6 displaced arrested during protests against Doha released in Darfur

Six displaced persons were allegedly arrested by the Sudanese security services during Friday’s mass demonstrations against the Doha donors’ conference. They were released two days later, and sources say they were “severely tortured” while in detention.   Thousands of residents of dozens of Darfur camps staged protests against the timing of the conference over the weekend. Demonstrators say it is too early to hold a reconstruction and development summit for Darfur while the region continues witnessing “genocide, war, killings, displacement and rape amid the absence of security and of a comprehensive peace agreement”. The conference, hosted by the Qatari government on 7 and 8 April, aims at raising funds among donor countries for projects in Darfur within the framework of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) adopted in 2011.A Zalingei camps’ coordinator provided Radio Dabanga the names of the six persons arrested by the security services during the protests: Mohamed Abdul Shakour, Magdi Adam Haroun, Hassoun, Atta Al Mannan Siddiq, Yahya Momhamed Haroun and Hassan Adam. He added that a resident of Khamsa Degaig camp in Zalingei, Mohamed Haroun, was detained by security authorities over 10 days ago and remains locked up. The coordinator is demanding UNAMID to protect the displaced who “peacefully” demonstrated last weekend.Related: Protests against Doha donor conference continue in Darfur (8 April 2013)