Sudan
02.10.03
Urgent Interventions
Sudan: concerns for the personal integrity of Osman Ahmed Fagharay
Case SDN 02B1003
Risk to personal integrity
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 a Sudanese Organisation against Torture, a member of the OMCT network, of the arrest, detention and concerns for the personal integrity of Osman Ahmed Fagharay, a Beja tribe member, in Sudan.
According to the information received, on Saturday, September 28th, 2003, the National Security Agency (NSA) arrested 54-year-old Osman Ahmed Fagharay, who is a member of the Beja tribe. He was arrested at an unknown location and then taken to his house in Shambat Alaradi, Khartoum North. He changed clothes and informed his family that he was under arrest by the security agents. At 8 p.m. he was permitted to call his family and informed them that he was well. He told them that he was being questioned at the NSA offices and would likely be released on the same day or early the next day. Mr. Fagharay has not yet been released. Furthermore, Mr. Fagharay suffers from diabetes and does not have his medication with him. Reports indicate that Mr. Fagharay’s son has taken him his medicine, but it is unclear as yet whether the security forces have allowed it to be delivered to him.
Mr. Fagharay is a retired Police Chief from Al a’Mra’ar, one of the clans belonging to the Beja tribe in eastern Sudan, and a former administrator of the Red Sea province during the late 1980s. He was arrested following his participation in a symposium at Alnilain University, which was organised by the Beja Students Association, where he criticised the health, economic and food security policies in the Red Sea province and demanded action by the government.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is concerned for Mr. Fagharay’s physical and psychological integrity, given his medical condition and the risk that he runs of being subjected to ill-treatment or potentially torture while in detention. OMCT therefore urges the authorities to guarantee his integrity at all times and ensure that Mr. Fagharay has immediate access to appropriate medical assistance, notably his medication. Furthermore, OMCT calls on the authorities to immediately release him in the absence of valid legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards.
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 Mr. Fagharay;
ii. guarantee his immediate access to appropriate medical assistance, notably medication for diabetes;
iii. order his immediate release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times;
iv. 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; mission.sudan@bluewin.ch.
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, October 2nd, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Risk to personal integrity
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 a Sudanese Organisation against Torture, a member of the OMCT network, of the arrest, detention and concerns for the personal integrity of Osman Ahmed Fagharay, a Beja tribe member, in Sudan.
According to the information received, on Saturday, September 28th, 2003, the National Security Agency (NSA) arrested 54-year-old Osman Ahmed Fagharay, who is a member of the Beja tribe. He was arrested at an unknown location and then taken to his house in Shambat Alaradi, Khartoum North. He changed clothes and informed his family that he was under arrest by the security agents. At 8 p.m. he was permitted to call his family and informed them that he was well. He told them that he was being questioned at the NSA offices and would likely be released on the same day or early the next day. Mr. Fagharay has not yet been released. Furthermore, Mr. Fagharay suffers from diabetes and does not have his medication with him. Reports indicate that Mr. Fagharay’s son has taken him his medicine, but it is unclear as yet whether the security forces have allowed it to be delivered to him.
Mr. Fagharay is a retired Police Chief from Al a’Mra’ar, one of the clans belonging to the Beja tribe in eastern Sudan, and a former administrator of the Red Sea province during the late 1980s. He was arrested following his participation in a symposium at Alnilain University, which was organised by the Beja Students Association, where he criticised the health, economic and food security policies in the Red Sea province and demanded action by the government.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is concerned for Mr. Fagharay’s physical and psychological integrity, given his medical condition and the risk that he runs of being subjected to ill-treatment or potentially torture while in detention. OMCT therefore urges the authorities to guarantee his integrity at all times and ensure that Mr. Fagharay has immediate access to appropriate medical assistance, notably his medication. Furthermore, OMCT calls on the authorities to immediately release him in the absence of valid legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards.
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 Mr. Fagharay;
ii. guarantee his immediate access to appropriate medical assistance, notably medication for diabetes;
iii. order his immediate release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times;
iv. 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; mission.sudan@bluewin.ch.
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, October 2nd, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.