Sudan
Urgent appeals transmitted to the Government and replies received
504. During the period under review the Special Rapporteur sent 12 urgent appeals to the Government on behalf of persons said to have been arrested and to be at risk of being tortured. Summaries of these appeals are reproduced in the following paragraphs. The dates on which they were sent appear in parentheses at the end of each summary.
505. Sayed Ahmed Abdel Rahman El Mahadi, an Ansar leader and former Minister of the Interior, was reportedly arrested by members of the security forces who stormed into his house on 17 April 1993. According to the reports, his son Mohamed was also arrested and brutally beaten while in detention and was later left unconscious near his house in Omdurman. (28 April 1993)
506. With respect to this case the Government replied on 3 May 1993 that Sayed Ahmed Abdel Rahman Elmahdi had been summoned by the competent security authorities for questioning. After completing the inquiry, he had been immediately released on the same day. He was not arrested and his residence was not stormed by members of the security forces. His son was neither arrested nor summoned for questioning by the security authorities.
507. Siddig Mohamed Eltom, a student at Ahlia University, was arrested on 9 April 1993 following a peaceful demonstration in Omdurman. According to the reports, other people arrested in connection with the same incidents were released the following day, after having been severely beaten. Siddig Mohamed Eltom, however, was reported to be still in custody in a detention centre situated behind the City Bank. (7 May 1993)
508. Mohamed al Mahdi, Imam of the Wad Nubawi mosque in Omdurman; Abdel Mahmud Abbo, Imam of the Guba mosque in Omdurman; Abdullah Ishaq, director of religious guidance in the Ansar Affairs office. These three senior members of the Ansar Islamic sect were reportedly arrested on 29 April 1993. Abdel Rahman Yunis, resident representative of the Ansar Imam, was arrested in Ad-Damazin, a provincial town some 300 miles south-east of Khartoum. Al Fadl Omar was also reportedly arrested in Ad-Damazin, along with seven other men. Al-Hadi Adam, resident representative of the Ansar Imam in Nyala, was reportedly arrested in that town. Musa Abdallah al-Bashir was reported to have been arrested in Ed-Dueim, a town some 140 miles south of Khartoum. Al-Zahawi Ibrahim and Mustafa Abd al-Gadir Abd al-Latif were reportedly arrested in Wad Medani.
509. These arrests, alleged to have taken place in April 1993, were believed to be related to the circulation of a speech which called for the return of multi-party democracy originally made by Sadiq al-Mahdi in Omdurman in late March following prayers to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr. Abdul Rasoul al-Nur Ismael, who was originally arrested with Sadiq al-Mahdi on 5 April 1993 and later released, was reported to have been rearrested together with Mirghani Abdel Rahman Suleiman and Fadlalla Burma Nasir, both senior members of the Umma Party, in connection with an alleged plot to overthrow the Government. (14 May 1993)
510. On 18 August 1993 the Government informed the Special Rapporteur that Alzahawi Ibrahim had been arrested on 3 May and faced criminal charges; Abdul Rasoul Al Nur Ismael on 2 July and faced the same charges; and Mirghani Abdelrahman Salman on 29 April, also on criminal charges. None of the other persons mentioned in the appeal had been arrested.
511. Dr Ibrahim al-Amin, ex-cabinet member, arrested around 11 April 1993 allegedly in Khartoum; Mohammed Abdel-Rahim, arrested in El-Obeid; Mohammed Yussuf Hassan, arrested in Wad Medani; Ibrahim Ali Abdelgadir Fageer; al-Sadiq Ibrahim; Abdel Bagi Taj al-Din, Omda of the Shanabla tribe; Osman Idris Habani, teacher; Berier Mohamed al-Tom, teacher; Hussein Ahmad Fadl, merchant: these persons were reportedly arrested in Ad-Dueim, a town some 140 miles south of Khartoum in April or May 1993.
512. Dr. Yahia Mukwar, a member of the democratic Unionist Party and Abdel-Rahim al-Hussein, a businessman and member of the Democratic Unionist Party, were reported to have been arrested in Khartoum. Abdelrahman al-Khair Abdelwahab, a farmer and Mamoun Yousif, a member of the Ansar religious order and resident representative of the Ansar Imam, were reportedly arrested in Kassala, in eastern Sudan. Abdel Ghani Mohamed Omar al-Amir, a member of the Umma Party, was arrested in Ad-Damer, a town approximately 170 miles north of Khartoum. All these arrests reportedly also took place in April or May 1993.
513. In addition, the Special Rapporteur received information concerning the arrests in Khartoum in late April or early May 1993 of the following persons believed to have been involved in a plot to overthrow the Government: Major-General al-Fatih Mohamed Abdel A'al, retired army officer; Colonel Mustafa Ahmad al-Tai, retired army officer; Colonel Mohamed Hassan Osman al-Zubeir, retired army officer; Lieutenant al-Tayib Nuor al-Daim Mohamed, retired army officer; Haidar al-Tigani, retired army officer; Gaafar Yassin Ahmad, pharmacist; Osman Mohamed Ali Gumma; al-Tiraifi al-Tahir Fadur; Yasir Abu Zeid Ahmad; al-Hassan Ahmad Salih Mohamed; Mubarek Mohamed Abdalla Gadeen; Fadlalla Burma Nasir, former Minister and member of the Umma Party; Mirghani 'Abd al-Rahman Suleiman, member of the Democratic Unionist Party; Osman Mustapha Mahjoub. Eight of them, including Colonel Mustapha Ahmad al-Tai and Osman Mustapha Mahjoub, were shown on Sudanese television on 26 April 1993. They were shackled and were reported to have bruises, suggesting that they had been beaten. (26 May 1993)
514. The following members of the banned Umma Party and of the Fur ethnic group were reportedly arrested in the western region of Darfur in late April 1993: Mohamed Atim Mohamed Salam, former member of parliament; Yusif Mohamed Sharaf al-Din, director of an agricultural project; Nasr al-Din Tambur, teacher; Yacoub Khamis, former member of parliament; Omer Haroun, former minister in regional government; Fiqi Salih Ibrahim, head of Darfur State religious department; Mohamed Sowar Adam; and al-Zubeir Mohamed Khamis: They were alleged to have been beaten by security officers, and Nasr al-Din Tambur to be seriously ill as a result of ill-treatment. They were reportedly held incommunicado, possibly in Zalingei in Southern Darfur or in al-Fasher, the capital of Northern Darfur. (14 June 1993)
515. Yousif Hussein, Abdel Karim Abdel Jaliel and Nadir Mahjoub Mohamed Salih, members of the banned Sudan Communist Party, were reportedly arrested on 11 June 1993 in Khartoum North and taken to an unknown place of detention. (25 June 1993)
516. The following members of the banned Umma Party were reportedly arrested on 16 June 1993 in El Fashir, Darfur region, allegedly on suspicion of plotting against the regional governor, and taken to an unknown place of detention: Ibrahim Mohammed Abbo, former member of Parliament for Darfur region; Abdalla Ali Masar, former regional minister for Darfur region; Dr. Abdel Latif Abdel Rahim, physician; Dr. Adam Mohammed Ahmed, former deputy governor of Darfur region; Abdel Rahman Ishaq, Umma Party representative in Nyala, Darfur region; Atim Mohammed Salama, local government official; Adam Ibrahim Khalil, Ministry of Agriculture official in Darfur region; Abdel Rahman Yousif, assistant medical officer. (5 July 1993)
517. On 20 July 1993 the Government replied that the above-mentioned persons had never been arrested.
518. The following leading members of the Nuba community in Khartoum, were reportedly arrested in late June by security officers at a number of different places in the city: Mohamed Hamad Kowa, former Minister of Tourism and member of the Sudan National Party; Mustafa Angelo, member of the Sudan National Party; Khamis Farajallah Kortel, priest; Angelo, teacher; Idris Shameila, teacher. They were allegedly being held incommunicado in an unknown location. (14 July 1993).
519. On 19 August 1993 the Government replied that these persons had never been arrested. Mohamed Hamad Kowa, former Minister of Tourism was leading his normal life in his house in Khartoum and had never been detained or called for interrogation by the security authorities.
520. Mamoun Elyas Mohammed Ahmed, a former police officer who was working as a public relations officer in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum was arrested in late August 1993 in Khartoum on suspicion of spying. Reports indicated that he had been tortured in custody.
521. El-Fadil Adam, a member of the banned Umma Party, was arrested in late August 1993 in Khartoum, apparently on suspicion of producing and distributing leaflets critical of the Government. His place of detention was not known. (15 September 1993)
522. On 23 September 1993 four women who had just communicated information to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, were arrested in front of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) office in Khartoum by members of the Sudanese police. The Special Rapporteur and three of his assistants personally witnessed the arrest and saw two of the women being brutally dragged along the street and forcefully thrown into police vehicles. A few minutes after the Special Rapporteur had left for the office of the Minister of Justice, the police brutally arrested, in front of many witnesses, a group of about 25 women who had been waiting in front of the UNDP office to meet him.
523. Baha'a al-Din Abul Gassim, aged 18, was reportedly arrested on 25 October 1993 outside his family home in south Khartoum by four armed plainclothed security officers. Baha'a Abul Gassim was the brother of Major Issam Abul Gassim, an army officer convicted of an attempted coup and executed in 1990. The arrest reportedly took place one day after Abul Gassim attended a meeting during which opposition was expressed to the Government's policies. It was alleged that armed security officials entered the house where the meeting was being held by force and violently broke up the gathering and beat those present. (5 November 1993)
524. Sid Ahmad al-Hussein, Deputy Secretary General of the banned Democratic Unionist Party, was reportedly arrested by security officials at his home in Khartoum on 17 November 1993. His arrest allegedly took place a day after he had organized a meeting at Omdurman Ahlia University during which he denounced policies of the current Government.
525. Abdalla Barakat, a prominent member of the Ansar order and supporter of the banned Umma Party, was reportedly arrested on 12 November in Omdurman. His arrest allegedly followed a speech in the Wad Nubawi mosque, in which he denounced the alleged rigging of elections in the Khartoum Students' Union.
526. It was also reported that in November 1993, students protesting the said election results occupied buildings in the university and confronted security police attempting to confine them to the campus. Rioting ensued and over 300 students were reportedly arrested. As of 16 November, 33 students were being held by security officials in a secret detention centre. (24 November 1993)
Observations
527. The Special Rapporteur appreciates the responses he has received from the Government in respect of some of the cases transmitted. The information available to him over the last two years tends nevertheless to be consistent with the view expressed in the interim report to the General Assembly of the Special Rapporteur charged with reporting on the situation of human rights in the Sudan that systematic torture occurs in the country (A/48/601, paras. 41-50, 98).
