Sudan
29.08.03
Urgent Interventions
Sudan: arrest, detention and torture of 25 members of the Four tribe
Case SDN 290803
Arbitrary and incommunicado detention / Ill-treatment / Torture / Risk of torture
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sudan.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudanese Organization against Torture, a member of the OMCT network, of the arbitrary detention and alleged ill-treatment and torture of twenty-five Sudanese men suspected of supporting the Sudan Liberation Army in Western Darfour, Sudan.
According to the information received, from August 5th to August 19th, 2003, twenty-five Sudanese men from the Four tribe were arrested without official charge, under suspicion of supporting the Sudan Liberation Army in Darfour. In early August, Abaker Ismaeal Adam, Alsadig Sideag, Ismaeal Mohamed Abdella, and Soulieman Adam Musa were arrested in the town of Mokjar, detained incommunicado, and then transferred to the security office in Nyala on August 5th. Three men from Zalingy, Abu Baker Tambour, Hayder Tambour, and Ahmed Mandy, were similarly arrested and transferred on August 19th to the Nyala security office. On August 19th, the security committee in Kass Province of Western Sudan issued an emergency code to arrest and detain eighteen others for three months, who have now been detained in Nyala prison since August 14th without any official legal charges. These men are Alhaj Tyrab Mahmoud, Abaker Adam Mohamed Sho, Moubarek Yagoub Salih, Ishag Izel Dean, Ibraheam Musa Abdel Majead, Ammar Alnemairy, Ahmed Abdel Rahman Shabab, Hashim Mohamed Abu Albasher, Mohamed Adam Tor, Easa Mohamed Abdel Bary, Abdel Aziz Ahmed Musa, Yaya Abdel Jaleal, Alhady Ishag Abdel Kaream, Abu Algasim Ahmed Abdel Bagy Tilib, Nour Aldean Jibril Abdel Mawla, Ismaeal Mohamed Haroun, Mohamed Easa Boukhary, Tijany Abdella Mahmoud.
The detainess have been forbidden to bring personal effects into the prison, including food or bed-covers, despite the fact that they are not provided with many of these basic needs within the prison. The prisoners are reportedly kept in unsanitary conditions with little to eat, and are refused visitors from outside the prison, giving rise to fears that they may again be subjected to torture during detention. The detainees have all reportedly already been subjected to torture and five of them are seriously injured, but have not had access to appropriate medical assistance.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the persons who are being detained given the reported ill-treatment and torture to which they have been subjected by the security forces in Nyala. OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee the personal integrity of the prisoners, including the immediate access to appropriate medical assistance as required, and to release all persons who have been arrested in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. OMCT is gravely concerned about the Darfour Special Forces' use of arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, ill-treatment and torture. OMCT therefore calls upon the authorities to launch an immediate and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and award adequate reparation to the victims.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the afore-mentioned members of the Four tribe being held in Nyala;
ii. intervene with the proper authorities to ensure that adequate medical assistance is is provided as a matter of urgency to all persons who require it;
iii. order their immediate release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the arbitrary arrests and the alleged use of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· President of the Republic of Sudan, His Excellency Lieutenant-General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President' s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +24911 771651/783223/779977
· First Vice-President, Mr Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, People's Palace PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : +249 11 771651/ 779977
· Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mr Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 771479/774842/774906
· Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Mustafa Osman Ismail, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax :+249 11 779383
· Advisory Council for Human Rights, Dr Yasir Sid Ahmed, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 779173/770883
· Minister of Internal Affairs, Major General Abdul-Rahim Muhammed Hussein, Ministry of Interior, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 774339/776554/777900/773046/770186
· Minister of Federal Government, Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, Office of the Presidents People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : +24911 771651/783223
· His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 731 26 56, E-mail: mission.sudan@ties.itu.int.
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, August 29th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary and incommunicado detention / Ill-treatment / Torture / Risk of torture
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sudan.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudanese Organization against Torture, a member of the OMCT network, of the arbitrary detention and alleged ill-treatment and torture of twenty-five Sudanese men suspected of supporting the Sudan Liberation Army in Western Darfour, Sudan.
According to the information received, from August 5th to August 19th, 2003, twenty-five Sudanese men from the Four tribe were arrested without official charge, under suspicion of supporting the Sudan Liberation Army in Darfour. In early August, Abaker Ismaeal Adam, Alsadig Sideag, Ismaeal Mohamed Abdella, and Soulieman Adam Musa were arrested in the town of Mokjar, detained incommunicado, and then transferred to the security office in Nyala on August 5th. Three men from Zalingy, Abu Baker Tambour, Hayder Tambour, and Ahmed Mandy, were similarly arrested and transferred on August 19th to the Nyala security office. On August 19th, the security committee in Kass Province of Western Sudan issued an emergency code to arrest and detain eighteen others for three months, who have now been detained in Nyala prison since August 14th without any official legal charges. These men are Alhaj Tyrab Mahmoud, Abaker Adam Mohamed Sho, Moubarek Yagoub Salih, Ishag Izel Dean, Ibraheam Musa Abdel Majead, Ammar Alnemairy, Ahmed Abdel Rahman Shabab, Hashim Mohamed Abu Albasher, Mohamed Adam Tor, Easa Mohamed Abdel Bary, Abdel Aziz Ahmed Musa, Yaya Abdel Jaleal, Alhady Ishag Abdel Kaream, Abu Algasim Ahmed Abdel Bagy Tilib, Nour Aldean Jibril Abdel Mawla, Ismaeal Mohamed Haroun, Mohamed Easa Boukhary, Tijany Abdella Mahmoud.
The detainess have been forbidden to bring personal effects into the prison, including food or bed-covers, despite the fact that they are not provided with many of these basic needs within the prison. The prisoners are reportedly kept in unsanitary conditions with little to eat, and are refused visitors from outside the prison, giving rise to fears that they may again be subjected to torture during detention. The detainees have all reportedly already been subjected to torture and five of them are seriously injured, but have not had access to appropriate medical assistance.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the persons who are being detained given the reported ill-treatment and torture to which they have been subjected by the security forces in Nyala. OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee the personal integrity of the prisoners, including the immediate access to appropriate medical assistance as required, and to release all persons who have been arrested in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. OMCT is gravely concerned about the Darfour Special Forces' use of arbitrary arrests, incommunicado detention, ill-treatment and torture. OMCT therefore calls upon the authorities to launch an immediate and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to justice and award adequate reparation to the victims.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of the afore-mentioned members of the Four tribe being held in Nyala;
ii. intervene with the proper authorities to ensure that adequate medical assistance is is provided as a matter of urgency to all persons who require it;
iii. order their immediate release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these events, notably the arbitrary arrests and the alleged use of torture, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. iii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· President of the Republic of Sudan, His Excellency Lieutenant-General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President' s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +24911 771651/783223/779977
· First Vice-President, Mr Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, People's Palace PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : +249 11 771651/ 779977
· Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Mr Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 771479/774842/774906
· Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Mustafa Osman Ismail, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax :+249 11 779383
· Advisory Council for Human Rights, Dr Yasir Sid Ahmed, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 779173/770883
· Minister of Internal Affairs, Major General Abdul-Rahim Muhammed Hussein, Ministry of Interior, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 774339/776554/777900/773046/770186
· Minister of Federal Government, Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, Office of the Presidents People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : +24911 771651/783223
· His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 731 26 56, E-mail: mission.sudan@ties.itu.int.
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, August 29th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.