‘Racist’ arrests against Darfuris in Khartoum criticized by Umma, activists

Umma Party politicians, lawyers and civil society groups held a seminar Wednesday evening in solidarity with the detained Darfuri journalists and activists. Speakers at the event, which was held at the headquarters of the Umma Party, criticized the arrests as ‘racist’ and ‘illegal’. Mustafa Abdelgader, chief defense counsel for the Darfuri citizens who have been detained since the end of last October, said his lawyers committee so far has not been allowed to speak with the detainees or to identify their places of detention. Members of the audience declared their solidarity with the Darfuri detainees and called for their immediate release without conditions. The event was attended by a large number human rights activists and public figures. Also in attendance was Mr. Sadig Al Mahdi, leader of the Umma Party, who said on the sidelines of the event that he supports the advocacy.

Maki Ali Balabil, head of the Justice Party, said at the seminar that the arrests were the result of what he called a ‘racist’ system toward people of Darfuri origin in general, and toward Darfuri activists, in particular. He said that Darfuris are being subjected to a racist campaign unfairly intended to humiliate them and force them into submissiveness. Speaking to Radio Dabanga after the symposium, Balabil described the onslaught of arrests suffered by the people of Darfur as arbitrary, political, and beyond the limits of the Constitution, the law, and human rights.

According to Abdelgader, the state security prosecutor notified some members of the defense team orally and informally that he had been open cases against the detainees. The security authorities arrested the Darfuri men and women at the end of October; they included Abdelrahman Adam Abdelrahman, editor of Radio Dabanga, Abdelrahman Al Gasim, member of the Darfur Lawyers Association, and Jaafar Sabki, editor of Al Sahafa newspaper, and others. Mustafa Abdelgader said that the measures taken against the detainees have been in violation of the Code of Criminal Procedure. He called on the people of Sudan to advocate for the detainees.

Speaking on behalf of the Imam Sadiq Al Mahdi, leader of the Umma Party, Mr. Mohammed Mehdi Hassan, head of the Political Bureau of the Umma Party, reiterated the position of the Umma Party in favor of the detainees and the need to release them or grant them a fair trial.

Pictured: Abdelrahman Al Gasim, held in incommunicado detention since late October.