Activists detained in El Faw, eastern Sudan

Two activists from Khartoum were detained by Sudanese security agents in El Faw in El Gedaref on Tuesday.

Bakri Yousef, spokesman for the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), reported to Radio Dabanga that agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) held Mohamed Khalid, member of the Emergency Street Initiative, and Mohamed El Fateh El Safi, member of the Sudanese Congress Party in front of El Faw Hospital, and took them to an unknown destination.

He said that the families of the two activists fear they may be exposed to ill-treatment or torture, and called on the authorities to release them immediately.

Early this year, a group of young activists in Khartoum launched the “Emergency Street Initiative” to support needy patients. This led to an intensive care unit for children opening at the Mohamed El Amin Hamed Hospital in Omdurman in May.

At a press conference, members of the Initiative explained that the expenses –nearly $436,000– were collected by voluntary work and fundraising campaigns.