Three more detained in West Kordofan joint force raids

On Monday, a joint force of Sudanese army troops, police, and paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) detained three people from Abu Zabad in West Kordofan under the State of Emergency.

Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that the joint force has continued its campaign in Abu Zabad for the second week. Three more people were detained on Tuesday.

They report that on Monday, the authorities released 15 people of the 35 who were held last week, including two women.

Theft

The residents have complained of being robbed and humiliated during the campaign. Human rights activists said the stolen items included cash money and mobile telephones.

They pointed out that most of the charges for which the detainees are being arrested are based on incorrect information. They called for an end to the campaigns and the release of anyone who has not been proven guilty in a court of law.

HUDO

Human Rights Centre (Hudo) reported in a statement today that on March 26, for unknown reasons, Ahmed Elsayid (29) was brutally arrested by SAF soldiers in Elfaid Um Abdalla of South Kordofan and deported to Um Brembeta.

Since then, he has been held incommunicado and he is allegedly undergoing torture. The Hudo statements says that Elsayid is a former SAF soldier. He is one of the people who were displaced from their home town of Elfaid Um Abdalla in 2011 when the war erupted in South Kordofan.

On March 26, 13 armed soldiers dressed in Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) uniform headed by an officer came in two vehicles mounted with machine guns to Elsayid’s house in Elfaid Um Abdalla and arrested him. They beat and assaulted him with sticks and whips in the presence of his children in his house, bound him with ropes, put him on to one of their vehicles .and drove to Um Brembeta military headquarters where he has been held incommunicado.

A reliable source informed HUDO that, Ahmed is undergoing torture and is in a bad health condition.

Disarmament campaign

Last year in July, the Sudanese government announced a disarmament campaign in the country, to begin with in Darfur and Kordofan.

Members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudan’s main government militia, and the army were tasked to collect illegal arms and unlicensed vehicles from civilians. In North Darfur alone, more than 12,500 RSF troops were deployed for this purpose.

The phase of the voluntary handover of weapons ended and compulsory collection began in end October. By then, about 30,000 weapons had been collected, out of an estimated 700,000 illegal weapons circulating in Darfur. 

In November 2017, the commander of RSF, deployed more forces for its disarmament campaign in Darfur. This was followed by a re-enforcement campaign in May 2018, announced by the Sudan’s second vice-president.