Diary of Sudan jailed opposition leader reveals ordeal
By Wasil Ali
September 9, 2007 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese security and intelligence services have failed to establish any evidence linking a Sudanese opposition leader to an alleged coup attempt thwarted last July.
Mubarak Al-Fadil, leader of the Umma Reform and Renewal opposition party, outlined in his daily diary obtained by Sudan Tribune, the endless interrogations he went through to attempting prove his involvement in the coup attempt.
The former presidential assistant was arrested mid-July along with a number of retired army generals, including retired general Mohamed Ali Hamid, who worked as deputy director of security in the late eighties, as well as former minister of tourism, Abdel-Jalil al-Basha.
Mahmoud Hassanein, prominent opposition leader from the Unionist Democratic Party of MoHamid Osman al-Mirghani was also arrested. Hassanein is known for his sharp criticism of the ruling National Congress Party.
According to the diary Sudan’s security accused Al-Fadil of trying to get the support of the US administration, Libya and Egypt for the coup. Al-Fadil was accused by interrogators of communicating the attempt to a visiting US professor who was also a former ambassador.
Throughout the interrogations no solid proof was produced nor was a confession from the other alleged coup plotters obtained.
Below is the text of the daily diary written by Al-Fadil since his arrest
Saturday 07/14/2007
I was arrested at my house in 31 Al-Amarat Street during the early hours of Saturday, July 14, 2007 at approximately 4:30 am by 12 heavily armed soldiers. This was led by a plain clothed officer who showed me his expired identification card which read Captain Omar Mohammed Saeed. However he told me that he is now a Major and that his ID card is an old one and has not been renewed.
Right before that I heard loud knocks on my room. I opened the door and found an armed group of people at the door holding my youngest son Abu-Bakr, our Ethiopian maid and one of the workers at home. I asked Major Saeed “What is going on?”. He answered me by saying that the director of the National Security and Intelligence Service, Major General Salah Abdallah wants to see me. I told him “How can you have a meeting at this time of the day?”. I realized that this is obviously an arrest and therefore prepared myself by moving some of my clothes into a small suitcase. One of the officers, apparently unstable and shaken, accompanied me to my room, and even wanted to join me in the bathroom. However I asked him to wait in the living room attached to my room and to let me to get ready. He kept coming back and forth from the living room into my room in a behavior that reflected his fear that I might attempt to escape despite the fact that there is only one entrance to house which is now entirely under their control. They confiscated my son’s cell phone and that of our maid. Later on I learned that they dealt harshly with my household before getting to my room.
I left the house with them and embarked on one of their vehicles (Toyota truck) which had armed personnel in it. The convoy took us to the security headquarters in Northern Khartoum. We stayed there for about 15 minutes before leaving to Kober prison near the security bureau. I was thoroughly searched and handed over to the prison administration and was then taken to a room which was about 3 X 3.5 meters in size with dirty walls and dirty bed sheets. There was also an iron closet, a table, a small fan and an air conditioner. It was a solitary confinement and I was allowed to leave the cell only to use the restroom, which is about 4 meters from the room and also to pray.
It turned out to be that this cell is part of a small yard that has another room occupied by another inmate named Hassan al-Haj Musa, aged 73, from the Democratic Unionist Party.
In the same evening of Saturday July 14 I was taken blindfolded to the interrogation center in southern Khartoum airport security center as I have guessed based on direction and the downward movement of aircrafts above us at the airport. I entered the security center and was taken to the second floor where the place was filled with security officers who sounded in a tense mood. One of the security agents yelled at me and told me to sit on the ground but I refused. I asked them to bring a chair but he refused so I told him that I will remain standing instead. I waited for about ten minutes and I was then taken to another office while still blindfolded. There was around 7-10 people in the room who kept interrupting each other and talking at the same time. Some of them tried to talk to me in a provocative style by directing verbal abuses at me while others were calm and polite, especially the Chairman of the Committee, which meant that they were distributing roles amongst them.
I was not subject to physical abuse but rather psychological intimidation through threatening me with torture if I did not cooperate. I was not charged with anything at the beginning of the investigation nor was made aware of the legal grounds of the arrest. They started the interrogation by asking one of the officers present to read out a miserable and a very badly written statement; almost as if it was written by primary school student. The statement apparently was talking about the success of a coup attempt without any mention of the author of this statement. I asked them “What is this?”. I told them “This is badly written statement. It lacks any specific program or plan and made no mention of the Naivasha agreement [Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA)] which is internationally recognized”. I also told them that the partners to this agreement are the Sudanese government and the SPLA with a military arsenal in Khartoum that can avert any coup. Secondly: the statement did not mention anything about the Darfur crisis which is an issue of concern to the international community. Third: the statement did not mention anything about democracy which is a central issue to solve the issues of governance in the Sudan and also it left out the problems of power sharing and equitable distribution of wealth.
An officer shouted “Did you notice anything strange on Thursday? There was a coup plot which we thwarted”. I said I did not notice anything strange and told him what my schedule was for that day. One of them said “Did you notice that you were under surveillance? We were monitoring your movements for the last 14 days”. I said I did not notice anything since I have nothing to hide.
One of them said “We found a note containing the formation of the new government showing you as the president of the republic and establishing Mahmoud Hassanein as the deputy governor of the Northern Territory. I told him “What is the source of this paper?” but he did not answer. I told them that I am a public figure so any person can use my name in any manner, but I did not hear anything on this and no one contacted me regarding this. I said that we are a democratic political party, and we are in principle against military coups, and spent all our lives resisting totalitarian regimes because military coups complicate the political crisis and do not solve Sudan problems. The slammed my response describing me and the party as adventurers and power seekers. I told them you can think all you want but we should resort to objective reasoning. I said that even if we were planning a coup, we all know that there are no traditional coups in the manner Sudan has witnessed from 1969 to 1989. A coup is no longer possible because the military composition in the capital Khartoum has changed. Back in the days there used to be a single army. If someone can take over the military leadership and the radio, the coup is a success. However now there are several armies and militias. There is the Sudanese army, the Popular Defense Forces, the security forces, Special Forces, police forces, the SPLA forces, Darfur militias of Mini Minnawi and the government militias. Therefore objectively a coup can only succeed if supported by all these troops and this is impossible.
Then one of the officers shouted to my face “You were assigned the task of marketing the coup externally with the Americans, Egyptians and Libyans. I said “this is not a marketable coup. These forces and the Americans are committed to the CPA and sought guarantees for a smooth transition through elections and pressing for the implementation of the peace agreement.”
I told them our party’s political priorities at the national level are as follows:
• Completion of democratic transformation.
• Agreeing to a fair elections code.
• Resolving the Darfur crisis.
• Conducting fair and free Elections.
On the party level our goals are
• Unite both factions of the Umma Party and calling for the General Conference by the end of the year.
• Mobilization for the elections.
Another officer sarcastically shouted at me saying “What elections are you trying to win? You are nothing and have no chance of winning”. I replied “This is your opinion. Just wait and see. It will not hurt to wait”.
Then another one of them screamed “Why would we arrest you and give you all this publicity if you truly have nothing to do with the coup attempt?”
I said there were three possibilities behind this:
First: Your problems have grown out of proportion and you are unable to solve them so you just want to distract attention from them.
Second: You want to neutralize a political rival by fabricating the charges to remove me from the political arena.
Third: It is possible that someone gave my name to you to inflict damage upon me. (The people in the room acted disorderly at this point and also started laughing loudly”).
They asked me “Abdel-Jalil Al-Basha?” I said to him “He is a polite and decent man”. One of them interrupted me bluntly “Decent?? He is a dirty man!!” I told him “Why am I blindfolded then? What are you so scared of? Let’s talk to face to face. Did you not hear about transparency?” (They started laughing again).
I told them that my medicines are not with me and I am suffering from abdominal pain and intestinal ulcer and I was on my way to receive a medical procedure (the same Saturday, which I was arrested).
At around 11 pm someone asked me “You are sick? If you are tired we will let you go”. I told them I am ready to continue because this is an important matter. The interrogations continued until midnight in which they reiterated the same accusations and they spoke about in a disapproving and provocative manner about the unity of the Umma Party and of our agreement with Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi [Sudan’s former prime minister]. They also suggested that the split with Al-Mahdi was in agreement with him.
I had nothing to eat all Saturday but some water due to the fact that I am suffering from stomach pains. They took me back to prison around one in the morning where I spent the night.
Sunday, 07/15/2007
I was brought to the same security office about 11 am in the same way and blindfolded in a bus along with a number of detainees where no one knows or sees the other. You can only feel the bodies around you. On my way to the interrogation room one of the security officers shouted “Where is Gen. MoHamid Ali Hamid?” That was an implicit indication to me that the alleged mastermind of the coup was Hamid. I got the message for the first time since the interrogation on Saturday since I had no clue of what was this all about.
The questioning began in the same room Saturday with less people who were also less tense. It appeared that the results of their investigations with the other detainees showed I was wrongly accused. The chief investigator asked me “How was your first night?” I told him that I slept very well because now I am certain based on yesterday’s interrogation, that I have nothing to do with what you were talking about. I told them if this issue has to do with Hamid, he visited me about a year ago upon his request through Abdel-Jalil al-Basha who asked me to set a time with him, but the date was set after ten days at my office between 12 and 1 pm. At the time the office was filled with visitors waiting to see me or following up on their correspondence with my office. It was a brief meeting and lasted for about half an hour. The meeting started with an exchange of courtesy talk regarding what happened to the brigade MoHamid Ali Hamid in 1990 and then he spoke broadly about five points:
• The retirees’ organization which he said that he is sponsoring it to transform it to a political party called the White Brigade.
• That he is working on the formation of a united political front.
• That he is in contact with all political forces.
• That he has diplomatic relations with regional powers in the neighboring countries so that it can examine the outcome of the visions and ideas in the United Front.
• He requested financial support for the party, but he did not go into the details nor did he ask me participate with him in any work.
And I believe, he was expecting me to ask him to elaborate on these points before to sense if I was willing to deal with him or not. I apologized for being unable to provide financial support telling him that all political parties suffer from financing problems. The meeting ended on this note and as he was leaving Hamid told me that if I ever changed my mind then I should notify Abdel-Jalil al-Basha. He actually did contact Al-Basha a week later. Al-Basha told me that Major General MoHamid Ali Hamid is inquiring again about the financial support. I answered him saying that I have nothing to do with Hamid or what he is doing and that I previously turned down his request. I also said that if we had the money we need to spend it on our own party not on others. I also advised Al-Basha to stay away from Hamid and his entourage of military retirees because the relationship with them in light of the current political tension in Sudan may create needless problems for us.
I also told the investigators that my relationship with Hamid did not exceed the framework of the formal defense and security council meetings during the last democratically elected government when I was Minister of Interior. The first time I saw him after 18 years was during this visit, which took place a year ago in my office.
One of the security officers shouted “Abdul Jalil participated in their military and political meetings and promised to fill shortfalls in their forces in Omdurman with 200 armed from the Al-Hozameh”. I told them that if true then this is a tribal thing that neither I nor the party has anything to do it which confirms my innocence.
The interrogation lasted until noon and was marked by ad-hoc questioning after which they transferred me to another office. The removed the fold from my eyes and then the chief investigator came in and suggested to me that we should contain this issue politically. I told him “I have no problem with that since I have nothing to do with it. If the charges are directed against Abdel-Jalil then I suggest that you bring him to see me and I will ask him to disclose whatever information he has. If your accusations are true then we can contain the repercussions that may result from this work in return for pardoning him. We are eager to avoid violence in political life”. The chief investigator responded by saying that he will discuss the matter with the director of intelligence Salah Gosh. I told him that I can meet Gosh and address the matter with him directly. This proposal came 24 hours after my arrest which I think was the outcome of the interrogation with the others that confirmed that I was not involved with any plot. They took me back to Kober prison.
Monday 07/16/2007:
At around 11 am I was brought in the same car and in the same manner of the last two days. However the treatment during the interrogation has changed and the session was recorded without the presence of the chairman. The meeting was attended by about five people headed by an officer named Hadi. I was not blindfolded this time though. The first part of the interrogation included questions on my biography for documentation and they took pictures of me after the meeting.
The second half of the interrogation contained the same questions as before. They told me that Major General Mohammad Hamid has confirmed what I said in my meeting with him. However they told me that Abdel-Jalil al-Basha said that I was aware of all the steps (coup attempt) and that he was prepared to confess on TV and radio. I requested a face to face meeting with Abdul Jalil Al-Basha. Sensing that they were in a weak position the officers said “We did not hold any sort of confrontations, and we did not receive permission from our leadership”. I kept insisting throughout the sessions on a face to face meeting with Abdul Jalil Al-Basha but they refused.
Tuesday 07/17/2007:
I spent the entire day in solitary confinement in Kober prison.
Wednesday 07/18/2007:
They held another interrogation session attended by about 6 people. I told them at the beginning “Are we going to keep going in circles repeating the same questions and answers??” They said “There are new developments; we have discovered that there were meetings in your party’s headquarters”.
I told them:
First: The party’s headquarters is more like a social club and there are no restrictions on entry or exit. Abdel-Jalil al-Basha has an office in there to managing the place. Therefore if he met with one of the accused this does not mean that the headquarters or the home is the center for these meetings.
Second: My office is in Khartoum and I go the headquarters only to attend meetings of the leadership council every three months, or to attend a celebration or a symposium.
Third: The proof that the party has nothing to do with this that everything Abdel-Jalil al-Basha was quoted for was tribal in nature despite having military figures as members of our party who were not on the list of accused.
They said “We discovered additional amounts of money sent to Abu-Mashakel from Kabbashi through Abdel-Jalil al-Basha. The latter received two million in addition to seven million. They put the question in the context of whether I am the source of these funds. I replied “Why don’t you ask Abdul Jalil Al-Basha about the source of the money? I did not disburse any money and you should have asked Al-Basha”.
A security officer then asked me about my meeting with the former American Ambassador David Shinn and is now a Professor in the University of Washington, who visited Sudan as part of his study on Chinese-African relations. The question was clearly designed to try to link Shinn with my alleged attempts of notifying the US administration of the planned coup.
Between July 18 and July 23 I remained in solitary confinement under the authority of the security apparatus.
Monday 07/23/2007:
I was brought again to the to the same security center and was asked to write my testimony regarding my meeting Abdul Jalil Al-Basha and Mohamed Ali Hamid. I wrote my testimony in eleven pages reiterating the same things I said in the interrogations, and was taken back again to Kober.
Wednesday 07/25/2007:
I was summoned that day and met with Chairman of the Committee who told me that there are no charges against me and I will recommend addressing this issue politically. He said “you can be a balancing factor and an asset to the political arena in the future given the circumstances experienced by the Sudan. This is an opinion (quote attributed to the Chairman of the Committee).
From July 26 until Friday, August 5 I remained in solitary confinement under the authority of the security apparatus.
Monday 08/06/2007:
I was summoned to meet attorney General, and I repeated the same answers. His questions centered on my meetings with Major General Mohamed Ali Hamid and the relationship with Abdul-Jalil.
From August 7 and held until August 12 I remained in solitary confinement in Kober prison under the authority of the security apparatus.
Monday 08/13/2007:
I was brought again before the Commission of the Attorney General and was confronted with Mohamed Ali Hamid, and with Abdul Abdel-Jalil al-Basha. Our testimonies matched individually and collectively. They testified that I refused to support them financially and that I was involved with them. Abdel-Jalil confirmed that I warned him against the relationship with the former military personnel because this may cause potential problems.
From August 14 and held until August 25 I remained in solitary confinement in Kober prison under the authority of the security apparatus.
Saturday 08/26/2007:
After my health deteriorated, I threatened the leader of the force responsible for guarding me that I will go on hunger strike due to my deteriorating situation and not responding to my request to receive medical care. Following that they took me to the hospital accompanied by a huge military force to undergo medical procedure which confirmed that I suffered severe acute predicaments.
Sunday, 08/27/2007:
I was taken to the police custody in Kober prison.