Darfur Bar to defend 19 accused by Sudan’s militia

A group of 19 Darfuris accused of cooperating with rebel movements, attended their first court session in Khartoum today, after lingering for months in prison cells. This (Wednesday) morning, they were taken to the Darfur Crimes Special Court in Khartoum North. Lawyers of the DBA attended the first, procedural session. The judge adjourned the trial to 13 January, as the defence lawyers had not been given the opportunity to meet with the defendants. About half a year ago, the 19 Darfuris were held by elements of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) near the Sudanese-Libyan border. They had fled the fighting in Libya, and were on their way to their families in Darfur. The RSF, under command of the Sudanese security apparatus, filed a case against them, on charges of cooperating with insurgents, and operating against the state. The detainees were taken to Khartoum, where they spent their days in prison cells, without being given the opportunity to contact their relatives or a lawyer. In a briefing, released on Monday, El Sadig Ali Hassan, Secretary-General of the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) reported that the Bar lawyers agreed to defend the accused, after “Just by chance, one of these detainees managed to contact his relatives, who informed us, to intervene to provide legal assistance”. He furthermore stated in the briefing that the fact that the public prosecutor has brought in witnesses from Darfur to Khartoum, and is covering “all their expenses, including accommodation” in Sudan’s capital, will influence the course of justice. For the defendants, it is far more difficult to bring in witnesses from Darfur, he noted. Moreover, it is hard to find people willing to “testify against the regime.” Concerning the court’s location, Hassan stated that the Darfuri lawyers do not understand why the Darfur Crimes Special Court is sited in Khartoum North, “instead of in Darfur, where the crimes are supposed to have taken place”. The DBA will also attempt to adjust the permission for the relatives to visit the detainees, issued by the Special Court, as the visitors were not granted access to the prison. The 19 detained are Ahmed Mohamed Nur, Kilinton Manuel, Sineen Shumo, Abulgasem Suleiman, Zakaria Yagoub Idris, Abdallah Juma El Zubeir, Mohamed Musa Eisa, Adam Mohamed Ma’ala, Abdallah Mohamed Ahmed, Mohamed Abdallah Haroun, Yahya Haroun Yahya, Adam Hussein Dahya, Maher Adam Mustafa, Amar Abdelraman Mursal, Abdelshafee Mohamed Abdelrahman, Adam Khalil Hassan, Abdallah Adam Hassan, Mohamed El Tayeb Musa, and Obeid Abdelnabi Hussein. File photo: Inmates in a Sudanese prison cell (archive)