Four graduates arrested in Zalingei

Security forces of central Darfur arrested four people, including three graduate students, on Wednesday morning. The students were brought to the security headquarters in Zalingei. The students, Moussa Abdul Karim, Adam Yahya Muhammad and Idris Ali Adam, are residents of Rokiiro of Murra Mount. A relative told Radio Dabanga the students were queuing for a teaching job in front of a government building as they were taken with force by eight armed men. He said he does not understand why his son and other students were arrested. Security forces also reportedly arrested Abdullatif Al Noor – a government official – from his office. There are no reports available on the whereabouts of Al Noor. Family members demand either an immediate release or a fair trial for the students. They fear their sons will be tortured or treated badly by the security forces. The relatives called on humanitarian organisations to intervene and protect the students. Salid Mahmoud, a Sudanese human rights lawyer called the recent arrests and killings of students a ‘new and racist phenomenon in Darfur’. He said it is unacceptable no government officials made statements yet on the arrests and killings.