Sudan security threatens families of protest victims

Security agents have warned relatives of people killed during the September demonstrations last year not to participate in the commemoration ceremony, to be organised by the Sudanese Committee of Solidarity with the Victims of the September Demonstrations in the coming days in Khartoum.  Speaking to Radio Dabanga from the Sudanese capital, Siddig Yousef, chairman of the Committee, said that elements of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) are trying to prevent the families of victims from participating in the commemoration to be held the last week of September. “We received complaints from a number of families who said they were threatened by security officers, who told them that the commemoration is a political action, organised by the opposition parties.” Early December 2013, the National Consensus Forces (NCF, an alliance of opposition parties) formed the solidarity committee with the aim of providing mental, legal, and material support to the families of demonstrators killed in the country.According to the NCF, about 300 protesters were killed or disappeared, and more than 1,000 people were injured, during the demonstrations that erupted in the last week of September, in protest against the government’s removal of fuel subsidies and the resulting price hikes. File photo: Lawyers protest in Khartoum against the excessive violence used against the September protesters, 4 October 2013 (Radio Dabanga) Related:Sudan Solidarity Committee demands investigation into Khartoum attacks (29 July 2014) Solidarity Committee hands memo to Sudan’s HRs Commission (23 July 2014)‘Health of injured Sudanese demonstrators deteriorating’: Solidarity Committee (13 January 2014) Sudanese Solidarity Committee demands release of detained protesters (9 January 2014)