Six students arrested in South Darfur, Omdurman

Six Darfuri students were arrested in Nyala, South Darfur, and Omdurman. All were beaten by security agents and taken to an as of yet unknown destination. In Nyala, security guards are accused of harassing the women during body searches.

Speaking from the South Darfur state capital, a University of Nyala student told Radio Dabanga that agents of the Sudanese security service (NISS) detained five students on Thursday. They belong to a group of students who support the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdelwahid El Nur.

“They took Safah Abdelrahman, Idris Abdallah Mousa, Naseredin Adam Ahmed, Ibrahim Mousa Ibrahim, and Hassan Suleiman to an unknown destination,” according to the student.

In Omdurman, the NISS arrested the Darfuri Musab Hamudi, who studies at the Holy Koran University, the same day.

Fellow student Kamal El Zein, formerly the chairman of a Darfuri students' association, told Radio Dabanga that the security agents intercepted Hamudi at El Sug Libya market in the afternoon. “They put him in their vehicle at about 4pm and drove to an unknown destination.”

“His abduction comes against the backdrop of Musab's speech three days ago, during the student protest at Holy Koran against the tuition fees for Darfuri students,” El Zein believes.

On Wednesday morning, a fire at the university followed a student protest for the exemption from tuition fees, which is in accordance with Darfur peace agreements signed by the Sudanese government. The fire was reportedly caused by a Molotov cocktail in the university's offices. Last month, two sit-ins resulted in a clash between Darfuri and militant students of the ruling National Congress Party.

Women students harassed

A university student in Nyala, who preferred anonymity, told Radio Dabanga about the indecent and disrespectful security guards, who are assigned to search both men and women at the entrance of the university.

“You may search my bag but searching a woman is disrespectful to her and the law.”

She said that there are only men working in the university's guard and that some of them do more than body checks. “They grope or sexually harass the women.

“This inhumane treatment is disrespectful against women and the Islamic law,” she stressed. “You may inspect my bag but in the Islamic law it is not allowed for a man to search a woman.”

The student appealed to the local authorities to resolve the issue.