The George Washington (GW) University
School of Public Health and Health Services,

The Office of Medical Student Opportunities of GW's School of Medicine and Health Sciences,
and Physicians for Human Rights are honored to present:

Darfur Doctor and Human Rights Defender
Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah

Thursday, November 15th
Noon to 1:00 pm, Ross Hall Room 117
The George Washington University Medical Center
2300 I Street, NW, Washington DC


Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah is the Medical Treatment Director of the Amel Center for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in Sudan, a leading Sudanese Darfuri-led human rights organization. Despite being surrounded by the on-going brutal conflict in Darfur, Dr. Ahmed has been steadfast in his efforts to rectify the region's human rights crisis through serving victims of torture and providing leadership in the movement for peace. Dr. Ahmed is renowned for creating a network of health professionals in Darfur to provide quality care to the victims of violence and to ensure the human rights of all Darfuri people. Dr. Ahmed has represented the Fur tribe, the majority ethnic group in Darfur, in national and international forums and negotiations for peace in Sudan.

On November 16th, Dr. Ahmed will attend a Capitol Hill ceremony where he will be presented with the 2007 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award. "Dr. Ahmed has emerged as a nationally and internationally respected leader through his extensive involvement in Darfur's peace process," said John Shattuck, RFK Human Rights Award judge and former Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. "Perhaps better then anyone confronting this issue today, he has the credibility and experience to best represent the silenced victims of this genocide as an international voice for peace."

Individuals from outside the George Washington University who wish to attend should RSVP to Amir Jahansir, sphadj@gwumc.edu.

A Brief Bio of Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah:

Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah
Medical Director, Amel Center for Rehabilitation of Torture Victims
Nyala, Darfur

Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Abdallah is an extraordinarily courageous physician working in the eye of the storm in Nyala and El Fashir, in the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan. A highly revered leader in his Fur tribe (the largest of the African tribes of Darfur) who practiced and taught medicine in Darfur for several decades, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed joined Darfur’s leading indigenous human rights organization, the Amel Center, in 2004, as its medical treatment director. Since joining, he has created a large network of physicians and other health professionals in Darfur who offer services and support in a human rights context to victims of the violence. Much of this work is carried out without fanfare or publicity, and given the precarious security situation today in this region of Sudan, much of it is undertaken at personal and professional risk. Dr. Mohammed was impelled to join Amel when the numbers of victims of human rights violations began flooding the hospitals where he taught and treated patients. Since then, he has pursued advocacy to promote and fulfill the rights of the people of Darfur on two fronts: through his work as a physician in the documentation and treatment of torture and sexual violence, and as an active Fur leader seeking a peaceful and just resolution to the horrific conflict in Darfur, which Physicians for Human Rights and many other experts and groups have described as a genocidal campaign against the lives and livelihoods of Darfurians.

In addition to his medical work with Amel Center in Nyala and El Fasher, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed has participated actively in the “human rights movement” in Sudan during the period 1998 -2007 also taking various courses in human rights, including the training series on international standards for documentation of torture in 2005 and 2006 organized by Physicians for Human Rights and Redress together with Amel Center, Khartoum. The most recent training occurred in July 2006 at Nyala Farmers Hall (Dr. Mohammed’s remarks from this training program on torture in the context of Darfur are found on PHR’s website under the Darfur Survival Campaign in Susannah Sirkin’s “blog” from Darfur.

As a leading voice and advocate for his victimized people, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed was a member of a delegation that met US Special Representative Robert Zoellick at the Kalma camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 2005 where he raised a variety of human rights and health issues. He has actively participated as a leader in addressing major community problems in his native region of Darfur. In 1998 he served as one of the Fur tribal delegates in negotiating a peace agreement between the Fur and 32 Arab tribes in Darfur. He was also on of the Fur delegates who met with President el Bashir’s security envoy in 2000. When Arab militias killed civilians and 18 policemen, and burned three Fur villages in 2002, Dr. Mohammed was nominated with others to attend a meeting headed by the Minister of the Interior. In August 2003 he participated in a frank dialogue between NGOs and 137 top Fur leaders discussing the fate of the rebel movement in Darfur. In September 2003 he participated in discussions of the consequences of the ongoing rebellions with all major Arab and non-Arab leaders. Seven of them agreed to call for an All-Darfur Congress which was to be held in the north Darfur town of El Fasher in February 2004.

In October 2003 the Government of Sudan called 11 of the Fur leaders to Khartoum to further discussions with ministers, military officials and top security. They could not reach an agreement because, according to Dr. Mohammed, the Darfurian delegation was looking at the problem of Darfur as an issue of chronic marginalization, asking that humanitarian, social, and cultural problems be addressed. Dr. Mohammed believes that the Government merely viewed the problems in Darfur as those of a violent rebellion that needed to be squashed. According to Dr. Mohammed, the Fur leaders exchanged views productively with all political parties including Minister El Turabi, trade unions in Khartoum, and also spoke with the media. Dr. Mohammed believes in continuing to press the cause of marginalized Darfurians through constant dialogue with all parties and education as a means to a peaceful settlement of the crisis in Darfur. But he has also advocated for accountability and justice which explains his deep commitment to the medical documentation of violations.

Dr. Mohammed works every day as a physician. His work as a community leader and rights advocate are a complement to his core commitment to use his professional skills to benefit victims of violence and human rights abuse.

Since the war started in Darfur in 2002-2003, Dr. Mohammed and his colleagues have been deeply involved in treating survivors of torture and rape through their work in Nyala Hospital. As conditions continued to deteriorate and violence persisted, with massive displacement and large numbers of IDPs settling in camps outside the major towns of Darfur, Dr. Mohammed was inspired to join Amel Center and started professional work there in 2004. In Darfur, Amel Center’s mandate is documentation of torture, sexual violence and other crimes, provision of medical and psychological treatment of survivors, and legal aid with protection. As Dr. Mohammed wrote to us: “Right now, Darfur is a big prison for the IDPs and those living in towns. For the last seven years, Darfur has been under marshal laws which enable anybody to be arrested, tortured, or even killed. In July 2006 the Amel Center’s coordinater, Massad Ali was arrested for two weeks. The Center’s legal aid coordinator was harassed and tortured by the security forces, making the work environment for Amel one of constant intimidation and risk. In spite of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the North and South of Sudan, and in spite of commitments made by the Government when it signed the Darfur Peace Agreement in 2006, there is no rule of law and arbitrary detentions, especially of those opposed to the Agreement itself, continue”. In late 2006 and early 2007, conditions have worsened will many non-governmental organizations pulling out due to the unfavorable security conditions.

Amel Center, Nyala
The Amel Center in Nyala, located in the Darfur region of Sudan, opened on September 28, 2004, with a staff that included one medical doctor (general practitioner) and one social worker. Since then, the Center has also opened an office in El Fashir in North Darfur, and has established clinics in several IDP camps. They currently seeking to open another office in West Darfur. Amel also now collaborates with a network of physicians and social workers in the areas where its offices are located. From September to December 2004, seventy-eight victims (39 men and 39 women) of torture and/or rape sought help from the Center. Fifty people were treated medically. Several were sent to Khartoum for surgical or psychiatric treatment. Of the 39 women who were treated by the Center in Nyala, fifteen of them had been raped, and many of them also had been beaten. The majority of the cases were referred to the Amel Center from IDP camps either by NGOs or IDPs who have participated in an Amel Center training on the documentation of torture. The Amel Center in Nyala has evolved quickly to become a central repository for documenting all cases of rape and torture in the area. Since 2005, the programs and numbers of people seeking assistance have increased incrementally,

Dr. Mohammed was born in 1952 in Judo village on the western slope of Jabel Mara in the central region of Darfur. He began elementary school at the age of five, which was unusual in his area because there, children (boys) usually do not go to school until the age of 9 or 10. At that time, all the schools in Darfur took on boarders who came in from the remote villages that dot this vast terrain with few roads and no infrastructure. In 1962 he was one of only two from his area who gained acceptance into the nearest intermediate school at Zalingei. Every year, only about 40 candidates of a pool of 500 could gain admission to the school. Zalingei could only be reached by camel or on foot--the journey taking three days. For four years, Dr. Mohammed walked three days from home to school and back several times a year. In 1967 he gained admission to the secondary school at El Fasher, the capital of north Darfur. Dr. Mohammed describes the difficulties he faced reaching this location. “I used to travel on foot for two days carrying my bag, crossing the jungles, moving up and down the hills to reach at the end, the nearest market en route to El Fasher.” With the help of El Fasher merchants, who loaded his small bag onto their camels, they would then proceed on foot for three more days to reach El Fasher. This continued for four years until Dr. Mohammed entered university in 1970. At that time there were only two universities in Sudan -- Khartoum and Omdurman. Then, traveling to continue his studies was reduced to two days by truck to Darfur’s capital, Nyala and three days by train to Khartoum.

Dr. Mohammed was graduated as a medical doctor from Khartoum University in 1976. After completing residencies in several teaching hospitals, he became a medical officer. In 1987, he enrolled in postgraduate medical studies at Khartoum University. He worked at Omdurman and Khartoum teaching hospitals and has been on the faculty of medicine at El Fasher University since 1993. His current daily schedule involves hospital rounds and clinic work from 8 am to noon, sometimes also teaching medical students of El Fasher University. Dr. Mohammed then proceeds to the Amel Center to evaluate survivors of torture and sexual violence-- both to document their cases and provide medical treatment, often also making referrals through the medical network he has helped to organize.

Prior to 2004, physicians like Dr. Mohammed used to see survivors of torture in the hospital and in their private clinics between 7 and 10 pm. Now, with the increased caseload along with enhanced capacity of the Amel Center, and the expanded network, they are able to take cases during the day as well. Since 2004, Dr. Mohammed has addressed the needs of 520 survivors of torture, gun shot, sexual violence, beatings, and has helped many individuals suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome.

From Physicians for Human Rights nomination of Dr. Mohammed Ahmed for the RFK Memorial Human Rights Award:
“Of all the extraordinary people I met in Khartoum and Darfur, Dr. Mohammed Ahmed has left me with the most striking impression of courage and commitment, combined with modesty and deep character. He seems to have a boundless amount of energy and optimism in the face of overwhelming horror, enormous obstacles and setbacks. When he rose to speak at our training session in Nyala last summer, the room became hushed with reverence for this generous, wise and dedicated doctor. He is clearly widely respected among his peers and in the community. He is constantly smiling. He rises early, does his rounds and reportedly arrives home most evenings past 11 pm, where patients and community members await him for medical care and counsel. He cares deeply for all human beings and seems to have adopted the human rights framework as if he were born with it. He and his colleagues at the Amel Center represent to me the best hope for a future Sudan—a Sudan that respects rights, that seeks peace, justice, equity and tolerance. “

Susannah Sirkin, Deputy Director, Physicians for Human Rights
www.physiciansforhumanrights.org  
October 2007