Document - Sudan: Fear for safety /fear of torture or ill-treatment/ incommunicado detention

PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 54/043/2003

17 June 2003

UA 172/03 Fear for safety /fear of torture or ill-treatment/ incommunicado detention

SUDAN Ramadan Ismail (m) ]

Abu Nigel El Amin (m) ] all from the

Juma Mahamoud (m) ] Nuba ethnic group

Juma Omar (m) ]

Killed: Awad Ibrahim (m) ]

The four men named above have been detained incommunicado by security forces in the town of Dongola, Northern Sudan, since 19 May. Amnesty International is gravely concerned for their safety after a fifth man arrested with them was reportedly tortured to death by security forces.

Ramadan Ismail, Abu Nigel El Amin, Juma Mahamoud and Juma Omar, all from the Nuba ethnic group, were reportedly arrested on 19 May while attending a meeting at the house of Awad Ibrahim, a well-known activist. They were allegedly discussing the eventual repatriation of Nuba who were internally displaced during the civil war in Sudan.

The five men were taken to the headquarters of the security forces in Dongola, where they were reportedly accused of being traitors. Later the same day, Awad Ibrahim’s body was returned to his family home by the security forces. He had died after reportedly being tortured. This increases fears for the safety of the remaining four men.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Nuba Mountains region, in the centre of Sudan, has been particularly affected by the 20-year civil war between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement / Army (SPLM/A), and thousands of people of Nuba ethnicity have been internally displaced.

In July 2002, under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East-African inter-governmental organization, and international mediators, the Government of Sudan and the SPLM/A signed “The Machakos Protocol”, paving the way for a future peace agreement. Before the Machakos Protocol, the United States had brokered four agreements, including an internationally-monitored ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains. It is now one year since the ceasefire was put in place, monitored by an international “Joint Monitoring Committee” designated by the international mediators. The region is receiving humanitarian aid.

Under the 1999 State of Emergency Act and the National Security Forces Act, the security forces can hold people in incommunicado detention without access to judicial review for up to nine months. Detainees are often tortured while held by security forces.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English and Arabic or your own language:

-expressing concern for the safety of Ramadan Ismail, Abu Nigel El Amin, Juma Mahamoud and Juma Omar, who have been held incommunicado since being arrested by the security forces in Dongola on 19 May;

- expressing grave concern at the reported death from torture in detention of Awad Ibrahim, who was detained with the four men;

-calling on the authorities to give assurances that the detainees will not be tortured or ill-treated;

-urging the authorities to allow the four detainees immediate and unrestricted access to their relatives, legal counsel and any medical aid that they may need;

-calling on the government to abide by its commitments under Article 9 of the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and either charge the detainees with a recognizably criminal offence and give them a prompt and fair trial in accordance with international standards or set them free immediately;

- urging the authorities to open an independent, impartial investigation into the death of Awad Ibrahim, to make the results public, and bring to justice anyone found to have used or ordered torture.

APPEALS TO: