Amnesty says Sudan prevents civilians talking to foreigners

LONDON, Aug 10, 2004 (dpa) — The Sudanese government is intimidating civilians who talk to foreigners about the situation in Darfur, Amnesty International said Tuesday, demanding Sudan cease the practice.

“The Sudanese government must immediately and unconditionally release all those arrested in North, South and West Darfur detained simply for expressing their opinions about the situation in Darfur,” the London-based human rights organization said.

Scores had been arrested since the end of June 2004 in various parts of Darfur for talking to foreign government leaders, including U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, members of the African Union Ceasefire Commission and independent journalists or for speaking out on the crisis in Darfur, it said.

Amnesty also demanded assurances that those detained were not tortured while in detention.

It said that in North Darfur at least 47 persons had reportedly been arrested between June 26 and August 3 by the security services or the Sudanese army mostly after speaking to members of foreign delegations.

The arrests included the omda (mayor) of Abu Jereda were arrested between July 15 and 17 in Abu Jereda, a village near Al Fasher, allegedly after talking to members of the AU Ceasefire Commission.

Two other people, said to be omdas in Kabkabiya, were reportedly arrested by the Janjaweed militias in Kabkabiya, Amnesty said.

In South Darfur, Abazer Ahmad Abu al-Bashir, a human rights lawyer, had been arrested by the National Security and Intelligence Agency in the town of Nyala on July 24 after submitting a petition supported by a number of leaders of ethnic groups, Amnesty said.