Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Program, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
PLoS Med. 2012;9(4):e1001198. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001198. Epub 2012 Apr 3.
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.
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.
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.
苏丹达尔富尔地区持续不断的冲突导致了严重的人道主义危机。我们试图描述对达尔富尔平民实施侵犯人权行为的性质和地理范围，并评估这些行为与记录在患者病历中的医学检查是否一致。
这是对 2004 年 9 月 28 日至 2006 年 12 月 31 日期间在尼亚拉的 Amel 中心接受治疗的 325 名患者的病历进行的回顾性审查和分析，该中心是当时达尔富尔唯一一家专门为酷刑和其他侵犯人权行为的平民受害者提供免费临床和法律服务的当地机构。在确定并检查的 325 份病历中，来自 12 个不同非阿拉伯语部落的 292 名（89.8%）患者在病历中透露，他们遭到了苏丹政府（GoS）和/或金戈威德部队的袭击。在达尔富尔的 23 个不同农村议会区报告了袭击事件。几乎所有的袭击（321 [98.8%]）都发生在金戈威德/GoS 部队和叛乱团体之间没有发生武装冲突的情况下。最常见的指控是殴打（161 [49.5%]）、枪伤（140 [43.1%]）、财产被毁或被盗（121 [37.2%]）、非自愿拘留（97 [29.9%]）和被绑（64 [19.7%]）。大约一半（36 [49.3%]）的女性透露她们曾遭受过性侵犯，一半的性侵犯发生在境内流离失所者营地附近。在 198 份（60.9%）包含足够详细信息以使法医审查员能够做出知情判断的病历中，所有病历中的体征和症状均被评估为与所指控的虐待行为一致、高度一致或几乎可以确诊。
对政府和/或金戈威德部队对非阿拉伯语平民实施广泛和持续的酷刑和其他侵犯人权行为的指控，通过对达尔富尔当地一家非政府组织提供的免费临床和法律服务的患者病历进行法医审查得到了证实。本研究的局限性在于，在该诊所就诊的患者可能不是指控金戈威德/GoS 部队实施虐待的人的代表性样本，而且大多数人就诊时已经延迟。文件的质量与其他冲突/后冲突、资源有限的环境中的文件质量相似。
