Sudanese students say tortured by security service

Oct 23, 2005 (KHARTOUM) — Sudanese security service arrested university eight students and tortured them during interrogation for more that seven hours last Monday 17 October, the Khartoum based Al-Watan news paper reported.

A number of students who were interrogated and tortured told Al-Watan that they were arrested during a political public address at Omdurman Islamic University because they represented the alliance of the university and higher education college and were sons of farmers from Al-Jazirah and Al-Manaqil in central Sudan.

They said a number of university guards stopped the address and led them to one of the university offices. Twenty-one members of the security authorities then arrived and began torturing the students using whips, metal bars and rifle butts causing grievous bodily harm.

The students said they had been subjected to severe beatings and threats of death because they were the sons of the farmers involved in the Al-Jazirah and Manaqil project and had views on the new law regarding the project.

The students said they condemned such behaviour by the security authorities particularly as the country was at a stage of democratic change which gave everyone the freedom of expression and respected divergent points of views.

The students pointed out that such practices were contrary to the constitution which included a complete bill of rights, most importantly, the freedom of expression.

(ST)