More journalists, activists, protesters, including minors, held in Sudan

More than 100 people were detained during the November 13 demonstrations in Omdurman. In Khartoum, 52 people, including 10 minors, were detained in the Mogran Public Order Police Department. Five journalists were held, others were injured on Saturday. In Darfur, at least 71 people were held since the military coup on October 25.

About 85 men and 18 women were detained in Omdurman during the Marches of the Millions against military rule on Saturday.

They were severely beaten and had their hair shaved by security officers before being taken to the Omdurman Central Police Section, members of Resistance Committees told Radio Dabanga. Five of the women were released late on Saturday evening.

The forces used live bullets, sound bombs, tear gas, and batons to disperse the demonstrators. Many were riding in vehicles of the Rapid Support Forces militia. Others were riding in pick-up trucks of the security apparatus without plates and wearing police uniforms, the sources said.

Activists in Khartoum and Khartoum North also reported widespread detentions. The Khartoum North Neighbourhoods Committee described the situation on Saturday evening as “a complete siege” with security troops using live bullets, other randomly raided homes and detained people “in the same way the forces of Omar Al Bashir regime did in its last days”.

Mogran

The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) reported in a statement on Monday about “the illegal detention of 52 people, including 10 minors, at the Mogran Public Order Police Department in Khartoum on Saturday.

The DBA said that the detentions were carried out in accordance with a decision issued by the governor of Khartoum, based on the State of Emergency announced following the coup d’état on October 25. The governor ordered the extension of the detention for a period of one week.

The 52 detainees were transferred to Soba Prison in south-east Khartoum on Sunday, and did not get anything to drink or eat for the entire day.

Eastern Sudan

Activists in Kassala reported the detention of five demonstrators during the November 13 demonstrations.

In neighbouring El Gedaref, 12 people were held, sources told Radio Dabanga. A number of members of Resistance Committees active in the neighbourhoods of El Gedaref were already detained or re-detained last week.

On Sunday, the spokesperson for the Empowerment Removal Committee* in the state, Wajdi Khalifa, who was held last week, was deported to Khartoum.

In Singa, capital of Sennar, a massive detention campaign took place prior to the November 13 Marches of the Millions.

Activists detained in Wad Madani, El Gezira, were transferred to Khartoum last week.

Darfur

According to the DBA the number of political detainees in Darfur following the coup on October 25 has increased to 71 people: 40 are being held in Nyala, South Darfur, 17 in Zalingei, Central Darfur, and 14 in El Daein, East Darfur.

The Darfur lawyers stated that the detainees in Kober Prison in Nyala are held in poorly ventilated cells. “Some of them suffer from chronic diseases, and some of them complain of fevers.”

Journalists

The Al Jazeera network’s bureau chief in Khartoum, El Musalmi El Kabashi, was held from his home on Sunday morning. In a statement, Al Jazeera demanded his immediate release, holding the military authorities for the safety of all its correspondents in Sudan.

Mohamed Omar, correspondent of Al Jazeera Live was summoned by the security apparatus in Khartoum, regarding his coverage of the November 13 demonstrations in the capital.

In El Gedaref, Al Jazeera correspondent Osama Sayed was prevented from covering the protest marches in the town, and had to leave the state.

Both the Sudanese Journalists' Network (SJN) and the Journalists Association for Human Rights (JAHR) condemned the attacks on journalists in a statement on Monday, pointing to the incommunicado detention of Al Jazeera’s burau chief and of Abdelmunim Madibo, who works for Darfur 24.  

The SJN further reported that journalist Hamad Suleiman El Khidir was hit by a rubber bullet while covering the November 13 protests in the Sudanese capital. Journalist Hodeifa Adel El Jak “was subjected to verbal and physical assaults by individuals wearing police uniforms” in Khartoum on Saturday.

The Network also condemned the summoning of the correspondent of Asharq Al Awsat newspaper, Ahmed Younes, by the Sudanese Press and Publications Council on Monday, for publishing a report about the demonstrations.

* The Empowerment Elimination, Anti-Corruption, and Funds Recovery Committee was formed in November 2019 after the transitional government approved a law to dismantle the institutions set-up by the regime of Omar Al Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP). Since then, the Committee has been instrumental in breaking the party’s grip on the political scene and state resources. Empowerment (tamkin) is the term with which the ousted government of Omar Al Bashir supported its affiliates in state affairs by granting them far-going privileges, including government functions and the setting-up of various companies.