Authorities release 22 detainees as UN human rights vists Sudan

November 15, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese authorities released 22  people from North Darfur state who were illegally held in Omdurman prison, in conjunction with the visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to the country.

Commissioner Volker Türk started a three-day visit to Sudan on November 13, he was in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur where he met with displaced representatives and civil society groups.

The deputy head of the Board of Trustees of the Darfur Lawyers Association, Al-Sadiq Ali Hassan, told Sudan Tribune that the authorities released 18 detainees from Shala prison in El-Fasher and 4 others from Alhuda prison of Omdurman.

“The authorities released the detainees in Shala, on Tuesday, as soon as the High Commissioner for Human Rights arrived in El Fasher,” added Hassan.

Over 300 from Darfur including 74 people are held in several Sudanese prisons following the tribal violence in the western Sudan region.

The human rights lawyer called on the visiting international official to inspect the situation of detainees in Alhuda, Port Sudan, and El-Geneina, to find out about the conditions of their detention and prison environments.

Türk has to listen to the detainees “who were arrested in violation of the law and became hostages who obtain their legitimate right to freedom in exchange for sums of money they pay as ransom,” he said.

Last Thursday, the group handed over to the Supreme Court a memorandum urging to transfer a tuberculosis patient to a hospital, to prevent the spread of infection among detainees. In addition, they called to transfer a detainee who has lost his mind to a psychiatric clinic.

(ST)