Darfur lawyers decry detentions in Sudan

The Darfur Bar Association and its partners condemned the detention of Badreldin Siddig, lawyer and member of the resistance committee active in the Sheikh Abu Zeid neighbourhood adjacent to the Libya Market in Omdurman, and Abdelmajeed Arbab, Coordinator of the Libya Market Unit, and other activists.

In a statement yesterday, the lawyers also condemned the detention of nine medical staff members of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Khartoum on Monday. The DBA described the detention campaign as “malicious and unjust”, and holds the military regime fully responsible for any harm or damage inflicted on them.

The authorities in Kadugli, South Kordofan, detained Azahir Mohamed on January 19 for publishing an article on her Facebook account about the army’s recruitment of minors in Kadugli, before releasing her on bail four days later.

She is one of the activists in South Kordofan who are circulating information on social media that the 14th Infantry Division command in Kadugli recruited hundreds of minors.

In a statement yesterday, the Sudanese Women’s Alliance condemned the detention of Azahir Mohamed in Kadugli as well as the “abduction” of Amira Osman, head of the No to Oppression of Women Initiative, in Khartoum on Saturday night.

Lawyer Amani Osman, the sister of Amira Osman has expressed her concern over the fate of Amira in a press conference on Tuesday.

She said that her family does not know where Amira is being detained and has not been able to visit her, amid unconfirmed information about her presence in Omdurman prison. She referred to testimonies from sources that Amira’s name was not in the prison records.

The family inquired about Amira’s whereabouts as well at the security apparatus, and explained that the security apparatus denied her presence on their side. The police refused to admit an official complaint concerning the detention.

Ihsan Fagiri, founding member of the of the No to Oppression of Women Initiative and one of the doctors supervising Amira’s treatment, appealed to human rights organizations to save her. She explained in the press conference that Amira is disabled as a result of her injury in a major accident, and suffers from broken vertebrae and affected marrow, and she cannot use the regular bathroom and sit in ordinary chairs.