AI has learned of the arrests of at least 135 civil servants, politicians and comunity leaders, mainly from the Nuer ethnic group, in Malakal, the administrative headquarters of Upper Nile State in southern Sudan. Malakal is controlled by government forces but is being besieged by the rebel SPLA – Nasir faction. They were arrested in late October 1992, following a mutiny by Anya-Nya Two, a government-controlled southern Sudanese paramilitary force. The detainees are believed to be held incommunicado and there are grave fears for their safety. Two of those detained, Jacob Duong Wuon and Jimma Bileu Kung, are reportedly held by the Military Intelligence, a force with a record of torturing and killing prisoners. The others are held by the State Security.
