Immediate safety concern for two Darfuris detained incommunicado for seven weeks in Khartoum

(10 February 2016) The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) is seriously concerned for the safety of two Darfuri men who have been detained incommunicado and without charge for over seven weeks by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) in Khartoum. No reasons were given for their arrests in December and they have been denied access to their families and lawyers. The authorities must immediately take measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of both men and order their immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges that are consistent with international standards.

Abdelmoneim Abdelmula, a graduate of the Engineering Faculty at the University of Khartoum, was arrested by the NISS from Souq Al Arabi (the “Arabic Market”) in Khartoum on Monday 21 December 2015 at around 4pm. Abdelmula, a member of the Fur ethnic group from Darfur, was first taken to the NISS office in Khartoum Bahri, close to Shendi Bus Station. He was later transferred on an unknown date to the NISS section of Kober prison.

Ali Omar Musa, a 22 year-old engineering student at Omdurman Islamic University, and also a member of the Fur ethnic group from Darfur, was arrested from the home of one of his family members in Haj Yousef, Khartoum Bahri, on 22 December 2015. He was also taken to the NISS office in Kharotum Bahri before being transferred on an unknown date to the NISS section of Kober prison.

ACJPS is deeply concerned for the safety of the two men who have now been detained incommunicado without charge and without access to their families or lawyers for over seven weeks. On 27 January 2016, the NISS permitted family members to deliver clothing for the two men at the reception of Kober prison but denied requests for a visit.

One of the men, Ali Omer Musa, is in need of specialist medical care. He has undergone a number of surgeries, including plastic surgery, over the past two years for serious burns sustained during violence on the campus of Al Zaiem Alazhari University on 12 December 2013. On that date, pro-government student militias violently broke up a forum organised by the Darfur Students’ Association, and threw Molotov cocktails at the crowd. The students had organised a forum on the campus to protest a decision by the University not to adhere to the fee waiver for students from Darfur that is provided in the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur.

Contact:

Mohamed Badawi, Monitoring Programme Coordinator, African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, info@acjps.org, +256 783 693 689.

Katherine Perks, Programme Director, African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, info@acjps.org, +256 775072136.

This post is also available in: Arabic