Oil worker ‘tortured to death’ by Sudanese military intelligence

The Petroleum Fields Youth Association in West Kordofan has accused Military Intelligence of torturing two of its members to death, and seriously wounding the group’s deputy chair last weekend. 

In a statement on Monday, the group said that Military Intelligence officers kidnapped deputy chairperson El Habib Debba and member Musad Ahmed while they were working at the Heglig oilfield next to the Heglig army garrison, then they were brutally tortured. 

Their statement explained that “Musad died under torture. El Habib was seriously wounded and had to be transferred to Heglig Hospital.” 

The Sudanese Oil Workers Association also reported the death of an engineer, Mohamed Ahmed. 

Before joining the oilfield as a production engineer, Ahmed graduated from the Faculty of Petroleum at the University of Sudan and worked at the university as an assistant lecturer.  

Condemnation 

The Petroleum Fields Youth Association condemned in the strongest terms “the serious infringement on the security and safety of oil workers and other people on the fields”. 

The association called on the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) to “conduct frank and transparent investigations to uncover the circumstances of the incident and arrest those responsible for this heinous crime and bring them to justice.”

They advised the people living near the oilfield to “stay away from military areas, and exercise restraint concerning any actions that may endanger the security of the region and the safety of our people.”

Radio Dabanga was unable to reach army commanders for comment on the incident. 

Bashir era 

As reported previously by Radio Dabanga, Sudanese society has witnessed a re-emergence of violent suppression of freedoms mirroring those which characterised the 30-year regime of Omar Al Bashir. 

The joint SAF-RSF coup d’état of October 25, 2021, toppled the civilian-led transitional government headed by Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, who led from 2019 to 2021. 

After the October 2021 coup, the putschists, led by Gen Lt Abdelfattah El Burhan, reintegrated affiliates of Al Bashir’s fallen regime into government institutions again, including the various security bodies.