‘Darfuri women students abused in detention’: activists

Activists staged a sit-in in front of the Sudanese Human Rights Council in Khartoum today, demanding the release of the Darfuri women students, detained by security agents. On 5 October, security forces stormed the Zahra boarding house in Khartoum, and violently evicted 70 Darfuri women students. About 30 students were detained. They had been ordered to vacate the place before 25 September for maintenance, but 70 Darfuri students stayed, saying they could not find alternative accommodation.   On Thursday, the protesters raised banners demanding the immediate release of the students, and the prosecution of the perpetrators. Members of the Darfur Students’ Association, the No to Women’s Oppression Initiative, Change Now, and students of the Zahra dormitory participated in the sit-in. They handed a report to the Sudanese deputy commissioner of human rights, Joseph Suleiman, about the physical abuses the students are subjected to in the detention centres of the National intelligence and Security Service (NISS) in Khartoum. Kamal Ahmed El Zein, head of the Association of Darfur Students, and one of the protesters, told Radio Dabanga, that at least three detained students were forced to swallow unknown pills. Three others, in need of medical care, were not allowed to see a doctor. According to El Zein, the deputy commissioner for human rights, Joseph Suleiman, told the protesters that the NISS always detains people without an arrest warrant or previous charges. He also said that the Human Rights Council has informed the security apparatus about the number of Darfuri women students who “disappeared”. File photo: Protesters in front of the Human Rights Council in Khartoum today (Radio Dabanga correspondent) Related: HRW, Arab organisations urge Sudan to probe security attack on students (16 October 2014)