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Sudan Tribune

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Sudan security arrests political activists on anniversary of deadly protests

September 22, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) has detained several political activists and warned families of the victims against holding ceremonies to commemorate the first anniversary of the September protests.

People look on as cars are set alight during protests over fuel subsidy cuts in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on 25 September 2013 (Photo: Reuters)
People look on as cars are set alight during protests over fuel subsidy cuts in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on 25 September 2013 (Photo: Reuters)
Demonstrations broke out in several Sudanese states in September 2013 following the government’s decision to lift fuel subsidies. Rights groups said that at least 200 people were killed, while the government put the death toll at 85.

The United States embassy in Khartoum on Thursday issued a security bulletin asking its citizens to exercise caution in light of anti-government demonstrations that could erupt on Saturday.

Second vice-president Hassabo Abdelrahman claimed on Monday that a group under the name “Regime Change Front” is active in the capital, but that the security agency is aware of them.

He stressed that that there are certain circles that do not want peace and want to place obstacles in front of the dialogue process.

The spokesperson for the opposition Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Bakri Youssef, told Sudan Tribune that the NISS detained Azhari al-Hag, the general coordinator of the Sudanese Human Rights Network (SHRN) and SCoP chairman, in the Jebel al-Awliya area, 45km south of Khartoum, on Sunday before releasing him several hours later.

He also claimed that Khaled Saad, a member of the SCoP’s executive committee in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman, was arrested at his home in al-Fitaihab neighbourhood on Saturday, but subsequently released on Sunday.

SCoP secretary-general Ibrahim Ahmed Salim has also been detained in West Kordofan state’s Fouga area since July.

Meanehile, reliable sources have emphasised the arrest of several activists in Omdurman, including Mohamed Abdel-Moniem, Igbal Abdallah, Khaled Al-Toum and Amgad Omarain.

The SCoP spokesperson said that families of the September protests victims were planning to hold a commemoration ceremony, adding that the committee of solidarity with the victims and detainees of the protests also plans to organise a similar event.

He noted that the NISS seeks to separate the two events in order to abort any attempt that could prompt popular protests on the first anniversary of the September demonstrations, saying that preventative measures such as detentions and summonses were aimed at limiting the movement of activists.

There have been growing expectations since the beginning of this month that a commemoration service would be held to mark the anniversary of the protests, which erupted after the government’s decision to lift fuel subsidies.

The violence initially flared in Gezira state capital Wad Medani on 23 September 2013 before quickly spreading to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and other states, leading to the deaths of dozens of people.

Calls for demonstrations on the first anniversary of the September protests have been circulated on social media sites such as Facebook and Whatsapp, but there appears to be no momentum on the street that could trigger widespread protests.

The chairman of the committee of solidarity with the victims and detainees of the protests, Sideeg Youssef, told Radio Dabanga that NISS is trying to prevent the families of victims from participating in the commemoration to be held in the last week of September.

“We received complaints from several families [of victims] that they were threatened by security officers, who told them that the commemoration ceremony is a political action organised by the opposition parties,” he said.

(ST)

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