AMNESTY: HEALTH CONCERNS FOR DETAINED ACTIVIST

Amnesty International Health Concerns For Detained Activist – Bushra Gammar Hussein Rahma 11 May 2012 More than ten months after his arrest, Sudanese activist Bushra Gamar Hussein Rahma remains detained without trial or access to a lawyer. His health is poor and deteriorating, yet he continues to be denied access to a doctor. Bushra Gamar Hussein Rahma has been detained without charges or trial in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, since 25 June 2011. He is currently held in the general ward of Kobar Prison in Khartoum North, where he was placed in January under the authority of the Attorney General. The authorities continue to deny him access to a lawyer, and his family have been prevented from visiting him since 5 March 2012. He has reportedly been tortured and suffered other forms of ill-treatment during his detention. Bushra Gamar Hussein Rahma suffers from asthma and heart disease. While in detention, he developed a number of other health conditions, including a prolapsed disc, as a result of poor treatment and of two hunger strikes he undertook in September and October 2011. Despite his deteriorating health condition, Bushra Gamar Hussein Rahma has not been provided with adequate medication and continues to be denied access to a doctor. If left untreated his condition poses a critical risk. Bushra Gamar Hussein Rahma is an X-ray technician and the founder of the Human Rights and Development Organization (HUDO) in Southern Kordofan state, Sudan, where he is from. Prior to this, he was the director of Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO) in the Darfur region of Sudan, and he has been a member of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Darfur from 2006 to 2008. He is ethnically Nuba, a major ethnic group in Southern Kordofan. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Bushra Gamar Hussein Rahma’s arrest and detention coincides with other arrests made by the Sudanese authorities of intellectuals, activists, and other people perceived to be members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N). Armed conflict broke out in Southern Kordofan in June 2011 between government forces and the armed opposition group SPLA-N, whose membership in Southern Kordofan is largely Nuba. Since then, the authorities have on numerous occasions arrested members of the SPLM-N, people believed to be member of the SPLM-N as well as individuals of Nuba origin, whom the government believes are supportive of the SPLM-N. They are frequently detained without trial and without access to a lawyer or their families. Urgent Action – Bushra Gammar Hussein Rahma

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