Sudan: Emergency Lawyers demands release of detained members of resistance committees

Report from Radio Dabanga - dabangasudan.org

Dated Friday 19 May 2023

Sudan’s warring parties ‘detain activists, hold volunteers incommunicado’   

(Social media)

(KHARTOUM / WAD MADANI) – Both the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) reportedly detained ‘hundreds of activists and volunteers’ in the country’s capital. Two young activists charged of killing a police officer in Khartoum more than a year ago were held in Wad Madani, El Gezira, on Tuesday.

Military Intelligence held Saddam Juma, Amer Abboud, and Mujahid Anwar three members of the Khartoum North (Khartoum Bahri) Neighbourhood Committees from their homes on Tuesday and took them to El Zakheera camp in El Kadaro in the northern part of the city.

The same day, RSF paramilitaries seized volunteer Mohamed Ezzeldin near the Arkoweet Emergency Room in Khartoum while he was collecting medicines and distributing them to patients in the neighbourhood. It is unclear where he has been taken.

In a statement posted on social media yesterday, Sudan’s Emergency Lawyers strongly condemned “the targeting by both sides of the armed conflict of members of resistance committees and volunteers helping out in the various emergency rooms” in Khartoum.

“Illegal detention is considered a crime under the Sudanese Penal Code, the Bill of Rights and Freedoms, and international covenants,” the Emergency Lawyers stated.

“We hold the two sides of the fighting responsible for the lives and safety of the detainees. The humanitarian conditions at the places of detention are extremely complex and insecure, because of the ongoing clashes, battles, and aerial bombardments. We call on them to immediately release the detainees.”

‘Prevalent’

“Kidnapping is prevalent in Sudan’s ongoing conflict, mainly carried out by the RSF, which is currently holding hundreds of innocent civilians in unknown locations,” Hala Elkarib, founder of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) tweeted from Khartoum yesterday.

“Volunteers who are providing aid to communities are frequently being kidnapped. While the SAF is detaining members of the resistance committees, the RSF is abducting them. Sadly, there is no progress being made toward establishing safe humanitarian passages.”

Unknown destination

In Wad Madani, capital of El Gezira, Mohamed Adam ‘Tupac’ and Ahmed El Fateh ‘El Nana’ were detained by members of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police/Forces on Tuesday.

Adam, El Fateh, and two other young men were detained in Khartoum in January 2022 and charged with killing a police officer during pro-democracy protests earlier that month.

The three were held in Kober Prison, where they, and in particular Adam, the main suspect, was repeatedly tortured. They were transferred to El Huda Prison in Omdurman in December last year after the judge dealing with the case ordered a criminal investigation against the director of Kober Prison. On April 15 fierce fighting broke out between the SAF and the RSF in the Sudanese capital. About a week later, RSF attacked El Huda prison and released all the inmates.

Adam stated in a video clip at the time that he would not take advantage of his escape and would return to detention until his case was completed and he and his comrades’ innocence was confirmed.

He and El Fateh, and their families later fled the violence in the city and sought refuge, with thousands of others, in Wad Madani.

Members of their defence team said in a statement last week that when the two young men volunteered to aid the many displaced people squatting in primary schools.

A school principal reported their presence to the Central Reserve Police which then seized Adam and El Fateh and took them to an unknown destination.

On March 21 last year, the US Treasury imposed sanctions on the paramilitary Central Reserve Police that stand under the command of the police, for serious human rights violations since the October 2021 joint SAF-RSF coup d’etat.

Many people in Darfur dread the forces of the Central Reserve Police (popularly known as Abu Teira or Abu Tira), remembering they used to terrorise people in villages and camps for the displaced in the region.

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https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudans-warring-parties-detain-activists-hold-volunteers-incommunicado

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Sudan: Attacks on prisons in Khartoum free thousands of inmates

Report from Radio Dabanga.org

Dated Tuesday 25 April 2023 c.13:50 BST UK - full copy:

Attacks on prisons in Sudanese capital free thousands of inmates

Kober Prison in Khartoum North (Radio Dabanga)

KHARTOUM – April 25, 2023 - Thousands of prisoners in the Sudanese capital were freed after men wearing Rapid Support Forces (RSF) uniforms launched attacks on several prisons. Among the freed prisoners is Mohamed Adam ‘Tupac’, who was held in El Huda Prison in Omdurman.

In a statement on Saturday, Army Commander Abdelfattah El Burhan accused the RSF of storming the El Huda Prison and killing its guards. “The release of the inmates poses a grave security threat and illustrates the state of indiscipline the rebelling [RSF] forces have reached,” he said.

The commander of the RSF, Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, was quick to confirm that his forces did not attack the prisons. His media office had already denied “allegations circulating on social media regarding the forces’ storming of a prison and the release of prisoners”.

According to Hemedti, “The putschists and their collaborators tied to the ousted Al Bashir regime have launched a campaign of lies and misleading rumours to cover up their defeats on the battlefield.” He accused the army forces of disguising in RSF uniforms and carrying out criminal acts to blame the militia.

In an article published by Al Jazeera Net yesterday, Muzdalifa Osman reported that “although the RSF were quick to deny their connection to the attack on the El Huda Prison, and setting prisoners free, some of the escapees confirmed that the attackers belonged to the RSF, and that they wanted to free their comrades who had been sentenced for criminal cases”.

El Huda Prison, located north-west of Omdurman, is the second largest prison in the capital’s area, designed to accommodate 10,000 inmates.

Inmates of more prisons were freed. In central Omdurman, hundreds of women left the Omdurman Women Prison after it was bombed during violent clashes in the vicinity of the national radio and television building.

In Soba Prison, in the south-eastern part of Khartoum, inmates escaped as well. They staged “a stormy rebellion” since Saturday morning, protesting the lack of food and water for three days. “The doors were therefore opened for the prisoners,” eyewitnesses stated.

According to the testimony of one of the escapees in a video clip, the number of those released from Soba Prison reached 6,000 inmates. The Ministry of Interior has yet to issue any clarifications regarding these events, nor did officials respond to inquiries about the Soba Prison events.

Kober Prison

“With the successive reports of inmates escaping, all eyes turned towards Kober Prison [in Khartoum North], where several leaders of the former regime – who are being tried on charges of undermining the regime and seizing power in 1989- are being held,” Osman writes.

Press reports published on Saturday spoke of an RSF force launching an attack on Kober Prison on Tuesday, on the side where the leaders of the former regime are being held.

El Sudani newspaper reported that the attack aimed to kidnap the leaders of the ousted Omar Al Bashir regime from prison, but protection forces were able to repel the attack. The army command reportedly took over the security of the prison in anticipation of more attacks.

Earlier last week, former President Al Bashir and several his senior aides were transferred to an army hospital, allegedly based on a medical recommendation.

Mohamed Adam ‘Tupac’

After reports of the escape of El Huda prisoners, a member of the defence team of  Mohamed Adam, better known by his nickname Tupac, told Al Jazeera Net that they did not know the fate of their client who was held in El Huda Prison. 

Later, Nidal Suleiman – the mother of the accused – informed Al Jazeera Net that her son had arrived at the house after walking for many hours, and that they decided to keep him in a safe place until the situation stabilises, after which he will appear before the court and continue the case.

Tupac himself recounted in a video clip that the RSF attacked the prison and released all the inmates, stressing that he would not take advantage of the incident to escape and would return to detention until his case was completed and he and his comrades’ innocence was confirmed.

Radio Dabanga previously reported on the detainment of Tupac and two others who were held on January 14 last year on charges of killing a police officer and their subjection to torture in detention. 

View original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/attacks-on-prisons-in-sudanese-capital-free-thousands-of-inmates

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