Sudan military intelligence targets civilians in South Kordofan

Last week two houses were torched, and four people detained, in a displaced settlement near the village of Um Mareh in South Kordofan.  On Wednesday, elements of the paramilitary Popular Defence Forces (PDF) torched two houses in the settlement of displaced near Um Mareh village, 40km northwest of Abbasiya town. The houses were set on fire after the PDF troops failed to find the owners, labourer Ali Ibrahim (35), and farmer Ali El Mamoun (65), the South Kordofan-based Human Rights and Development Organization (Hudo) reported in an appeal issued on Sunday. The next day, at about 10am, military intelligence troops raided the settlement, and detained student Abdelmuti El Safi Karama (28), labourer Adam Mukhtar Mahmoud (30), and farmers El Bagir Suleiman Jubara (35) and Adam El Nur Omar (65). They were transported to an unknown place. The displaced are accused of being affiliated to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) without any legal backing. “Hence, their human and legal rights are violated,” Hudo stated. Um Mareh developed into a permanent settlement for displaced Nuba, after a large number of people who fled from government attacks on their villages in areas northwest of Abbasiya, sought refuge at the Koran school of the village in the second half of 2012. Appeal “The Sudanese government denies the existence of displaced in South Kordofan, and does not allow humanitarian organisations to access their settlements,” Hudo said. It therefore appealed to the international community to “act more efficient in pressuring the Sudanese government to allow NGOs and aid workers access to those displaced, and protect them”. File photo: Displaced from South Kordofan in El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, 2011 (correspondent Radio Dabanga) Related: ‘Sudan dry season campaign includes widespread detentions’: HRs organisation (11 July 2014)