‘Darfur students targeted on skin colour in Khartoum’

On Sunday, a criminal court in Khartoum North convicted two Darfuri students on charges of rioting and violating the public order. Nine others were acquitted. According to the chairman of the Darfur Students Association, the students were detained on the basis of their skin colour.

Students Muslim Yahya Abdallah and Mohamed Babikir were sentenced to a fine of SDG200 ($33) each, defence lawyer Jibril Adam Hasabo told Radio Dabanga.

The 11 Darfuri students of the University of El Zaeem El Azhari were detained by security officers on Wednesday, following an attack by militant youth members of the ruling National Congress Party and security forces on Darfuri students at the campus in Khartoum North.

Ahmed Abdelrahman, Chairman of the Darfur Students Association branch of the El Zaeem El Azhari University rejected the ruling.

He said that “it is not only unjust and unfair to convict the victims of an attack, but also the targeting of the Darfuri students based on the colour of their skin.

“The students taken to the trial on Sunday are innocent. They were detained on the basis of their skin colour outside the university, as they were having their breakfast at a nearby shop when the clashes took place at the campus.”

The student leader said that the two convicted students were beaten and tortured during their detention.

He further accused the security apparatus of “playing the roles of the prosecutor and witness at the same time”.