Sudan
21.01.03
Urgent Interventions
Sudan: incommunicado detention and risk of torture of Mr. Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla
Case SDN 210103
Arbitrary and incommunicado detention / Risk of torture / Freedom of religion or belief
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 Organisation against Torture, a member of the OMCT network, of the incommunicado detention and corresponding risk of torture of Mr. Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla in Sudan.
According to the information received, on the evening of Saturday 18 January 2003, a group of armed security officers arrested Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla, an engineer and member of Al Ukhwan Aljamhoryeen (republican brother), after raiding his house in Wad Albakhiet in Omdurman. Abdallah has been taken to an unknown location by security forces, giving rise to fears that he may be subjected to ill-treatment or torture during his detention.
Mr. Abdallah was first arrested by the police on the evening of 16 January 2003. The reason given for the arrest was that Mr. Abdalla was organising a book exhibition at his house in commemoration of the anniversary of the death of Uztaz Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, a Sudanese scholar who was executed in 1985 for the crime of apostasy by Jaafar Numeiri, the dictator who ruled Sudan between 1969 and 1985. According to the information received, Ustaz Mahmoud Mohamed Taha’s methodology of Islamic reform is premised on the view that the Qur’an and traditions of the prophet Mohamed can only be understood in specific historical context. Abdallah was a student of Uztaz Mahmoud Mohamed Taha. The police confiscated all the books, photos and posters at the exhibition, and charged Mr. Abdalla with the offence of insulting the religious creed of Islam under article 125 of the 1991 penal code.
After Abdualah’s initial arrest on 16 January 2003, he was released on bail on the afternoon of 18 January 2003. The security forces then re-arrested him three hours later, took him to an unknown location and refused to disclose his whereabouts to either his family or his lawyer.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the personal integrity of Mr. Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla notably given that he is being detained incommunicado and therefore is at a heightened risk of being subjected to ill-treatment or torture. OMCT calls on the Sudanese authorities to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity and order his immediate and unconditional release.
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 Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla;
ii. immediately locate his whereabouts;
iii. intervene with the appropriate authorities in order to secure that he is allowed to meet with his relatives and legal representation;
iv. order his immediate and unconditional release;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout Sudan in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
· His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, President's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 11 771651/ 787676 / 783223
· Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + + 249 11 774842 / 774906 / 788941
· Major General Abdul Rahim Muhammed Hussein, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 11 774339 / 773046 / 770186 / 777900 / 779383
· Mr. Yasir Sid Ahmed, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 11 779173 / 770883
· His Excellency Ambassador Mr Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent Mission of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: + 4122 7312656. E-mail: mission.sudan@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, January 21st, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary and incommunicado detention / Risk of torture / Freedom of religion or belief
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 Organisation against Torture, a member of the OMCT network, of the incommunicado detention and corresponding risk of torture of Mr. Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla in Sudan.
According to the information received, on the evening of Saturday 18 January 2003, a group of armed security officers arrested Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla, an engineer and member of Al Ukhwan Aljamhoryeen (republican brother), after raiding his house in Wad Albakhiet in Omdurman. Abdallah has been taken to an unknown location by security forces, giving rise to fears that he may be subjected to ill-treatment or torture during his detention.
Mr. Abdallah was first arrested by the police on the evening of 16 January 2003. The reason given for the arrest was that Mr. Abdalla was organising a book exhibition at his house in commemoration of the anniversary of the death of Uztaz Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, a Sudanese scholar who was executed in 1985 for the crime of apostasy by Jaafar Numeiri, the dictator who ruled Sudan between 1969 and 1985. According to the information received, Ustaz Mahmoud Mohamed Taha’s methodology of Islamic reform is premised on the view that the Qur’an and traditions of the prophet Mohamed can only be understood in specific historical context. Abdallah was a student of Uztaz Mahmoud Mohamed Taha. The police confiscated all the books, photos and posters at the exhibition, and charged Mr. Abdalla with the offence of insulting the religious creed of Islam under article 125 of the 1991 penal code.
After Abdualah’s initial arrest on 16 January 2003, he was released on bail on the afternoon of 18 January 2003. The security forces then re-arrested him three hours later, took him to an unknown location and refused to disclose his whereabouts to either his family or his lawyer.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the personal integrity of Mr. Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla notably given that he is being detained incommunicado and therefore is at a heightened risk of being subjected to ill-treatment or torture. OMCT calls on the Sudanese authorities to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity and order his immediate and unconditional release.
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 Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla;
ii. immediately locate his whereabouts;
iii. intervene with the appropriate authorities in order to secure that he is allowed to meet with his relatives and legal representation;
iv. order his immediate and unconditional release;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout Sudan in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
· His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, President's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 11 771651/ 787676 / 783223
· Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + + 249 11 774842 / 774906 / 788941
· Major General Abdul Rahim Muhammed Hussein, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 11 774339 / 773046 / 770186 / 777900 / 779383
· Mr. Yasir Sid Ahmed, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 11 779173 / 770883
· His Excellency Ambassador Mr Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent Mission of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: + 4122 7312656. E-mail: mission.sudan@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, January 21st, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.