Sudan carries out detentions against suspected rebel ties

The Sudanese Military Intelligence (MI) from South Kordofan detained a number of cattle traders in El Sunut locality on Sunday. In South Kordofan's El Abbasiya, two detainees held by the MI have been released.

Witnesses from Um Jemeina in El Sunut, West Kordofan, told Radio Dabanga that a number of MI personnel, on board three military vehicles, took seven cattle traders away from the market on Sunday. They accused them of dealing with people who reside in areas that are under the control of the rebel SPLM-N in South Kordofan.

The seven detainees, including Suleiman Shaib, Rihimtallah and Mohamed Zayed, Dessougi Bima, and Mohammadain Alawi were taken to the army's headquarters in El Dalanj, South Kordofan.

Four hours after the arrests, the police station in Um Jemeina came under attack by gunmen moving in three vehicles.

“The attackers seized a policeman, his name is Siddig Abideen, who happened to be at the police station during the attack,” a witness said yesterday. Abideen was reportedly taken toward El Mandal area in El Dalanj.

The witness added that the indiscriminate firing during the attack on the police station caused panic among the residents of Um Jumeina.

Two detainees released

The MI released two out of three detainees unconditionally from El Abbasiya on Saturday. The three men, including an elderly, have been detained since 15 June, reported the Nuba Mountains-based Human Rights and Development Organisation (Hudo).

The third person, Muamar Elsaeed Agoumy (37), remains in detention for undefined reasons, the organisation reported in an update on Monday. He is a brother of Adam Eisa Agoumy, who has been sentenced to death. He is a member of the rebel SPLM-N.

“Muamar is now allowed to be visited and his brother visited him,” Hudo said.

According to the interrogations, the MI accuses the three detainees for having attacked a house against the backdrop of a tribal dispute years ago, in 2011. A member of the Fellata tribe was killed at the time.

Hudo writes that the case is unclear as the three were detained for more than two weeks while Muamar Agoumy remains in detention.

Hudo has urged the Ministry of Justice to conduct an investigation about the detention of the three civilians in El Abbasiya, and called for the unconditional release of the third detainee.