Three activists held incommunicado by Sudanese security in South Darfur

(15 June 2017) Three activists from Eidel Firsan locality in South Darfur are currently detained incommunicado by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) without charge or access to their families. A lawyer contracted by the activists’ families has expressed concern for their safety and well-being, and vulnerability to torture and ill-treatment. They are currently being held in the NISS section of Nyala Prison in South Darfur after being transferred from NISS custodies in Eidel Firsan on 26 May 2017.

The three activists had organised and led a peaceful demonstration on 24 May 2017 in Eidel Firsan centred around lack of public access to basic services, particularly access to clean drinking water and electricity. Their names are below.

1. Azrag Mussa Mohamed, (m), 25 years of age.
2. Ahmed al Sadig Saleh, (m).
3. Al Hadi Abdel-Rahman Ezzeldin, (m).

The following day, the three activists were arrested from their homes by the NISS, and brought to NISS offices in Eidel Firsan. They were subsequently transferred to the NISS section of Nyala Prison, where they are currently being held.

ACJPS believes there is no legitimate cause for the three activists’ detention, and that their arrests are solely based on their organisation and participation in the peaceful demonstrations calling for the provision of services in Eidel Firsan by local authorities. Freedom of expression, association, and assembly are all guaranteed under Sudan’s Interim National Constitution.

The lack of access for lawyers and family members to the detainees, together with the well-documented use by the NISS of torture and other forms of ill-treatment against detainees, particularly whilst held in unknown locations, gives rise to serious concerns for their safety and, incommunicado detention significantly enhances vulnerability to torture and other ill-treatment. The practice is in breach of Sudan’s obligations under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, in particular the prohibition under Article 5 of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and treatment. Under the 2010 National Security Act (NSA), detainees can be held for up to four and a half months without judicial review.

This incommunicado detention of the three activists, alongside other recent incidents of arbitrary detention documented by ACJPS, diverges significantly with the current image projected by Sudan to normalise its relationship with the international community and as the United States prepares to review Sudan’s sanctions next month.

We call upon the Government of Sudan to grant the detainees immediate and unequivocal access to their lawyers and family members, and release them in the absence of valid legal charges consistent with international standards. If such charges exist, the three individuals should be brought promptly before an impartial, independent and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times.

Background

Three members of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP), Ahmed Abuzaid, Ayman Ali Ismail, and Adil Hadatha, were detained by the NISS for one day from 7 – 8 June 2017 after they led a public forum to build awareness on cholera at Souq Seta in Haj al-Yousif. The three were arrested from the forum on 7 June, and released the following evening without charge after signing a declaration assuring that they would report daily to NISS offices in East Nile locality from 10am – 630pm.

ACJPS reported on 13 June 2017 the torture and ill-treatment of internally displaced person (IDP) Abdelmagid Abdalla Bakheet, (m), 27 years of age, who was reportedly subjected to torture by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) in Kutum, North Darfur whilst detained from the evening of 7 June to the morning hours of 10 June. Mr. Bakheet was arrested and detained by the NISS after he collected food and clothing in Kasab IDP camp to be distributed to recent IDPs to Kutum, displaced by fighting in Ein Siro and Gara, North Darfur.

Mr. Bakheet was refused medical treatment in a state run hospital as he was unable to provide form 8, a state document needed to obtain post-trauma medical assistance to record physical injuries related to criminal acts. Police had refused to provide form 8 to relatives of Mr. Bakheet, presumably under the presumption that a medical report attached to form 8 could potentially be used for a future criminal case levelled against the NISS. Mr. Bakheet was subsequently taken to a private clinic and treated for his injuries. Mr. Bakheet’s inability to obtain form 8 severely compromises the prospects of him launching any form of criminal complaint in the future to seek justice amidst an environment in which there are already no effective remedies for torture survivors.

Contact: Mossaad Mohamed Ali/ Emily Cody: +256 779584542/ +256 788695068 (Kampala), or info@acjps.org.