Darfur detainee speaks of brutal torture by NISS

Human rights activist and head of the youth camps in North Darfur, Hafiz Idris – who has been detained by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) since the beginning of December 2016 – has described being beaten, kicked, and tortured with electric cables in NISS detention.

In a meeting with the Darfur Bar Association at the headquarters of the state security prosecutor on Monday Hafez said that while he was in the NISS detention camp, he was kicked in the testicles until he urinated blood, and while trying to protect his testicles, he suffered damage to his fingers.

Report

In its report after meeting with Hafez the Bar Association said that he suffered psychological pressure and torture in his detention which caused him loss of the ability to see, and he was taken in that condition to record a judicial confession.

The Bar confirmed in its report that he was forced to confess that he had been to the US embassy in Khartoum with Dr Mudawi, who is also in detention (see below). Hafez believed that his confession does not constitute a crime as going to an embassy is not an offence in itself.

The Darfur Bar Association foreign relations official Abdelrahman Abulgasim told Radio Dabanga on Tuesday that “the most bizarre in this aspect is that the ruling regime in Khartoum boasts of its distinctive relations with the USA, which reveals the hollowness of its claims and allegations”.

Dr Mudawi

Activist and human rights defender detainee Dr Mudawi Ibrahim confirmed that he has not been interrogated throughout his detention which lasted from December 7 until his transfer to the state security prosecution last week.

In a meeting with the Bar Association on Monday, he said he has been questioned “with some of the issues raised not recorded in the minutes of the investigation, such as the facts of Tabit and the report on chemical weapons”.

Dr Mudawi confirmed that the NISS have attempt to link a number of Darfuri detainees with him using unfounded evidence.

He said that some of them were bullied with the intent to get confessions.

Fair trial

The Darfur Bar Association demands that the above detainees are referred to the judiciary “to ensure their legal right to defend themselves in a fair trial and the Constitutional rights enshrined in the Bill of Rights contained in the Interim Constitution 2005 especially the right not to be subjected to torture.”

The Association also called in its statement to medically examine detainee Hafiz Idris, allow him to seek urgent treatment and stop torturing him physically and psychologically.

Lawyer Abdelrahman Abulgasim, the Bar’s foreign relations official called on the  security apparatus to reveal all Darfuri detainees who were confirmed by Dr Mudawi’s statements being inside the prison and allow their families and lawyers access.

He said that the Bar also demanded an investigation into the torture of all detainees during the period of detention and take those involved in the perpetration of torture to criminal prosecution and trial.