Amnesty accuses Sudan of torturing eight prisoners

September 13, 2007 ( KHARTOUM) — Eight Sudanese men accused of an attempted coup have been tortured in detention in Kobar prison in the capital Khartoum, the human rights group Amnesty International said in a statement received on Thursday.

The eight, who include retired army officers and opposition politicians, are part of a group of more than 40 people arrested in Khartoum in mid-July. None of the men have been charged.

“They have been tortured and need immediate medical attention,” Amnesty International said in its latest report on the detainees, which gave new details of their condition.

A Sudanese national security spokesman was not immediately available for comment, but the government has denied earlier reports of torture after the arrests.

Amnesty quoted fellow detainees as saying that one of the eight, retired army general Mohamed Ali Hamid, 70, was so seriously ill in recent days that they feared for his life. Appeals for medical treatment had been ignored, Amnesty said.

Al-Tayeb Ahmed Khalid Al-Na’em, a retired army brigadier aged 61, is showing signs of mental health problems after torture and long detention, the report added.

Reported torture methods included suspending prisoners by their wrists, tying them up and beating them with hosepipes. One detainee was lifted up by his moustache, Amnesty said.

Amnesty International named the other six prisoners as Abdel Jalil al-Basha, general secretary for the opposition Umma Party for Reform and Renewal; Ahmad Salman al-Doud, Basha’s secretary; Abdel Rahman Shamaila Khalifa, a 35-year-old officer in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA); Yaqoub Yahya and Tawer Osman Tawer, both former army officers; and Kabbashi Khater Mohammed Ahmad, a trader.