Communist party members detained after visit to Kordofan

Two leading members of the Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS) were detained in Khartoum yesterday after their return from Juba, the capital of South Sudan, earlier that day. They had visited South Kordofan to talk to Abdelaziz El Hilu, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), and Abdelwahid El Nur, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement in Darfur.

Mohamed Mukhtar El Khateeb and Saleh Mahmoud were held after their return from Juba, where the delegation had also been held for one day.

The party reported on its Facebook page that security officers raided the house of its political secretary, Mohamed Mukhtar El Khateeb, in the evening and took him to an unknown destination.

In the afternoon, Saleh Mahmoud was detained at Khartoum International Airport when the CPoS delegation, which included El Khateeb and spokesperson Amal El Zein, returned from Juba where they had been held in a hotel for one day by the South Sudanese authorities.

The delegation had travelled to Kauda, South Kordofan, which is the stronghold of the SPLM-N under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu, “without notifying the authorities”.

In Kauda, the party leaders agreed with El Hilu and with Darfur’s SLM leader Abdelwahid El Nur that there is no real possibility for peace without achieving a full democratic transformation and solving all issues that led to Sudan's decline after independence.

In a press conference after the delegation returned from Juba, spokesperson El Zein said that the party fully agreed with El Nur position on the current situation.

In February, leading member of Sudan’s Communist Party Sidgi Kaballo already told Radio Dabanga that he thinks that there is ‘no possibility for real dialogue’ with the military regime and that it is not possible to achieve comprehensive peace without the signature of the Sudan Liberation Movement in Darfur, led by Abdelwahid El Nur, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in the Nuba Mountains under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu.

El Zein said that the delegation reached “a great agreement” with El Hilu on the current political situation and hopes to establish a unified centre to lead the revolutionary movement. She also explained that they agreed on the separation of religion from politics, an important value for El Hilu’s movement.

In 2020, the Communist Party of Sudan signed a political declaration with SPLM-N El Hilu in which they agreed that they are opposed to the inclusion of religion in politics.

Detention in Juba

El Zein said that, before the arrival and detentions in Khartoum, security officers detained the delegation on their way to Juba Airport, coming from Kauda via Yida in South Sudan .

The officers subjected them to a lengthy investigation about how they entered South Sudan, met with El Nur, and travelled to Kauda. She explained that they arrived in Juba on an official visa.

The officers told them that they should have coordinated their visit with the security apparatuses of both Sudan and South Sudan, given that South Sudan is responsible for the peace negotiations in Sudan.

Demanding release

The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) has demanded that the security service immediately release Mahmoud. The association also holds the General Intelligence Service (GIS) fully responsible for all harm or danger to his life that might befall him.

In a statement published after the arrest yesterday, the lawyers said that Saleh Mahmoud is a diabetic and takes insulin injections regularly and permanently and that any delay in the scheduled dates for taking insulin medication puts his life at risk.

The DBA indicated that Mahmoud was taken by the security apparatus after completing the entry procedures.