Update: Violence in Soba Aradi Area, South Khartoum

SOAT

On 20 May 2005, SOAT reported the death of several people including 14 police officers and civilians including two children when violence erupted in the Soba Aradi Area of Khartoum on 18 May. The incident began when police officers entered Soba Aradi area populated by internally displaced persons under the government scheme of relocating IDPs as part a larger area-replanning programme.

As a response to the incident, the government of Sudan has deployed extra police, military and security personnel on the streets of Soba. Persons residing in the Soba Aradi Area have been subjected to a government controlled campaign of mass arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detentions. Over 200 people have been arrested including women and children. The whereabouts of many of those are unknown to their families. Furthermore, on 24 May 2005, police officers shut off three out of four water pipes lines and tanks as a method to force people to leave the Soba Aradi area. At present the population in Soba are facing water shortages.

The following are the names of some of the persons who have been arrested and remain in detention.

1. Anton Lakuto Henry, (17 yrs), student at St. Philip School and lives in SQ 9. Mr. Anton was arrested by security officers on 19 May 2005. Following his arrest, Mr. Anton’s father, chief of the Latoka tribe (south Sudan), ‘Sultan’ visited the police authorities on several occasions to register a complaint against the detention of his son by security officers; however the police have refused to register the complaint.

2. Alamien Sulaiman Kouko, (13 yrs), lives in SQ 2 and from the Nuba mountains.

On 24 May 2005, security forces and police officers embarked on wide scale searches operation in the area. During the searches, several people including tribal leaders, families and children were harassed, arrested and detained. The names of those arrested are as follows:

– Siddig Ismail Musa; (43 yrs)
– Abdel Mageed Ali Adam; (42 yrs); Burno tribe
– Eisa Bashier ELZain; (48 yrs); Gawamaa tribe leader
– El Nadief Mohammed Abdelwahid; (53 yrs); Riziegat tribal leader
– Eisa Zackary; (41 yrs); Riziegat tribal leader
– Eisa Ahmed Alawad; (31 yrs) and his wife, Salamat tribe
– Aldoghry Ali Hamed; Bargo tribe
– Abdalla Adam Salih; Bargo tribe
– Adm Mohamed Dawalbait; Fur tribe
– Balla Adam Alzain; (42 yrs); Gawamaa tribal leader
– Two brothers; Khalid Abdullah Abushanb, and Adil Abdalla; Miseriya tribe
– Hussain Sualiman Momen, Salamat tribal leader
– Badawi Hassen Ebrahim; from Kurdofan state
– Adam Makey Adam; Bargo tribe
– Ali Dawood Adam; Fur tribe
– Ali Adam Al Habou; Falata tribal leader
– Ezaldeen Mohamed Hassan; (65 yrs); Fur tribe; (released on 30 May)
– AlRasheed Khaleell, his brother Madani Khalil and his wife. The two men belong to the Bargo tribe, and his wife from the Nuba mountains
– Abdalla Adam Eshag; (23 yrs); student at Omdurman Islamic university, Fur tribe
– Adam Abdullah Khamis; Fur tribe
– Hassan Zakria Haroon; Fur tribe
– Zakria Elrakhis; Miseriya tribal leader
– Ahmed Adam Elnour; Fur tribe
– Ahmed Adam Elnour; Fur tribe
– Ahmed Indris Mohamed; Fur tribe
– Awadia Mohamed Abdelbagi; Fur tribe; (W)
– Salah Babikir Mohamed; Fur tribe
– Maky Mohamed Hassan; Bargo tribe
– Alsaeh Salih Abdulatif, from Kordofan state
– Mohamed Ahmed
– Awad Hussein
– Sabir Mohamed
– Hassen Eldegair, Fur tribe,
– Ahmed Hussain
– Yagoub Baher; Selaihab tribe
– Abdalaa Younis
– Mohamed Altony; from the Nuba Moutains
– Abdelkareem Garga; Fur tribe
– Two brothers, Goro Khamees and Rasheed; Latoka tribe(south Sudan)
– Alhady Ali Alrady; Falata tribal leader

On 27 May 2005, security and police forces arrested the following persons form Soba Aradi Market:

– AbdRrahman Babiker Mohamed; (40 yrs); Fur tribe, and his cousin
– Ahmed Abdalla Mohamed; (25 yrs)
– Adam Zakaria; (35 yrs); Fur tribe
– Abubakar Abdurrahman; Fur tribe
– Suliman Ismail; Gawamaa; tribe

Persons arrested and detained by Security Forces on 2 June 2005:

– Traiza John, (35 yrs), (W) Traiza is a Zandi married woman with three children; the youngest (7 yrs) old.
– Jimmy Atanasio, (17 yrs), student from t he Latoka tribe. During his Jimmy’s arrest, security officers informed his family that Jimmy would remain in detention and would only be released once his brother surrenders to them.

SOAT is deeply concerned by the level of the government response to the events in Soba and its failure to exercise restraint. SOAT calls on the government to respect for basic human rights including the rights of internally displace persons, and to turn the water pipes back on as the slum areas around Khartoum have little or no running water or electricity and this shut down in water could have severe repercussions on the well being of the people in Soba Aradi.

Whilst SOAT recognises the right of the government to restore peace and security measures it has resorted to are extreme and are a violation of international humanitarian law. In seeking to demolish the homes of people displaced from the South as result of the government two decades of war, SOAT urges the government to bear in mind the consequence of its actions particularly in light of the fact that in Khartoum state alone, 325,000 IDPs are living in four official camps and around 1.5 million are distributed in different squatter and peripheral areas. Rather SOAT calls on the government to acknowledge the major causes of the residents’ refusal to relocate and to respond accordingly through economic, social and humanitarian measures according to the law.

SOAT calls on the government of Sudan to:

– Immediately release all the detainees in the absence of valid legal charges, or if legitimate charges exist, bring them before an impartial tribunal and guarantee procedural rights at all times;

– Take all necessary measures to ensure the physical and psychological integrity of all the detainees and to ensure that all the detainees have access to legal advice;

– Immediately establish an independent, impartial commission of inquiry into the incident and to make the commission findings public upon completion;

– Immediately cease its campaign and the wanton destruction of IDP homes in camps outside Khartoum and to commit to the voluntary return of IDPs, ensure safe passage, and compensate IDPs for loss of livelihood caused by the arbitrary seizure of lands and to return these lands;

– End impunity for crimes committed by the government security forces;

– Guarantee respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of association throughout Sudan in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards;