Sudan putschists continue detention campaign in the states

Following a military coup at dawn on Monday, a number of government officials and activists were detained. The following days, more people were held. On Thursday, the armed forces detained revolutionaries in other parts of the country. More than 60 Sudanese ambassadors and diplomats have publicly rejected the coup.

Activists reported from Nyala, capital of South Darfur, that 13 people were held in the city on Thursday, including two members of the Nyala Democratic Lawyers Alliance, the South Darfur government media director, and two members of the South Darfur Empowerment Removal Committee.

They said that a joint force of army and military intelligence officers and paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces held them at night, and transferred them to the El Kabeer Prison.

In Ed Daein, capital of East Darfur, military troops detained the directors of the Ministries of Education, Health and Social Development, Finance, and Urban Planning on Thursday morning. Another force raided the civil laboratory in Ed Daein, yet found it empty.

In Nile River state in northern Sudan, a number of leaders of the Atbara Railway Union were held. Reports about detentions in South Kordofan reached Radio Dabanga as well, but no details were provided.

During the military coup on Monday, the civilian members of the Sovereignty Council, Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, his wife, and a number of his ministers were detained in Khartoum.

On Monday evening, Ismail El Taj of the Sudanese Professionals Association and Siddig El Sadig El Mahdi, leading member of the National Umma Party, and were detained.

Sovereignty Council member Mohamed El Taayshi and members of his office were held on Tuesday, following statements he made against the coup. On Wednesday, Minister of Health Omar El Najeeb, Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasir Abbas, and Advisor to the Prime Minister Hasan Nasrallah were detained following their return from Port Sudan.

Military forces are reported to have been going house to house in Khartoum detaining activists and protest organisers. The Sudanese Teachers Committee announced the detention of its president, Yasin Hasan Abdelkarim, on Tuesday.

The authorities also held journalist Fayez El Seleik and Sudan TV staff member Maher Abuljoukh after publicly criticising the coup.

The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) yesterday published the names of 28 government officials and activists who were detained in the country on Monday. Eight others were held on Tuesday and Wednesday.

No support

PM Hamdok and his wife were returned home on Tuesday, where the military reportedly continued to pressurise him to announce his support for the coup. The Ministers of Justice, Foreign Affairs, Agriculture, Transport, and Irrigation who wanted to visit PM Hamdok at his home, were not allowed to see him. In a statement on Thursday, the Ministers called on the military to immediately cancel “all unconstitutional measures” taken since the coup on Monday, and “release the political detainees immediately”.

Ministers linked with the Forces for Freedom and Change as well announced their “categorical rejection of the military coup” on Thursday.

More than 60 Sudanese ambassadors and diplomats also publicly rejected the military coup on Thursday, following an earlier statement by eight of their colleagues a day after the coup.

Ambassador Ali bin Abitalib, Sudan’s envoy to the United Nations in Geneva, said in a video recording that he does not recognise El Burhan’s decision to relieve him and his colleagues of their posts, and declared his adherence to the democratic transformation. He further denounced the “most heinous ways of abuse” the Sudanese are currently facing, and advised them to carry out “non-compliance and resistance in various legal ways”.

Lt Gen El Burhan announced the dismissal of seven more Sudanese ambassadors and the director of the Civil Aviation Authority on Thursday. He said that Ali El Sadig was appointed as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Graham Abdelgader as Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture and Information.