Sudanese Congress Party leader ‘witnessed severe torture’ in detention

The Deputy President of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), Khaled Omar, says that he witnessed detained students being tortured at Kober prison, although he was not tortured himself.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga following his release this week, Omar said that he saw students Rami and Abubakr, who are not politically affiliated, with some detainees of the Sudanese Congress Party students being subjected to severe torture.

He said he spent 54 days in detention, including a week at the political security section of Kober prison, and 47 days in Shala prison in El Fasher in North Darfur.

He explained that he was no tortured but was “only interrogated about general information”.

“… the prison and detention will increase their resilience and will not dissuade them from the purpose for which they have devoted their lives…”

He said “the arrests carried out by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) are illegal and unconstitutional because there are no charges put to the detainees."

Omar said that “the prison and detention will increase their resilience and will not dissuade them from the purpose for which they have devoted their lives of promising the Sudanese people to live the life they deserve in the nation by provision of shelter and safety to every human being”.

Detainees released

On Sunday, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) released 16 leaders of the opposition Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), and four members of the Reform Now movement.

Approximately 40 opposition politicians and activists have been detained since the start of the civil disobedience campaign following the Sudanese government’s announcement in early November of liberalisation of the fuel and medicine markets and other austerity measures, which hiked prices and had a substantial knock-on economic effect.

In a statement on Sunday, SCP spokesman Mohamed Hassan Arabi confirmed that 16 of the Party’s leaders have been released. Many of those released had been in detention since the beginning of November.