Sudan: 18yo woman killed by security forces in Omdurman

During a raid by police and other security forces on the Abu Saeed neighbourhood in Wad Al Bashir in Omdurman on Monday, Shireen Hasan Abbas (18) was shot dead in front of her family’s home. Locals say unpunished violent behaviour is normal during police raids and believe that they are targeted because of their ethnic and tribal background. 

The Omdurman-based organisation Justice Africa Sudan (JAS) said in a statement on Wednesday that the young woman came out of the house, looking for her younger brother after hearing loud noises outside. A group of police and security forces in about 30 vehicles raided the neighbourhood and shot around them with live ammunition. 

Residents told JAS that the forces plundered the neighbourhood and robbed the people of their mobile telephones and money.

Abbas was killed with a bullet directed to her chest; it reached her heart, and she died on the spot.

The killing was reported to a senior officer, after which policemen took the body to the hospital for an autopsy. They later brought the body back with a death certificate and asked the relatives to bury it. No charges have been filed against anyone.

'Killing, plundering, and robbing people is normal conduct by the police and security forces during their raids' – local residents

According to the residents of the neighbourhood, this extra-judiciary killing, plundering, and robbing people is “normal conduct by the police and security forces during their raids”.

“As no one was held to account in the past, the culture of impunity has become the dominant factor in such cases,” JAS states.

Many people in the neighbourhood have lost their lives due to such behaviour, they said. The people also believe that they are targeted because of their ethnic and tribal background.

The population of Wad El Bashir consists mostly of displaced people from South Kordofan and Darfur, and South Sudanese refugees. These native African groups are often targeted by authorities, especially by the Al Bashir regime and its allies, because of their darker skin.

'Such cases stress the need for police and security organs reforms' – JAS

The human rights organisation states that they “strongly condemn this type of behaviour and urge the authorities to immediately launch an investigation in this case and bring the perpetrators to justice.

“Such cases stress the need for police and security organs reforms and change of policing behaviour in line with international human rights conventions, norms, and practices. At the same time, the culture of impunity needs to be ended, in particular when such serious crimes [as murder] are committed.”

Before swooping the residential neighbourhood in Wad El Bashir, the security forces had raided a makeshift market where alcohol was sold and served in reed huts.