"No. If you decide to be vocal, you might spoil the only chance you have to help those in real need. There are agencies that are not on ground who should do advocacy work."
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"We have not had problems when we described the situation in Darfur from a strictly humanitarian point of view. However, as soon as statements become slightly political, we get criticized by the Sudanese government.
"Experience has shown that our website is scanned by Sudanese pro-government sources and in the case that critical statements are made, the organisation is requested to delete them from the homepage."
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"Speaking out might jeopardise our ability to continue delivering humanitarian assistance."
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"There evidently is a certain amount of &${esc.hash}39;self-censorship&${esc.hash}39;. This doesn&${esc.hash}39;t mean we are keeping mum about the humanitarian situation, but we have to time communications and choose means with great care in order to minimise the backlash."
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"The answer is no for several reasons: firstly and most importantly because all movements, actions and information by humanitarian organisations in the region are subjected to close scrutiny by the Sudanese government in Khartoum and in Darfur. This is due to the fact that the government tries to prevent the organisations present from bearing witness to the attacks perpetrated by armed militias it supports on the internally displaced people they assist."
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"I do not see a strong pressure from the government to control our information flow. Our co-workers who work in communication are free to move and take pictures. We did not encounter any control afterwards."
Can you speak to the media about.......the incidence of rape?
"The government campaigns and even openly arrests those agencies that do report rape."
***
"Rape is a complete taboo subject. The Sudanese government does not want to hear about it.
"....Investigating stories on rape issues have, in the best case, been completely tamed, at the worst case, never published. The reason advanced is that raising up such issues would considerably upset the Sudanese government, which could retaliate against the organisation&${esc.hash}39;s teams present in Darfur and in Khartoum...."
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"A public statement about rape probably wouldn&${esc.hash}39;t change the situation so we don&${esc.hash}39;t see the benefits of speaking out publicly. We would probably use other advocacy channels and talk privately to other organisations like donor governments and human rights organisations."
***
"Rape, who&${esc.hash}39;s behind the attacks on civilians and aid workers, and restrictions on our work are potentially too political, and we feel (speaking openly about these) may put our staff at risk."
...who is behind attacks on civilians and aid worker?"I&${esc.hash}39;m thinking all the time about the security of our staff - if there could be any retribution. That&${esc.hash}39;s our main concern. There might be attacks or rapes or robberies ... against our own staff or the people in our programme.
"As soon as I start to name parties or militias, that could hurt our impartiality ... It&${esc.hash}39;s important to show that we&${esc.hash}39;re not just working with one side.
"We promise to help anybody if they&${esc.hash}39;ve got needs - that&${esc.hash}39;s the ideal we&${esc.hash}39;re trying to protect. There are human rights abuses on all sides. It&${esc.hash}39;s not my job to publicly condemn one side or another."
***
"Speaking about touchy issues might result in restrictions and the order to leave the country, which we do not want to risk, considering many people depend upon our support."
***
"In some cases such as attacks on civilians and aid workers, we cannot always be sure who the perpetrators are, as the groups are numerous, so there is a factual issue. Overall though, the issue of primary concern in speaking too openly is the impact on our staff, local and international, and our programming in Darfur. We find it more productive to use official U.N. channels or other governments."
***
"It&${esc.hash}39;s more complicated than good guys on one side. Nobody can be sure who is behind the attacks. I&${esc.hash}39;d feel fully free to say, even when we felt the government was behind it."
...restrictions on your work?"All humanitarians are considered as spies against the government."
***
"If we speak openly ... we find that the government will then restrict our access to programme areas by delaying visas, travel permits etc. They will also withdraw support such as protection against bandits and searching for stolen vehicles and kidnapped drivers.
"The government denies that they are impeding our work through bureaucratic means, even when those impediments are government policy. If we openly criticise the government for restrictions they put in place they see that as open opposition to them."
***
"We have a terrible problem sourcing work visas for our staff, which we consider to be a deliberate ploy by Khartoum to hamper our work."
***
"As soon as you talk about restrictions you talk about politics. We try not to talk about politics at all so that we are completely neutral. That would be the same if we were working in any country."
***
"We&${esc.hash}39;re not always at ease to mention the administrative hassle put on NGOs even though it does indeed restrict our work, because it may just become impossible to obtain further documents or permits."
What stops you speaking to the media?"We have been very careful of speaking out largely because we feel it might put our workers in jeopardy and undermine the work we&${esc.hash}39;re doing. It&${esc.hash}39;s a delicate balance. Our role is to serve the ... families in that region. It&${esc.hash}39;s not that we&${esc.hash}39;re silent on major issues - you can be vocal and not necessarily be in the press."
***
"Experience has shown that it has impeded our ability to be effective when partner staff have been detained, in terms of advocating for their release. Things we&${esc.hash}39;ve said in the public domain have been referenced when we&${esc.hash}39;ve been trying to advocate for detained aid colleagues."
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"We could risk our registration and possible expulsion from Sudan for our organisation and the staff interviewed. Our field staff aren&${esc.hash}39;t allowed to talk to the media. Our staff are closely observed by the security police and would risk their work permits."
General comments on some of the difficulties agencies face in talking to the media from the field..."In general, the questions asked by the media are more political and linked to military movements or to the theme of genocide, which we cannot answer. The main difficulty is the lack of media interest in the humanitarian themes which concern us."
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"A high level of pressure is exerted on aid organizations that do speak out on Darfur."
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"What has to be mentioned today is that not a lot of media are allowed to go to Darfur."
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