages and civilian facilities, despite protests by the UN. In South Kordofan, there are tens of thousands of civilians who can not be supplied with goods because the authorities are trying to stop the helpers from accessing the troubled regions.