Eleven students arrested and tortured in Nyala

Sudanese security services launched a crackdown campaign against students in Nyala, South Darfur, on Thursday 6 September, sources told Radio Dabanga. They said the 11 students who were arrested are being subjected to torture, beatings and insults by security services forces. A source said that 10 Nyala university students and one secondary school student were arrested since Thursday. He also pointed out that families and lawyers of the detained students are not allowed to visit them. Security services are accused by witnesses of raiding homes of certain students who were not yet detained, in an ongoing campaign since Thursday. Sources explained that when students are not found or do not turn themselves in, their families are threatened and some of their relatives are arrested. According to them, this is a new type of approach of security forces against students. A witness explained that many students whose families are being targeted began turning themselves in so that their relatives can be released. A student told Radio Dabanga this is the case of two of his friends, Mohammed Siddiq and Mohammed Adam Adam, whose sisters had been arrested by security services. The names of nine detainees are known so far. Mohammed Siddiq and Alaa Eddin are secondary school students and Ibrahim Osman Adam is an Al-Jazeera university graduate. The other ones are students at the Nyala university: Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Aljali, Mohamed Adam Adam, Khaled Youssef, Neiq Al-deen Adam Ahmed Adam, Saleh Adam and Youssef Al-shaarani. Some witnesses suggested that many of the arrested students are going to be sent to Khartoum.