Deported Sudanese activist still held incommunicado

The relatives of activist Hisham Ali, who was detained in Khartoum after his deportation from Saudi Arabia in May, have expressed concern about his health.

In a statement on Saturday, the family said that officers of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) refused to provide any information about Ali’s whereabouts.

The family stated that they fear for his condition as Ali may be subjected to ill-treatment and torture. They hold the NISS “fully responsible” for his health.

Hisham Ali (aka Wad Galiba) was detained by the Saudi Interior Ministry on November 18, 2017, at the request of the Sudanese intelligence. He was extradited from Saudi Arabia to Sudan on May 29 this year.

He has worked as a freelance accountant in the country, where he resided since 2010 after immigrating for work purposes.

A political activist of many years, Ali took to online platforms in 2013 to expose government corruption. On his Facebook page, he wrote on torture in Sudanese detention centres and expressed his support of the civil disobedience actions carried out in end 2016 in Sudan.

Amnesty International called for his immediate and unconditional release on June 1.

“Having been a courageous political and online activist against torture and corruption Hisham Ali is at great risk of torture and other ill-treatment while in the hands of the NISS. Pending his release, he must be granted unfettered access to a lawyer of his choice and to his family,” Joan Nyanyuki, Amnesty International Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, stated.