Detained women on hunger strike in North Kordofan prison, Sudan

A group of 18 women, detained without trial in Obeid, capital of North Kordofan in Sudan, embarked on a hunger strike on Monday to draw attention to their plight.They were arrested at various points last year for alleged links to the Sudanese rebel group, the SPLA-North, who have been fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in both South Kordofan since 2011 and Blue Nile state since last year.In a statement, the Human Rights and Development Organisation (HUDO) has urged governments, humanitarian organisations and other “concerned people” to put pressure on the Sudanese government in Khartoum to release the women, who were among a group of 32 arrested last year in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan.The group was transferred to El Obeid prison after they embarked on an earlier three-day hunger strike. On 25th April 2013, 14 of them were charged and released on bail, but 18 women are still incarcerated. According to the HUDO statement, after serving six months in detention, they have still had no access to any legal procedures or courts.The women demand that they are either immediately released or given access to their lawyers and due legal process.“These women are being detained outside the legal framework, in poor conditions, without any charges,” says the HUDO statement. “Their detention has resulted in many complications for them and their families. They have been denied care for their children and family members; they and their families are facing severe financial challenges; and their detention demonstrates an absence of rule of law and discriminatory implication of the law.”The women are: Taysir Abdul Gadir; Hawua Kubara Musaad; Zarouq Ahammed; AL-Radiea Suliman Tia; Amal Abdualfadel Kuku; Zeinab Musa; Fatima Subahi; Sumia Mirgani; Ehsan Ibrahim; Om Alhassan Abuzeid; Samia Ahmed Zaroug; Fatima Mohamed Ali Gabir; Hiba Abdurhaman; Rawia Musa; Esmahan Ramadan Makki; Wigdan Ibrahim; Afaf Madani Naser; Maha Ali.File photoRelated: 13 South Kordofan women re-investigated despite expected ‘release’ (22 April 2013 – Radio Tamazuj)Woman detainee leaves hospital back to prison in Sudan (11 March 2013)