20.04.2006 - Source: Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

Information on forced recruitment, conscientious objection and desertion ("10th European Country of Origin Infomation Seminar Budapest, 1 - 2 December 2005: Final Report on Sudan") [#49770],  [ID 19046]

"Forced recruitment, where young men were rounded up on the streets, occurred before the peace agreement. This practice has stopped. Sudan now plans to establish a draft registration system.
However, young persons who finish their secondary education will not get a school certificate unless they do the military service. If they plan to continue their education at university, they usually do two months of basic service, then study at university and have to finish the other ten months of service before getting their university certificate.
There is no possibility of conscientious objection. With exception of some people with relevant connections, there is no way of getting around military service.
Women are being drafted as well, but usually there is less pressure on the drafting of women and then they are being used in the nursing profession, the reserve and similar fields.
According to the military law, the punishment for draft evasion is three years imprisonment. Desertion carries the death penalty. Draft evaders, instead of being punished, are often coerced into certain contingents of active service. Depending on where they are sent to fight, this could constitute another death penalty.
HA: The law foresees the death penalty for desertion, but we don’t know any case where a person was executed, also due to the Sudanese culture."

Document(s): Open document

10.02.2006 - Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Young men of fighting age face special risk when being returned to Sudan ("UNHCR's position on Sudanese asylum-seekers from Darfur") [#44832],  [ID 18352]

"Forced returns to Sudan entail risks for certain categories of Sudanese,
regardless of their place of origin, including Darfurians. These categories include
young men of fighting age who are regularly singled out for detention and
interrogation. These arrests are often pursuant to an administrative decree dated
28 February 1993, which authorizes border authorities to arrest returning Sudanese
who left after the June 1989 coup and have stayed away for more than a year. Such
individuals can be subject to “investigations” and “necessary security measures”.
Currently, the decree is applied selectively, depending on the profile of the individual
returning. Young men of a fighting age are particularly susceptible to be targeted."

Document(s): Open document