‘Detainees tortured in Sudan’s capital’: relatives

The relatives of detained students and activists in Khartoum have accused the security apparatus of exposing the detainees to torture. They called on Mashood Baderin, the UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Sudan, to visit the detention centre of the National Security and intelligence Service (NISS) in Khartoum North. During a press conference on Tuesday at the headquarters of the Sudanese Communist Party in Khartoum, the mothers of Mohamed Salah and Tajelsir Jaafar said that their sons were brutally tortured in security detention. They hold the NISS responsible for the physical and psychological health of their children. Detention centreSabah Osman, the mother of Tajelsir Jaafar, a student at the University of Khartoum, told Radio Dabanga after the press conference, that when she was finally allowed to visit her son in the NISS detention centre, she saw traces of lashes on his back. “His face and hands were swollen, and he could not stand for a long time.” The security forces had refused her first three requests for a visit. She was allowed to see her son for 20 minutes only. “The guards did not allow us to talk about his health, about the university, or whatever, except about the family.” The mother of Mohamed Salah, Zainab Badreldin, said at the press conference that her son was also tortured by security forces inside the detention camp in Khartoum North. “I noticed traces of beating on his face. He could not see with his right eye. It was clear too that he had been hit hard on his head. I also saw bandages at his feet.” The families of the detainees requested Mashood Baderin, the UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Sudan, who arrived in Khartoum on Sunday for a ten-day stay, to visit the NISS detention centre in Khartoum North, “near the Shendi bus station”. Student activists Mohamed Salah Abdel Rahman and Tajelsir Jaafar Tajelsir were detained on 12 May, against the backdrop of demonstrations at the University of Khartoum. Their relatives were permitted to visit them for the first time after 32 days of detention.Legal protectionThe chairman of the Sudanese Committee for Solidarity with the Families of the Killed, Wounded and Prisoners, Siddig Yousef, said at the press conference that his Committee had spoken with the Minister of Justice about the detention of demonstrators since 25 September last year to date.Yousef criticised the National Commission for Human Rights for not providing legal protection to the political detainees. News photo: Zainab Badreldin (left) and Sabah Osman at the press conference in Khartoum on Tuesday Related:Sudan security arrests activists, prevents Khartoum protest (10 June 2014) Protests for detainees’ release across Sudan (9 June 2014) Sudan security arrests activist Mohamed Salah again (21 March 2014)‘More than 15 Darfuri students and human rights activists detained’: Darfur Bar (21 March 2014) ‘Limited riots at university’: Khartoum police (11 March 2014) One dies as troops fire on Darfuri students in Khartoum (11 March 2014)