‘Massive detention campaign’ by Sudan junta

The Sudanese coup authorities have continued with a detention campaign against activists, members of resistance committees, lawyers, and human rights defenders. Activists monitored more than 65 detentions in Khartoum in the past few days, most of them without any legal procedures.

The resistance committees in Northern State denounced in the strongest terms the detention of five members of the Khartoum Resistance Committees during their return from a visit to Dongola.

In a statement yesterday, they reported that the five activists were deported to Dongola Prison that morning. They gave the state authorities 24 hours to release the detainees.

Abdo Ali, member of the Dongola Resistance Committees Coordination, told Radio Dabanga that the detained activists from Khartoum paid a visit to the various places in Northern State, where the Sheryan El Shimal road, leading to the Egyptian border. The road has been barricaded by angry farmers and activists.

When the visitors completed their visit at the barricaded road at the Kumanar checkpoint in El Borgeig locality, they were held by members of the General Intelligence Service (GIS).

Ali explained that the security apparatus in Dongola justified their detention by the presence of higher orders from the centre, and that among the detainees is a member of the Kings of Clashes militant activist group.

The Dongola Resistance Committees Coordination considers the justifications as flimsy, and announced an escalation at all levels of the state’s localities and with sit-ins in front of the Northern State government secretariat and in front of the various security apparatus offices in the state.

The Khartoum Resistance Committees reported that Abdelrahman Hagos was held from his home in Kafouri neighbourhood in Khartoum North on Sunday and taken to an unknown destination.

The authorities also detained the father of Mohamed Adam ‘Tubak’, who was detained on charges of killing police Brig Ali Bereima, and took him to the northern police station without being registered in the lists of detainees.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction under the leadership of Malik Agar, who is currently member of the Sovereignty Council, said that the security authorities detained two of its members: Husameldin El Merfabi and Mohamed Nugdallah, on the pretext of their financing and leading activities of the resistance committees.

Last week, two Sudanese Congress Party members, Khaled Ibrahim and Mohamed Awadelkarim, were taken to an unknown destination.

The Khartoum Southern Belt Lawyers Union announced a protest stand on Tuesday, in front of the Public Prosecution, to denounce the detention of lawyers, and calling for the release of all political detainees and the delivery of a memorandum to the Public Prosecutor. The Darfur Bar Association announced its participation in the protest.

The family of El Fateh Mohamed Ahmed, who was detained a week ago, and is now being held together with fellow activists in Soba Prison in south-east Khartoum, said that the security apparatus and the state security committee denied their responsibility for his detention.

In a statement yesterday, the family said that Mohamed Ahmed and his colleagues have been beaten.

The relatives tried to end his detention, but the prison authorities informed them that the detainees are being held by order of the security apparatus before the agency denied responsibility.

The Public Prosecutor evaded determining who had detained them. The statement demanded the release of the detained group or bring them to trial. And also called on the Public Prosecutor to intervene to end this problem urgently.

The Democratic Lawyers Alliance of Lawyers in Ed Duweim, White Nile state, condemned the continued detention by the Ed Duwein prosecution of eight secondary school students between 15-16 years for three days without bail.

The lawyers said in a statement yesterday that the students were detained on the basis of a criminal complaint by a lieutenant of the Sudan Armed Forces.

The Legal Board for the Defence of Those Affected by Arbitrary and Unlawful Detention handed over a request to the Public Prosecutor of Khartoum to visit Soba Prison and verify the presence of 46 people held unlawfully at various times and places in Khartoum state and detained in violation of the law in Soba prison.

The Board includes 86 lawyers from the Steering Committee of the Sudanese Bar Association, the Darfur Bar Association, the Lawyers Association for the Protection of the Revolution and the Transition, emergency lawyers, and other parties.

The Board has informed regional and international human rights institutions of the unlawful detentions and human rights violations that the forcibly detained persons are subjected to.