Rebel leader dismisses rights group report on detention and torture in Darfur
January 16, 2008 (PARIS) — The leader of Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), Abdelwahid al-Nur dismissed accusations today by Amnesty International over the detention and torture of some SLM members because they are opposed to the political line of the movement.
Abdelwahid told Sudan Tribune that Haroun and the others are not detained and that there is absolutely no room for torture in his movement. The rebel leader also said that they were summoned to the headquarters of the SLA for grave irregularities putting at risk the live of his comrades.
However he emphasized no political motivation behind their summon request. The rebel leader has consistently refused to attend peace talks asking for the deployment of international troops to protect Darfur civilians.
Abdelwahid al-Nur, who provided previously to Sudan Tribune with the phone number of the military spokesperson early January to speak with him on the issue, stressed he had never ever been a partisan for the repression of his opponents particularly when it is related to the political divergences within the movement.
The founder of the SLM underlined that the SLM had seen different dissidents and the emergence of several splinter groups starting from Minni Minawi, Abu Al-Gassim Al-Haj, Ahmed Abdelshafi, Abdelrahman Musa, Ibrahim Musa Madibo and Khamis Abdullah.
Al-Nur insisted that the SLM as a political movement is founded on democratic basis including the freedom of thought, freedom to join the party as well as to leave it.
The Darfur leader added that the SLM has “one leadership to solve problems and maintain order.” With regard to the situation of Ali Haroun and the other comrades, he pointed out that they were summoned to the headquarters of the SLA in Dirbat, and that there are no restriction on their movements but they are suspended from their duties.”
He disclosed to Sudan Tribune they had contacted the Red Cross late December and invited them to come and inspect the situation of Ali Haroun who was the liaison officer with the ICRC in Ain Siro.
Spokeswoman Cecilia Goin confirmed the rebels had invited the ICRC, but did not know whether a trip to their headquarters was planned, the Associated Press reported. Amnesty’s Sudan researcher, Elizabeth Hodgkin, said on the telephone from Britain that there was “no question” the men had been held against their will for the past five weeks.
Al-Nur also said he had a telephone conversation with Amnesty International today and he communicated satellite telephone of Abdelrahman Adam Nimer, the military spokesperson of the SLA, to contact him for more information on Haroun.
The rebel leader said he renewed his unconditional invitation to Amnesty to visit the areas controlled by the movement to investigate any violation of human rights generally and the situation of Ali Haroun particularly.
Nimer in a telephone interview with Sudan Tribune on January 2, had invited aid workers and human rights organizations to visit Haroun in Jabal Marra to verify if there are violations of human rights committed by the SLM.
Abdelwahid said he had visited Amnesty in London in 2004 and had proposed to their officials that they visit the SLM controlled areas and inspect human rights conditions.
(ST)
To read Amnesty alert on the situation of Haroun and his comardes, Please go at http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article25599