Sudan’s lawyers demand Darfuri students’ release

In a petition submitted to the Minister of Justice today, 62 Sudanese lawyers demanded the immediate release of Darfuri women students, who were detained by security forces during the eviction of Zahra boarding house in Khartoum on 5 October. The lawyers also call for an urgent inquiry into the circumstances of the eviction and the detentions, and urged the opening of a case against the assailants who raided the Zahra boarding house, and violently evicted the students. “The excessive force used by the security forces against the young women students, the sexual harassment, and the racist scoffing, constitute a violation of the Sudanese Interim Constitution,” one of the signatories of the petition, Saleh Mahmoud, told Radio Dabanga. In the petition, the lawyers stress that the reason for the detention is not clear. “The students did not commit any offence, and no official complaint was filed against them, at the time of their detention.” File photo: Minister of Justice, Mohamed Bushara Dosa, at the 27th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (Jean-Marc Ferré/UNHRC) Related: ‘Attack on Darfuri students requires investigation’ (12 October 2014) ‘El Intibaha story about students fabricated’: Darfur lawyers (9 October 2014) Women’s initiative condemns ‘racist attack’ on Darfuri students (9 October 2014) Darfuri students detained in Sudan’s capital (8 October 2014)