Sudan’s Attorney General requests to release West Darfur detainees
August 20, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan Attorney General draw the attention of the Sovereign Council to the incommunicado detention of 12 people from West Darfur state, said a legal advocacy group.
Last July, the Darfur Lawyers Association revealed the detention of 21 persons in Alhuda Prison in Omdurman for one year without trial. The detainees were held in El-Geneina prison following intercommunal violence in West Darfur state.
The Sudanese authorities arrested hundreds of people following the repeated tribal attacks in recent years and imprisoned them in Port Sudan and Khartoum prisons without trial. They almost were released.
” The Attorney General told a delegation from the Darfur Lawyers Association that he informed the Sovereign Council about the detention of 12 people from West Darfur in Alhuda Prison and requested their release t underlining that their detention is illegal after the lift of the state emergency,” said the advocacy group on August 18.
The detainees were arrested under the state of emergency decrees issued by the governor of West Darfur. They had been detained for one year in El Geneina before being transferred to Alhuda Prison in Omdurman where they have been unlawfully held for five months.
The attorney General vowed to investigate if children were among the detainees to ensure their release without waiting for a decision from the Sovereign Council, according to the association.
Hundreds were killed and thousands of people fled their homes to shelter centres in the state capital, while others crossed into neighbouring Chad following tribal conflicts in the West Darfur state.
Also, the group said they have been contacted by families and relatives of 69 other detainees -including children and students of religious schools transferred from El-Fashir city of North Darfur in January and February to Alhuda prison under the emergency law.
The lawyers added that they are planning to request permission to visit the detainees from North Darfurin Alhuda, to provide legal assistance and make sure that laws and decrees are implemented correctly.
(ST)