Health of detained Sudanese journalist deteriorating

The health of journalist Hassan Ishag, detained since June this year, is worsening. The Sudanese Journalists Organisation for Human Rights reported to Radio Dabanga that they have obtained information confirming the worsening of Ishag’s health condition. The El Jareeda newspaper correspondent is currently held in custody by the security service in El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan. Ishag was detained by security forces in En Nahud on 10 June after the publication of an interview with Sudanese Congress Party party leader Ibrahim El Sheikh. El Sheikh had accused the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), of committing atrocities against civilians in Darfur and Kordofan. For this reason, El Sheikh himself was detained in En Nahud on 8 June. The Journalists’Organisation reported that Ishag, who was tortured in a security detention centre in En Nahud, West Kordofan, before he was transferred to El Obeid, has not been seen by doctors. “Hassan Ishag was not allowed to undergo a medical examination, nor has he received a Form 8 (see below) so far.”  Form 8 In Sudan, medical evidence of an assault is admitted only via Form 8. It can be issued only by police stations, or approved hospitals and clinics. Critics state that Form 8 is “glaringly inadequate”, as sufficient medical evidence is often very difficult to obtain. File photo: Poster calling for the release of Hassan Ishag and other political detainees in Sudan (Change Now) Related:Concern for health of detained Sudanese journalist (5 August 2014)En Nahud detainees transferred, newspapers seized in Sudan (1 July 2014)Call to release political detainees in Sudan (24 June 2014)En Nahud detainees in Sudan’s West Kordofan on hunger strike (19 June 2014)Police torture detained journalist in Sudan’s West Kordofan (13 June 2014)Sudanese Congress Party members and journalist detained (11 June 2014)