African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies ACJPS | المركز الافريقي لدراسات العدالة و السلام
(10 September, 2023) African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) is concerned about the human rights violations perpetuated by the Military Intelligence Unit of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in Blue Nile Region. The violations range from restriction of movement, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, repression of civil society among others. In this release, Acjps has documented incidents where approximately 30 civilians including human rights defenders/activists were arbitrarily arrested, interrogated and detained. Dozens of civilians were also arrested based on their relationship with family and friends who joined the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Additionally, at least 08 peaceful protesters were arrested by the detective police unit in Aldermen, Blue Nile Region and charged with Public Nuisance under Article 77 of the Sudanese Penal Code 1991. Furthermore, opposition party leaders and civil society had their public events cancelled in the pretext of national security.
ACJPS calls upon Sudanese authorities to immediately unconditionally release all the remaining detainees in the absence of legal charges against them. Where the charges exist, they should be brought to court to challenge their detention through a fair trial. Their physical safety and wellbeing including granting access to their lawyers, family members and medical services must be guaranteed. Sudanese authorities in Kasala, Aljazeera State and Blue Nile Region should respect civilians’ rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Furthermore, we call upon the authorities of Blue Nile Region to immediately stop implementing and cancel the decree of restrictions of movement and compensate the victims.
On 17 August 2023, at around 08:00pm, approximately 10 officers from the Military intelligence (MI) unit of Sudanese Military Forces (SAF) dressed in plain clothes and armed with automatic guns known as clashincoves arrived in two vehicles (Toyota Hilux and Landcruiser) with others riding on motorcycles in Al-damazin. The group raided the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) house located in Alrabee neighborhood in Al-damazin, Blue Nile region. The raid targeted an event organized by the party in celebration of 77 years of existence in Sudan. Approximately 20 people were arrested from the party house and taken to MI offices in Al-damazin for interrogation. Those arrested were questioned about their names, place of residence, occupation etc for about an hour. After the interrogation, they were subjected to physical and verbal abuse as they were punched, beaten with horse pipes and accused of being RSF supporters because SCP rejected requests and calls from by NCP and SAF for the Sudanese people to join mass recruitments. The group was then transferred to Al-damazin Central Police station and released on bond later that day at around 12:45pm without any charges. They were also informed of the requirement to obtain permission prior to organizing an event as provided under the Emergency law due to the state of emergency announced by the regional government on 12 December 2022.
The following day on 18 August, 2023 the MI in Al-damazin arrested 02 human rights defenders and social media activists following their social media posts about the raiding of the SCP event. The activists are currently still in detention.
Acjps has documented the names of the people who were arrested at the SCP house and the 02 human rights defenders. They are;
- Abu Bakar Mustafa (m)
- Abu Bakar Yousef (m)
- Adil Mahmoud Zakaria (m)
- Ahmed Aalim Abdul Moinim (m)
- Akram Abdul Nabi (m)
- Badur Eldien Salih (m)
- Baha Eldien Abdallah karja (m)
- Baha Elien Mukhtar (m)
- Hafiz musa Taha (m)
- Ibrahim Yousef (m)
- Maaz zakaria (m)
- Mamdooh Jad (m)
- Mohamed noor Ali Adam (m)
- Mujaheed (m)
- Tariq Alrasheed (m)
- Tariq Alsidiq (m)
- Yosuf Omer (m)
- yssin Hassan Ali (m)
Names of the two HRDs in detention
- Iyhab Babkir Ibrahim (m)
- Mohamed Mubarak Mukhtar (m)
Other Developments
MI officers in Al-damazin town arrested a number of people based on their relationship with relatives or friends who joined RSF whilst others were arrested for traveling out of Blue Nile region without obtaining permission from the authorities.
On 10 August , 2023 Mr. Abdallah Alwadie, a public servant working with Ministry of Finance was arrested by MI officers. During interrogation, Mr. Abdallah was questioned about his relationship with Mr. Mohamed Suleiman Abu Shotal, the head of Hamag group. Mr. Abu Shotal was recently seen with one of the RSF leaders in Khartoum. Mr. Abdallah was also asked whether he had received money from Abu Shotal for investment.
On 03 August 2023, Mr. Muneer Elteyeb Abdulrahan aged 27-years-old together with Mr. Mohamed Omer were arrested by MI officers. Mr. Elteyeb is a son-in-law to Mr. Abu Shotal and Mr. Omer works at Amwaj Resturant. The two were arrested while trying to leave Blue Nile Region although the authorities had rejected their requests to travel. They were detained and later released. The two had earlier attempted to travel to Aljazeera State but were arrested and asked to apply for a travel permission.
On 31 July, 2023 MI officers in Al-damazin arrested a one Jamal also known as Wad Al-lradiah aged 41-years-old from his home in Alzhoor neighborhood. ACJPS was reliably informed that Mr. Jamal was arrested on suspicion that he was communicating with Mr. Abu Shotal. He was however released the next day .
On 13 August 2023, the MI in Kasala, Eastern Sudan summoned 04 political party leaders for interrogation about the press statementt issued by Civil Front following a meeting held on 12 August 2023. The meeting aimed at organizing and restructuring the work of the Front. The MI officers made it clear to the party leaders that they will not allowed any party activities to take place. They are:
- Alsir Suliman (m) Arabic Baath Party
- Hamroor Hussien hamroor (m) United Popular Front
- Idris Mohamed Abdul Gadir (m) Sudanese Congress Party
- Mukhtar wad Karab (m) Altwasul Party
In another separate incident, on 12 August 2023 at around 04:30pm, a group of armed men in plain clothes driving three Toyota Hilux vehicles arrived in Wad Madani, Aljazeera State and announced the cancellation of a public event that was due to take place at 6:00pm on the same day. The event under the theme “Weapons down” was organized by the NGO, “No to Women Oppression” to be held at Lawyers’ House in Wad Madani. An eye witness saw and heard an MI officer telling members of the initiative that the event posed a security threat to Aljazeera State thus warranting its cancellation. The officers asked the organizers to leave the venue and started piling chairs that had be organized in preparation for the event. The spokesperson of the NGO was verbally abused and accused of supporting the Freedom for Change Coalition (FCC) because both groups are connected by their activism against the ongoing armed conflict.
On 24 June, 2023 the MI unit in Talodie, South Kordofan arrested Mr. Muwafaq Kamal Eldien Mohamed Ali. Mr. Kamal is affiliated to SPLM/North Sector led by Gen. Abdu Aziz Adam Al-Hillu. He was taken to a SAF base in Abu Jebeha for detention. ACJPS was reliably informed that Mr. Kamal is in a dire condition at the detention center.
On 30 August, 2023 at 11:40am, the Detective police unit in Aldermen, Blue Nile Region arrested several protesters during a peaceful demonstration organized by Sudanese Mothers Movement at the Mawled Square. The protesters were taken to the MI base in Aldermen and later transferred to Central Police Station where they charged with Public Nuisance under Article 77 of the Sudanese Penal Code 1991. They were later released on bond at around 10:20pm. The movement released a statement confirming the arrest of protesters and condemning the targetting of civilians and public premises. The Movement called upon the warring parties to adopt peace talks and negotiate a way forward. They also condemned the recruitment of Sudanese girls and boys into the conflict (use of child soldiers)
Names of the protesters who were arrested on 30 August, 2023
- Hafiza Mohamed Abdu Jabar (f)
- Nehla Elbdri (f)
- Maryam Abdallah Jabir (f)
- Hajir hidar Eltahir (f)
- Lila Elnoor (f)
- Wafa Adam (f)
- Jwahir Rizq Allah (f)
- Musab Reziq Allah (m) a Journalist
Release of detainees
On 14 August 2023, the MI unit released Mr. Haraz Mohamed and his son Osman Haraz who were both arrested on 13 July 2023 from their home located in 73 neighborhood of Althura town in Omdurman. The two were arrested for their ethnic affiliations as they are from the Rezigate tribe originally from Eldien in East Darfur State
On 21 August 2023, RSF published five short video clips showing that they had launched an attack on a weapons store belonging to SAF located in Khartoum. One of the videos shows corpses of civilians in what appeared to be a torture center because of the fresh blood in the floor and walls. In another video, two males with fresh injuries and testified that they had been tortured SAF soldiers 30 minutes before RSF raided the base. Majority of the detainees that appeared in the videos stated that they were arrested from different locations on allegations that they are spies or affiliates of RSF. They also added that they were electricuted and denied food. Another victim confirmed that he was subjected to this kind of treatment for more than two months. These videos confirm the dire situation of detainees in the different dentention centers across Sudan. It is also evident that a number of civilians have been targetted for their ethnic affiliations. ACJPS has not received any official comment by SAF on the videos.
Although some detainees were released, several of them are still held incommunicado. For example, the resistance committee members like Mr. Alshareef Alhamadabi and Mr. Ahmed Hassan Abu Hurira.
Background
Since the fighting between the Sudanese Army (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted on 15 April 2023, the human rights situation across Sudan has continued to deteriorate. Both the SAF and RSF have exploited the tense situation to further commit violations against civilians in a bid to get back at the opposite party. This has left the civilians in a vulerable position as the warring parties refuse to ceasefire. ACJPS has documented several incidents where civilians have been arbitrarily arrested and allegedly tortured while in detention.
