Eight released Darfuri students re-arrested in Khartoum

The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) in Khartoum re-detained eight students from Darfur on Thursday, a few days after their release.

The students were held in Khartoum in September last year, when they staged protests against the prolonged detention of members of the United Popular Front (UPF), the student faction of the Darfuri Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdelwahid El Nur.

Reportedly they were ill-treated and tortured, and not allowed any visits from their families or lawyers during their detention.

The eight students were released on bail on Monday after having served more than five months in detention camps, without being charged. About two weeks before their release, their case was transferred to the state prosecution on charges of undermining of the Constitutional order.

The prosecution dismissed the complaint for lack of evidence. The bail procedure stipulated that the guarantor will have to pay the NISS the amount of SDG 100,000 ($5,500*) should the students express their opinions in public again.

They are seeking to fabricate arbitrary charges against the students to keep them in detention for as long as possible.” – lawyer

New accusations

Defence lawyer Abdo Ishag Omar told Radio Dabanga that the state security prosecution summoned the eight students on Thursday, and re-detained them on the basis of new accusations.

“After the students appeared at the NISS office, security agents seized their cell phones. The officers then claimed the telephones contained messages and documents calling for actions against the government, and accused the students of committing war crimes,” Omar explained.

According to the lawyer, the evidence has been falsely produced. “The security apparatus did never refer to these document during the students’ long detention. They are seeking to fabricate arbitrary charges against the students to keep them in detention for as long as possible.

“There has not been any justice, right from the start,” he said.

Delling

On 7 February, the NISS in South Kordofan re-arrested 18 students after the Criminal Court of Delling dropped charges against them.

Six of them were transferred to Khartoum on 17 February, but their whereabouts are unknown, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) reported on Friday.

They were first detained, together with dozens of others on January 12, as they staged a protest at the campus and set fire to university buildings, in protest against the killing of two of their colleagues by an army soldier the day before.

* Based on the official US Dollar rate quoted by the Central Bank of Sudan (CBoS)