64 illegally detained West Darfuris released despite governor’s hindrance

EL GENEINA – January 27, 2023

The West and North Darfur Detainees Defence Committee announced yesterday that 64 illegally detained Darfuris were released in El Geneina and that arrangements are being made to release another 95 detainees held in Port Sudan.

Yesterday, the West and North Darfur Detainees Defence Committee, which was set up in cooperation with the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) and the Rule of Law Initiative, announced the release of the 64 illegally held political detainees from Ardamata Prison in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur.

The lawyers said in a statement that arrangements have started to release the 95 West Darfur detainees being held in Port Sudan Prison in Red Sea State.

The defence team accused West Darfur Wali (Governor) Khamis Abdallah Abakar of persisting in keeping them detained. The costs of transporting the detainees from Port Sudan in Red Sea state to El Geneina should be paid by the West Darfur governor, the defence committee stated.

Many detainees can only be released by an order of the acting governor of West Darfur, the defence committee explained last month.

Targeted detention campaigns

In November, the DBA announced that 350 Darfuris were illegally detained in prisons throughout Sudan. All were detained without any legal justification, mostly by infamous the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during large-scale detention campaigns.

In August, for example, the RSF held at least 197 people in a campaign that targeted tribal leaders who refused to partake in RSF-led reconciliation efforts and other activists, teachers, students, and farmers. Several people disappeared.

After the defence committee was prevented from visiting detainees on hunger strike in Port Sudan Prison by the local authorities, the DBA accused the governors of the five Darfur states that “they have become mere tools for implementing the directives of RSF”.

The country’s prison administrations in turn “have become subject to the orders of state governors and the RSF”.

The West and North Darfur Detainees Defence Committee explained at the time that the detainees who have not been charged can only be released by an order of the acting governor of West Darfur.