Sudanese rights group condemns the al-Muhandiseen Massacres

March 27, 2007 — The Sudan Human Rights Organization Cairo Office is deeply concerned for the massacre that took place at the al-Muhanidseen area in Omdurman this week. Thirteen persons (eight immediately killed and five gravely hurt) lost their lives. In addition, tens of citizens were seriously injured. More than 100 citizens have been violently arrested and detained.

SHRO protests strongly against the Minister of the Interior’s ambiguous statement as personally announced in the Sudan T.V. concerning the killing of two police officers “on duty” with deliberate negligence not to mention, in detail, the other victims of the massacre and the grave hurt committed by the police/armed forces upon both civilians and other members of the police that launched the attack.

The minister’s statement did not care to mention the basic facts or the necessary details of the actual events. Instead, the minister rushed to put the blame on the citizens against whom the ministry used unjustifiable maximum force with unlawful disregard to provisions of the Criminal Law and the Police Act both of which require firm restrain in the use of force, in accordance with the Law of Criminal Procedure, especially Section 91 on “arrest and inspection with suitable use of force.”

The ministry of interior has thus far maintained a shameless record of abusive use of force by ignoring the Constitutional law, which entrusts the Judiciary – not any armed forces – with the lawful supervisory powers over the use of “suitable force” versus civilians.

The Organization considers the police brutality in the al-Muhandiseen a prolonged repression by a police State based on gross violations of human rights, illegal violation of the rights of citizenship, and unrestricted degrading of the dignity of people.

The organization recalls the unabated brutalities of the Sudan Police, supported by succeeding ministers of the interior, in Port Sudan, Soba, al-Fasher and many other towns and camps of the displaced population in Darfur. The Organization equally recalls the recent brutalities of the armed forces of the State against the innocent civilians in Malakal.

The Organization received reliable reports that in the daylight of Saturday March the 24th, police, security, and army regulars heavily armed with tanks and short-range rockets attacked at the al-Muhandiseen area in Omdurman a residential place of civilian members of the Minawi-led Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) – the rebel group that signed the Darfur Peace Agreement with the Government of Sudan in Abuja.

Destroying the whole residence, the armed attack killed immediately 10 SLA members and three policemen. The State forces then launched massive arrests of the SLA members in different areas of the National Capital, including the SLA headquarters in Omdurman. The campaign continued all this week in and outside the National Capital. The Organization maintains a list of 79 detainees.

The SLA residential place had been occupied by many handicapped persons and others with special needs. The police claimed it made an attempt to arrest four of the residents accused of involvement in a minor breach of peace for further investigation!

The SLA accused the Government and the Janjaweed militias of assassinating the SLA leader ‘Abd al-Shafi Juma’ ‘Arabi in South Darfur, as well as kidnapping his second-in-command, Bakhiet ‘Abd al-Rahman (Wad Faroug), two days after the al-Muhandiseen massacre.

SHRO-Cairo regrets to report the unabated occurrence of all these State brutalities. The Organization condemns in the strongest terms possible the unlawful behavior of the ministry of interior’s police and security forces, and the armed forces exercising with them these attacks that might well lead to a complete breakdown of the Abuja Peace Agreement between the Government and the SLA.

The poor performance of the Government of Sudan towards implementation of the peace agreements, and the haunting of the SLA section that signed the agreements with murders, arrests, and humiliation will deal a severe blow to the ongoing efforts by the International Community, the African Union, and the other regional entities to encourage the other Darfur rebel groups to join the peace agreement.

SHRO urges the Sudanese Legislative Bodies and the Nation’s Judiciary to stop executives of the State from making any further abuses of power, in full compliance with the Constitution and the International Human Rights Laws. These legally competent institutions of the State should firmly investigate all cases of police brutalities that have been committed so far in the country:

The Organization calls on the Government to:

– Assign an independent Fact-Finding Mission on the Muhandiseen massacre;
– Hold accountable all officials responsible for the launching of the massacre;
– Release all SLA detainees;
– Compensate the victims of this unjustifiable attack; and
– Expedite all measures needed to ensure full implementation of the Abuja Peace Agreement.