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 by all parties to respect international
humanitarian law,
 
      Recalling also its resolution 49/198 of 23 December 1994, and taking
note of Commission on Human Rights resolution 1995/77 of 8 March 1995,
 
      Noting with deep concern reports of grave human rights violations in the
Sudan, particularly 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 on the question of
torture, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions and the Special Rapporteur on the question of religious
intolerance,
 
      Welcoming the third and latest interim report of the Special Rapporteur
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 indiscriminate and deliberate 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,
 
      Deeply concerned that access by the civilian population to humanitarian
assistance continues to be impeded, which represents a threat to human life
and constitutes an offence to human dignity,
 
      Expressing the hope that the continuing dialogue between the Government
of the Sudan and other parties and donor Governments, Operation Lifeline Sudan
and international private voluntary agencies will result in improved
cooperation for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to all persons in
need,
 
      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,
 
      Alarmed also by the mass exodus of refugees into neighbouring countries
and conscious of the burden that this places on those countries, but
expressing its appreciation for the efforts of host countries and of the
international community to assist the refugees,
 
      Deeply concerned by the conclusion of the Special Rapporteur, 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, including extrajudicial killings, enforced or involuntary
disappearances, abductions, slavery, systematic torture and widespread
arbitrary arrests of suspected political opponents,
 
      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,
 
      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 Ingessana
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,
 
      Also 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,
 
      Recognizing the fact that the Sudan has been hosting large numbers of
refugees from several neighbouring countries over the past three decades,
 
      Welcoming the release of some of the political prisoners by the
Government of the Sudan in August 1995, and noting its recent announcement of
open, free and fair elections in 1996,
 
      Also welcoming the efforts of the United Nations and other humanitarian
organizations to provide humanitarian relief to those Sudanese in need,
 
      Further welcoming the dialogues and contacts between non-governmental
organizations and the religious minorities in the Sudan, aimed at developing a
more balanced relationship between the Government of the Sudan and the
religious minority groups,
 
      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; 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; and denial of the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful
assembly;
 
      2.    Urges the Government of the Sudan to investigate without delay the
cases of slavery, servitude, slave trade, forced labour and similar practices
brought to its attention and to take all appropriate measures to put an
immediate end to these practices;
 
      3.    Takes note with appreciation of the interim report of the Special
Rapporteur;
 
      4.    Welcomes the recommendation of the Special Rapporteur that human
rights monitors be placed at the earliest possible date in such locations as
will facilitate improved information flow and assessment and independent
verification of reports on the situation of human rights in the Sudan;
 
      5.    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;
 
      6.    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;
 
      7.    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;
 
      8.    Again calls upon the Government of the Sudan and all parties to
permit international agencies, humanitarian organizations and donor
Governments to deliver humanitarian assistance to the civilian population and
to cooperate with the initiatives of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs of
the Secretariat and United Nations agencies working in the field, in
particular Operation Lifeline Sudan, to deliver humanitarian assistance to all
persons in need;
 
      9.    Reiterates its call upon the Government of the Sudan to ensure a
full, thorough and prompt investigation by an independent judicial inquiry
commission of the killings of Sudanese nationals employed by foreign relief
organizations and foreign Governments;
 
      10.   Welcomes the decision of the Commission on Human Rights to extend
the mandate of the Special Rapporteur for an additional year;
 
      11.   Requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide the Special
Rapporteur with all necessary assistance in the discharge of his mandate;
 
      12.   Deplores the continuing refusal of the Government of the Sudan to
cooperate in any manner with the Special Rapporteur and the unacceptable
threats against his person;
 
      13.   Calls upon the Government of the Sudan to extend its full and
unreserved cooperation to the Special Rapporteur and to assist him in the
ongoing discharge of his mandate and, to this end, to take all necessary steps
to ensure that the Special Rapporteur has free and unlimited access to any
person in the Sudan with whom he wishes to meet, with no threats or reprisals;
 
      14.   Invites the Special Rapporteurs of the Commission on Human Rights
on the questions of religious intolerance and freedom of expression to consult
with the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan and
to consider and report on the situation in the Sudan, and calls upon the
Government of the Sudan to extend to them its full cooperation, including
inviting them to visit the Sudan;
 
      15.   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- second session, to give urgent attention to the situation of human
rights in the Sudan;
 
      16.   Decides to continue its consideration of this question at its
fifty-first session.