Activists ‘tortured’ in eastern Sudan

Members of the Emergency Street Initiative claim they were tortured during their detention in El Gedaref state.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga today, Mohamed El Fateh El Safi said that he was detained for two days, along with three members of the Emergency Street Initiative. Agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) took El Safi, a member of the Sudanese Congress Party, as well as Mohamed Khalid, Mujahid Hassan, and Nadir Taha to the security service office in El Faw on Tuesday. They were held until Thursday.

Doctor Rasha Abdelrahman and Hanna El Sadig were detained for several hours and released again late on Tuesday.

“We were severely beaten and forced to carry stones and stand for hours, while they used foul words against us,” El Safi said.

A couple of weeks ago, the Commisioner of El Faw issued a formal decision to ban the volunteer initiative 'Shari El Hawadis', or Emergency Street Initiative, from operating in El Gedaref state. The Commissioner did not provide an explanation for the decision.

Early this year, a group of young activists in Khartoum launched the initiative in order to support needy patients, and established an intensive care unit for children in an Omdurman hospital.