♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan

♦ Sudan court lifts indefinite ban on El Tayar newspaper

May 3 – 2016 KHARTOUM El Tayar daily newspaper has been allowed to resume publishing by Sudan's highest court after more than four months of suspension by the security service. The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) banned El Tayar from publishing on 15 December last year, for an indefinite period and for reasons still unknown. The newspaper challenged the decision in the country's Constitutional Court, which ordered that the ban on the daily be lifted last Sunday.

Editor-in-chief Osman Mirghani informed Radio Dabanga about the court ruling on Monday. “I consider the court's decision to return El Tayar a big victory in the name of justice in Sudan, and a bright spot for the Sudanese judiciary. We will resume publishing in the coming days as we have the court's order,” Mirghani said on the eve of World Press Freedom Day.

Fed-up with the publication ban, the journalists of El Tayar went on a hunger strike at their office in Khartoum on 1 March. For three days they found the support of Sudanese journalists, activists, and doctors who volunteered to conduct medical check-ups among the strikers. El Tayar's journalists lifted their strike after the journalists' union mediated between them and the authorities.

The freedom of publication and expression are stipulated by a number of Sudanese laws and the 2005 Interim Constitution. The NISS, however, is allowed to confiscate entire print-runs of newspapers to avoid certain topics from being reported on. Media houses are known to suffer from exhausting financial losses caused by the confiscations of print-runs.

This year print-runs of El Sayha, Akhir Lahza, and El Ayam were seized at the printing presses this year, after crossing 'red lines' drawn by the NISS: off-limit topics that media is not allowed to report on. Recently, the security service has instructed the newspapers not to publish or cover news about the recent student demonstrations in Khartoum.

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♦ Students rally against killings in Sudan's universities

May 1 – 2016 KHARTOUM / EL OBEID / PORT SUDAN Dozens more Sudanese students and activists have been detained by the security forces over the past week. The detention campaign follows the spread of unrest at universities and protests that erupted over the assassination of two students in Omdurman and North Kordofan.

On Thursday 28 April, students of Bahri University in Khartoum North went out in demonstrations to condemn the assassination of Mohamed Sadiq (20), a student at Omdurman's El Ahlia University, the previous day. A student told Radio Dabanga that they were chased back by members of the security service, using teargas and beating them with batons. At least six students were detained In Port Sudan, a march held by university students on Thursday was ended in a similar way by members of the police and security service.

Student Mohamed Sadiq was shot dead when the student supporters of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), backed by the Sudanese National Intelligence and Service (NISS) opened fire as he was addressing the Association of Nuba Mountains Students on Wednesday 27 April. The meeting also mentioned the killing of student Abu Bakr Hashim (19) at the University of Kordofan in El Obeid on 19 April. “Others were injured, and many are now missing – we don’t know where they are,” a witness said on Wednesday. When Mohamed's body was transferred to his home from Omdurman hospital mortuary in the evening, hundreds of people attended a demonstration (video).

In Khartoum, the news of the killing sparked angry reactions and sporadic protests in the street. Sudanese opposition parties called on the people to join in mass peaceful protests.

Another student reported to Radio Dabanga that the police arrested five members of the Darfur Students Association at the University of Khartoum on Wednesday evening, and released them the next morning. The detention campaign shows “that the police fears escalation of demonstrations in a number of universities”, he said.

Other highlights from Dabanga Sudan:

Militia marauders wreak havoc in Tur, South Darfur

May 2 – 2016 TOR / ZALINGEI Three men were injured on Saturday when militiamen who were returning from Jebel Marra, raided the area of Tur in South Darfur. Speaking to Radio Dabanga on Sunday, residents said that “a group of militiamen, some in vehicles and others…

Six kids dead as Sudanese MiG jets strafe Nuba Mountains

May 2 – 2016 NUBA MOUNTAINS Six children – three of them from one family – have reportedly been killed in air strikes my MiG fighter jets on residential areas in South Kordofan. In a statement to Radio Dabanga, the military spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation…

Tribesmen killed, security measures in East Darfur

April 29 – 2016 YASSIN / ED DAEIN Five people were killed in a tribal clash in Yassin locality, East Darfur, on Thursday. Following a deadly RPG attack this week, the Governor decided to deploy more troops to curb the violence…

'20,000 Jebel Marra displaced in Central Darfur': HAC

April 29 – 2016 NIERTETI / SORTONY / TAWILA Humanitarian actors have found that there are nearly 20,000 people who have sought shelter in Central Darfur from the armed conflict in Jebel Marra, a significantly higher number than previously reported. The Sudanese Humanitarian…

Sudan rebels announce unilateral ceasefire

April 29 – 2016 KHARTOUM The armed movements in Sudan are willing to lay down their arms for another six months, their leaders announced. The past half year witnessed no less fighting between the rebels and Sudan Armed Forces in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile…

‘Progress, but many challenges remain’: UN Expert on Human Rights in Sudan

April 28 – 2016 KHARTOUM The UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan, Aristide Nononsi, today concluded his second visit to Sudan as Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in the country…

Displaced girl raped in West Darfur, three raped in Jebel Marra

April 27 – 2016 SIRBA / TABIT A displaced girl is in a coma after being raped at Bir Siliba, seven kilometres west of Sirba in West Darfur on Sunday. On Monday afternoon militia members raped three women including a minor at Tabit in East Jebel Marra…

This digest is an excerpt from the weekly Darfur & Sudan News Update. Subscribe to the newsletter here