Khartoum hospital sit-in raided; medics injured

Two protesters were seriously injured on Sunday morning during raids on a meeting at El Tamiz Hospital in Khartoum that included committees and other revolutionary bodies. In a statement, the Socialist Doctors Association says that they said that the coordination meeting was held in front of the hospital mortuary and called for rapid action by the Sudanese Revolution Forces (SRF) to protect the sit-in.

El Tamiz Hospital sit-in began last week in protest against the decomposition of 190 bodies in the hospital mortuary which was leading to the emission of unpleasant odours and the flow of blood and bodily fluids. The protesters are demanding the removal of the bodies from the mortuary and for autopsies and DNA testing. The authorities began autopsies on unidentified bodies after opening the mortuary. A specialist doctor announced yesterday that seven of the 180 bodies had been autopsied.

In South Darfur, doctors at Nyala Hospital went on a complete strike in all hospital emergency departments on Saturday to protest against regular attacks on doctors and nurses. The Nyala Doctors Committee said in a statement that several people had beaten a deputy surgery specialist and two nurses resulting in mixed injuries.

They explained that the perpetrators were arrested and four of them were confirmed as belonging to the regular forces. The committee pledged to provide adequate protection for hospital workers, to treat members of the regular forces in their own hospitals, to increase the security force of the hospital and to prevent the carrying of weapons inside the hospital.

In eastern Sudan, the unified office for doctors in El Gedaref announced that the strike will continue for three days starting from tomorrow, Tuesday, to protest against the appointment of the director of the Ministry of Health without consulting with their office. The strike will resume next Sunday in the event that the current Director is not fired. They have threatened to offer collective job resignations from all doctors, including consultants and specialists.

On Sunday in River Nile state, the police authorities in Berber locality arrested Mohamed El Tayib, a member of the Resistance Committees, and charged him with intercepting a police officer while the officer tried to open the doors of a building that was closed off by protesters. Resistance Committees are still demanding the dismissal of the Executive Director of the Berber Mill, the State Economic Committee and the provision of flour, fuel and cooking gas.