SPA: 43 ‘missing’ Sudan protestors accounted for

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the spearhead of the Sudan uprising that began in December 2018 and culminated in the overthrow of the 30-year Al Bashir dictatorship has announced that 43 of the protestors who went missing during the violent dismantling of the sit-in in front of the army command in Khartoum on June 3, have been found.

The spokesman for the SPA Initiative for Missing People, Musab Ajabeldoor, said in a press conference in Khartoum on Wednesday that the bodies of four protestors listed as missing after what has become known as the Ramadan 29 Massacre, were found in mortuaries.

He said that most of those found alive were traumatised by what they had seen during the break-up of the sit-in, or subjected to ill-treatment in detention.

He added the Association received 18 reports of missing persons “being held in prisons and detention centres belonging to specific bodies, and sugar plantations in White Nile state”.

At the beginning of August, the SPA documented more than 100 cases of people who went missing on June 3.

At the time the SPA reported that three of the people reported missing were found dead, and 40 others are found, yet in critical health condition, according to Noun Kashkoush from the Democratic Lawyers Alliance.

She stated that 11 complaints have been submitted to the prosecutor of the Khartoum North Court regarding the reports of disappearance, and a memorandum has been submitted to the National Human Rights Commission to urge the authorities to provide an answer to the question of the missing people.

Campaign

Kashkoush said that many professional groups joined the SPA Initiative for Missing People, including doctors, lawyers, journalists, artists, and members of civil society organisations.

The alliance will launch a campaign on August 30 to search for the people still missing, in conjunction with the International Day of Enforced Disappearance.

Fadya Khalafallah of the SPA Initiative for Missing People reported that apart from forming a number of sub-groups, they established a media committee and a medical committee to follow up the issue of the people still missing after “the massacre of June 3” – in which reportedly more than 127 people were killed. More than 700 people sustained injuries. At least 40 bodies were found floating in the Nile.

She explained that the Initiative, in cooperation with the neighbourhood committees, organised a tracing campaign in the hospitals and police stations of Khartoum. Posters with photos and names of missing persons have been distributed in markets and other public places.

Our editorial independence means that we can continue to provide factual updates about political developments to Sudanese and international actors, educate people about how to avoid outbreaks of infectious diseases, and provide a window to the world for those in all corners of Sudan. Support Radio Dabanga for as little as €2.50, the equivalent of a cup of coffee.