Sudan rebels, UN demand release of Dr El Sadig

Minni Arko Minawi, head of the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM), has condemned the arrest of Dr Maryam El Sadig El Mahdi, Deputy-President of the National Umma Party (NUP), on Monday evening. He demanded her immediate release from the federal Women’s Prison in Omdurman. Minawi’s statement joins the large-scale condemnation which followed after Dr El Sadig, the daughter of Umma party leader El Sadig El Mahdi, was detained by the security service upon her arrival in Khartoum, after attending the conference in Paris where the Paris Declaration was signed on 8 August. The Deputy-President of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) further said that her arrest is part of a government crackdown against freedoms, press and political forces. Minawi called upon the United Nations and the international community to exert pressure on the government, “which  does not respect the rules of human rights and freedom of opinion and expression”. ‘Bad atmosphere for National Dialogue’: UNThe UN Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan, Mashood Adebayo Baderin, called for the immediate release of Dr Maryam El Sadig El Mahdi and all other political detainees in Sudan in a press statement on Friday. Baderin pointed to the continued detention of Ibrahim El Sheikh Abdel Rahman, head of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), since 8 June this year in particular. “The arrest and detention of Ms. El Mahdi and Mr. El Sheikh are not conducive to realising the inclusive National Dialogue, proposed by the Sudanese government,” he said. The UN expert urged the government and its security service to desist from any further arrests of politicians “in order to facilitate the necessary political confidence and conducive atmosphere for taking the national dialogue forward”.JEM, SCP demand release of politiciansThe Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the SCP condemned Dr El Sadig’s arrest in two separate statements, both demanding her immediate release. The JEM confirmed on Thursday that it is seeking to expand the framework to include all political forces and civil society organisations in Sudan and abroad. It further demanded the release of all political detainees “who have been suffering in the prisons, including Ibrahim El Sheikh, head of the SCP”. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and Abdel Wahid El Nur, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW), condemned the detention earlier this week, also calling for the release of other political detainees in Sudan. File photo: Dr Maryam El Sadig El Mahdi, Vice-President of the NUP (sudaneseonline.org) Related: EU, Norway call for Maryam El Mahdi’s release (13 August 2014)Sudan’s rebel leaders condemn arrest of Maryam El Sadig (12 August 2014) Sudan: Maryam El Mahdi transferred to Omdurman prison (12 August 2014)