The General Assembly,
 
      Guided by the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination and the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
 
      Reaffirming that all Member States have an obligation to promote and
protect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to comply with the
obligations laid down in the various instruments in this field,
 
      Recalling the obligation of all parties to respect international
humanitarian law,
 
      Recalling also its resolution 50/197 of 22 December 1995, and taking
note of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1996/73 of 23 April 1996,
 
      Noting with deep concern reports of grave human rights violations in the
Sudan, in particular summary executions, detentions without trial, forced
displacement of persons and torture, as described in reports submitted to the
Commission on Human Rights by the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on
Human Rights on the question of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human
Rights on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and the Special
Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the elimination of all forms
of religious intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief,
 
      Welcoming the fourth and latest interim report of the Special Rapporteur
of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in the
Sudan, and noting with concern the continuing violations of human rights in
the Sudan,
 
      Concerned about continuing deliberate and indiscriminate aerial
bombardments by the Government of the Sudan of civilian targets in southern
Sudan, in clear violation of international humanitarian law, which have added
to the suffering of the civilian population and resulted in casualties to
civilians, including relief workers involved in Operation Lifeline Sudan and
with international private voluntary agencies,
 
      Welcoming the lifting, in July 1996, of restrictions on aircraft
employed to deliver humanitarian assistance, yet deeply concerned by the
continued denial of flight clearances to affected areas, which exacerbates the
threat to human life,
 
      Alarmed by the large number of internally displaced persons and victims
of discrimination in the Sudan, including members of ethnic minorities who
have been forcibly displaced in violation of their human rights and who are in
need of relief assistance and protection,
 
      Noting that the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in
the Sudan and the Special Rapporteur on the elimination of all forms of
religious intolerance and of discrimination based on religion or belief
carried out missions to the Sudan in 1996, as requested by the General
Assembly in its resolution 50/197,
 
      Deeply concerned by the conclusion of the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in the Sudan, also stated in his previous reports,
that grave and widespread violations of human rights by government agents, as
well as abuses by members of parties to the conflict in southern Sudan other
than the Government of the Sudan, continue to take place in the zones
controlled by them, including extrajudicial killings, enforced or involuntary
disappearances, abductions, slavery, systematic torture and widespread
arbitrary arrests of suspected political opponents, as well as restrictions on
religious minorities,
 
      Welcoming the establishment by the Government of the Sudan of the
Special Investigation Committee on Allegations of Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearances and Reported Cases of Slavery,
 
      Alarmed by the continuing failure of the Sudanese authorities to
investigate human rights violations and abuses brought to their attention over
the past years,
 
      Gravely alarmed that since February 1994 there have been increasing
reports from a wide variety of sources indicating that atrocities by the
Government of the Sudan against the local population in the area of the Nuba
Mountains have intensified,
 
      Welcoming the commitment of the Government of the Sudan to facilitate
the improved flow of information, as well as its stated strong commitment to
cooperate with the competent United Nations bodies and agencies, as well as
with the Special Rapporteur;
 
      Concerned by reports of religious persecution in areas of the conflict
zone controlled by the Government of the Sudan and of discrimination based
upon religion in the provision of shelter and relief,
 
      Deeply concerned by the Special Rapporteur's conclusion that the
abduction of persons, mainly women and children belonging to ethnic and
religious minorities from southern Sudan, the Nuba Mountains and the Ingassena
Hills area, and their subjection to the slave trade, servitude and forced
labour are taking place with the knowledge of the Government of the Sudan,
 
      Welcoming the dialogue and contacts between non-governmental
organizations and the religious minorities in the Sudan aimed at improving
relations between the Government of the Sudan and the religious minority
groups,
 
      Noting that the Government of the Sudan has taken steps towards a larger
degree of cooperation with some international organizations, with special
attention to the rights of Sudanese children, and hoping that these efforts
will be enhanced in the future,
 
      Deeply concerned about the problem of unaccompanied minors and the use
of children as soldiers by all parties, despite repeated calls from the
international community to put an end to this practice, as described in the
report of the Special Rapporteur,
 
      1.    Expresses deep concern at the serious, widespread and continuing
human rights violations in the Sudan, including extrajudicial killings and
summary executions, detentions without due process, violations of the rights
of women and children, forced displacement of persons, enforced or involuntary
disappearances, torture and other forms of cruel and unusual punishment,
slavery, practices similar to slavery and forced labour, denial of the
freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly and discrimination
based on religion;
 
      2.    Calls upon the Government of the Sudan to comply with applicable
international human rights instruments to which the Sudan is a party, in
particular the International Covenants on Human Rights, the International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Slavery Convention, as amended, and
the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade and
Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery, to implement those instruments
to which it is a party and to ensure that all individuals in its territory and
subject to its jurisdiction, including members of all religious and ethnic
groups, enjoy fully the rights recognized in those instruments;
 
      3.    Urges the Government of the Sudan to ensure that all cases of
slavery, servitude, slave trade, forced labour and similar practices brought
to its attention are investigated and all appropriate measures are implemented
to put an immediate end to these practices;
 
      4.    Expresses its hope that the Special Investigation Committee on
Allegations of Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and Reported Cases of
Slavery will contribute effectively to improving the human rights situation in
the Sudan;
 
      5.    Welcomes the statement by the Government of the Sudan, as reported
by the Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation
of human rights in the Sudan, in which it pledged its logistical support to
national, regional and international organizations that join the
investigations of alleged cases of involuntary disappearance and slavery, and,
accordingly, calls upon the Government to grant international human rights and
humanitarian organizations and independent observers free and unimpeded access
to all areas where these violations have been reported;
 
      6.    Welcomes the interim report of the Special Rapporteur on the
situation of human rights in the Sudan to the General Assembly and his recent
report to the Commission on Human Rights, and expresses its continuing support
for his work;
 
      7.    Continues to urge the placement of human rights monitors in such
locations as will facilitate improved information flow and assessment and
independent verification of reporting, with particular attention to violations
and abuses of human rights in areas of armed conflict, as recommended by the
Special Rapporteur;
 
      8.    Urges the Government of the Sudan to cease immediately all aerial
attacks on civilian targets and other attacks that are in violation of
international humanitarian law;
 
      9.    Calls upon parties to the hostilities to respect fully the
applicable provisions of international humanitarian law, including article 3
common to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and the Additional
Protocols thereto, of 1977, to halt the use of weapons against the civilian
population and to protect all civilians, including women, children and members
of ethnic and religious minorities, from violations, including forcible
displacement, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, torture and summary
executions, and deplores the consequences for innocent civilians of the use of
landmines by government and rebel forces alike;
 
      10.   Again calls upon the Government of the Sudan and all parties to
allow Operation Lifeline Sudan, international agencies, humanitarian
organizations and donor Governments unimpeded access to the civilian
population so as to permit the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all
persons in need;
 
      11.   Welcomes the reported release of female detainees with children
and any other activities designed to assist such persons, and encourages the
Government of the Sudan to work actively for the eradication of practices that
are directed against and in particular violate the human rights of women and
girls, in full cooperation with the international organizations active in the
Sudan and focusing on the question, including the office of the United Nations
Children's Fund in Khartoum;
 
      12.   Urges the Government of the Sudan to take all steps necessary to
improve the situation of the most vulnerable groups of the society, the women,
children and ethnic and religious minorities living in the conflict zones, as
recommended by the Special Rapporteur;
 
      13.   Urges all parties to the civil war in the Sudan to seek a
negotiated settlement to the conflict immediately, and encourages the parties
to cooperate with efforts by the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought and
Development to assist the warring parties to put an end to the conflict and
hasten a return of Sudanese refugees residing in neighbouring countries;
 
      14.   Reiterates its call upon the Government of the Sudan to ensure a
full, thorough and prompt investigation by an independent judicial commission
of inquiry into the killings of Sudanese nationals employed by foreign relief
organizations and foreign Governments;
 
      15.   Urges the Government of the Sudan to cooperate fully with all
United Nations agencies, international humanitarian organizations, human
rights organizations and independent observers to improve the situation of
human rights in the Sudan, as recommended by the Special Rapporteur;
 
      16.   Welcomes the decision of the Commission on Human Rights to extend
the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for an additional year;
 
      17.   Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide the Special
Rapporteur with all necessary assistance in the discharge of his mandate;
 
      18.   Welcomes the approaches to the Special Rapporteurs of the
Commission on Human Rights by the Government of the Sudan, and again calls
upon the Government of the Sudan to extend its full and unreserved cooperation
to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan and to
the thematic Special Rapporteurs, to assist them in the ongoing discharge of
their mandates and, to this end, to take all necessary steps to ensure that
the Special Rapporteurs have free and unlimited access to the whole territory
of the Sudan and to any person in the Sudan with whom they wish to meet, with
no threats or reprisals;
 
      19.   Recommends the continued monitoring of the serious human rights
situation in the Sudan and of the regional efforts to end the hostilities and
human suffering in the south, and invites the Commission on Human Rights, at
its fifty-third session, to give urgent attention to the situation of human
rights in the Sudan;
 
      20.   Decides to continue its consideration of this question at its
fifty- second session.