Darfur rebel SLA releases 52 detainees – Red Cross

Jan 19, 2006 (GENEVA) — In two separate operations conducted today in North and South Darfur, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the release and transport of 52 people who had been held by the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA).

Ahmed Gamil Al-A’aje Ahmed Rajab, right, a teacher and popular defence member, is received by a member of his family when he arrived in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, March 26, 2005. He was among the first group of military prisoners of war, who were released by the SPLM. The ICRC has facilitated the release of over 500 Sudanese people (AP

In November and December 2005, the ICRC was asked on four occasions by the SLA to facilitate the transfer and handover of some 20 people held in relation to the conflict in Darfur.

The operations were planned earlier in the week after the ICRC was asked to act as a neutral intermediary.

Forty-one detainees held in North Darfur were transferred into the care of the ICRC at an agreed location and taken by road to Al Fashir, where they were handed over to government representatives. The remaining 11 detainees, held in South Darfur, were taken by the ICRC to Nyala before being handed over to the appropriate authorities.

In accordance with its established working procedures, the ICRC spoke to each detainee in private, registered those who were not already known to it and made sure that they were all returning of their own free will. Their state of health was also checked to ensure that they were physically fit for the journey.

Since July 2005, in its capacity as a neutral intermediary, the ICRC has facilitated the release of over 500 people, most of them detained in relation to the former conflict in southern Sudan.

(ST)