Sudanese authorities arrest two human rights activists in Darfur
May 18, 2006 (LONDON) — Two Sudanese Human rights activists are detained by the Sudanese authorities and are held incommunicado without any charges since three day Amnesty international said.
Human rights lawyers Mossaad Mohamed Ali and Adam Mohamed Shareif, who work with the Amel Centre, were detained on 16 May by the National Security Agency (NSA) and are held incommunicado, putting them at risk of torture.
They are well-known because of their work, and detaining them sends a clear message to victims of rape and torture that no one in Darfur who attempts to stand up for the rights of the victims is safe.
Mossaad Mohamed Ali is the Coordinator of the Amel Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in Nyala, state capital of South Darfur. Adam Mohamed Sharief is a member of the Amel Centre’s network of lawyers. Both are held in the NSA offices in Nyala.
The Amel Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture is one of the main such centres in Darfur. The centre Centre provides essential medical treatment, rehabilitation and legal aid for victims of torture. It is situated in Nyala and has an office in Kalma Camp, for displaced persons forced to flee their homes by the fighting in the region, about 14km from Nyala. It has treated hundreds of people living in the camp, including rape victims.
The two men had been summoned to the NSA offices on 15 May, but released later that day and ordered to return the following morning. The NSA did not question them, and gave no reason for summoning them; it has refused to allow the UN Mission in Sudan to see them, even though the authorities are supposed to allow the UN unrestricted access to all detainees held in Darfur.
Mossaad Mohamed Ali was previously summoned by the National Security Agency in November 2005 following a visit by the Bar Human Rights Committee (the international human rights arm of the Bar of England and Wales) and the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT).
Human rights defenders in Sudan are frequently detained incommunicado without trial for long periods solely because of their work in defence of human rights. Those working in Darfur have been particularly targeted.
(ST)