‘Inhumane conditions’ for Sudanese prisoners in Libya
Approximately 85 Sudanese citizens, 75 from western Sudan and 10 from the north of the country, are reportedly being held in the Libyan prison of El Tiwiesha in the capital Tripoli. Reporting from inside the prison, a Sudanese inmate whose name is retained to protect him, says he was arrested in Ramadan 2012. He told Radio Dabanga that the length of detention varies from 18 months to a year to a few months. “The conditions of detention are very difficult,” he says. “There is a lack of food, drink, clothing, blankets, medicines and the environment is generally not fit for human habitation. The regime in the prison is characterised by ill-treatment, cruelty, humiliation, and beatings,” he says. “This in addition to being deprived of due legal process; many have not been formally charged or brought to trial.” He pointed out that some of the Sudanese detainees entered Libya legally via the airport, but were arrested because they were not in possession of the necessary medical certificates. The detainee reported that a delegate from the Sudanese Embassy in Tripoli visited them but “refused to assist the sons of Darfur on the pretext that we have already requested help from the International Organisation for Migration, which has already issued a decision that nobody should not be returned to western Sudan because of the war and the lack of security there”. He said the Sudanese embassy said they would help the detainees “provided they do not use their Sudanese passports”. Instead, the embassy would issue them visas on travel documents so that they can be “deported to Khartoum” after paying LYD500 ($388) for a ticket. The source pointed out that the detainees simply do not have that kind of money. “They also have no housing in western Sudan due to the war,” he said. One behalf of the detainees, he appealed to the UN “to take us into consideration, get us out of prison, and move us to any country in the world where we can live with dignity, housing, work and able to get some education to develop ourselves”.File photoRelated: A Sudanese detainee claims to be abused in Libya prison (20 August 2012)
Approximately 85 Sudanese citizens, 75 from western Sudan and 10 from the north of the country, are reportedly being held in the Libyan prison of El Tiwiesha in the capital Tripoli.
Reporting from inside the prison, a Sudanese inmate whose name is retained to protect him, says he was arrested in Ramadan 2012. He told Radio Dabanga that the length of detention varies from 18 months to a year to a few months.
“The conditions of detention are very difficult,” he says. “There is a lack of food, drink, clothing, blankets, medicines and the environment is generally not fit for human habitation. The regime in the prison is characterised by ill-treatment, cruelty, humiliation, and beatings,” he says. “This in addition to being deprived of due legal process; many have not been formally charged or brought to trial.”
He pointed out that some of the Sudanese detainees entered Libya legally via the airport, but were arrested because they were not in possession of the necessary medical certificates.
The detainee reported that a delegate from the Sudanese Embassy in Tripoli visited them but “refused to assist the sons of Darfur on the pretext that we have already requested help from the International Organisation for Migration, which has already issued a decision that nobody should not be returned to western Sudan because of the war and the lack of security there”.
He said the Sudanese embassy said they would help the detainees “provided they do not use their Sudanese passports”. Instead, the embassy would issue them visas on travel documents so that they can be “deported to Khartoum” after paying LYD500 ($388) for a ticket. The source pointed out that the detainees simply do not have that kind of money. “They also have no housing in western Sudan due to the war,” he said.
One behalf of the detainees, he appealed to the UN “to take us into consideration, get us out of prison, and move us to any country in the world where we can live with dignity, housing, work and able to get some education to develop ourselves”.
File photo
Related: A Sudanese detainee claims to be abused in Libya prison (20 August 2012)
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