Darfur rebel group says Sudan torturing its captives
January 24, 2011 (NAIROBI) – The Darfur rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) said on Sunday that its members captured earlier this month by the Sudanese authorities in western Darfur are being subjected to cruel torture, threatening the government of reprisal attacks against individuals implicated in the process.
North Sudan government accuses south Sudan, which is on its way to becoming a fully independent state, of giving sanctuary and support to some Darfur rebel groups. Minni Arkoi Minawi, the leader of the only rebel group to sign a peace accord with the government, defected from the northern government and relocated to south Sudan.
A press release undersigned by JEM’s general commander Suliman Sandal and seen by Sudan Tribune said that the group’s “reliable” sources in Khartoum had informed that the captives were being subjected to the “cruelest forms of torture” under the direct supervision of Brigadier-General Abdul Hafiz Ahmad Al-Bashir, the head of the interrogation department at Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS).
JEM’s statement said that the captives were being interrogated under duress to elicit confessions in “a blatant violation not only of international and regional laws and conventions, but also of the provisions of the interim constitution and national laws.”
According to JEM, its prisoners were being transferred on daily basis from their cells at Kober Federal Prison in Khartoum North at 7 pm local time to a place known as the “oven” at the NISS headquarters and returned to their cells at 7 am the next morning.
The movement further claimed that the group’s leader Ibrahim Al-Maz was being subjected to “special torture techniques departing from disgusting racist grounds.”
JEM warned the government that it had detailed information on the individuals involved in the torture process and would not hesitate to avenge the torture of its captives.
The Sudanese government already has a number of high-profile JEM members in custody, including the half-brother of the group’s leader Khalil Ibrahim, who were arrested after JEM staged an attack on the capital Khartoum in May 2008. Sudan sentenced a large number of JEM prisoners to death but none has been executed, and the government uses prisoners as a bargaining chip in peace negotiations with the rebel group.
Rebel groups in Sudan’s western region of Darfur rebels rose against the central government in 2003, accusing it of marginalizing the region in terms of development and wealth-sharing. A subsequent counterinsurgency campaign by Khartoum led to the death of 300,000 people and displacement of more than 2 million, according to UN figures.
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Timsah
Darfur rebel group says Sudan torturing its captives
To NCP and its Security Agency.
Don’t torture Maz El Deng,there are dire consequences in waiting.He was serving his nation when he chooses to use force to oust this brutal regime.He is not different from SPLA soldiers who spend most of their young age in the bush,trying to liberate the marginalised Sudanese.He was pursuing the vision of NEW SUDAN espoused by SPLM,hence,he is a unitary leader.
Timsah
Deng E. Manyuon
Darfur rebel group says Sudan torturing its captives
If it is true, that is inhumane. POWs Should be respected.
Deng
Paul Ongee
Darfur rebel group says Sudan torturing its captives
Khartoum has a proven record of torture since 1956. That’s why some of the so-called Sudanese Arabs who proved to be opposing any successive governments in Khartoum fled and are still fleeing to Middle East and the West.
The political culture and survival of any government in Khartoum is rooted in constant coup d’etat, arbitrary arrests, house-arrests, detention, torture and killings. Any government has to do that in order to stay in power. Not like in the West, there are no any term limits of governance or democratic governments in almost the whole of Middle East. That’s why you always see turmoil after turmoil especially before or after elections.
See, today Tunisia who attempted to project cosmetic democracy is in chaos followed by Lebanon, Egypt, etc. Tomorrow will be Islamic Republic of North Sudan which is steadily heading in that direction soon after July 9, 2011. The survival of every political party in the North is based solely on subjective competitive interpretation of Quran to make laws, arrest, detain, torture and even hang/kill at his disposal.
The current cosmetic consultations with the Northern opposition parties have proved and will always prove negative. If the previous political parties who have been in power failed to consult with each other, how do you expect that the current National Criminal Party (NCP) will achieve anything?
The end result of any attempted consultation is always suicidal activities and detonating home-made bombs to go to heaven before Allah makes that final call if you’re tired of your being on this planet. Instead of initiating constructive dialogue, they resort to deadly reasoning. JEM should not expect any golden treatment of POWs from Khartoum although Geneva Convention says so. SPLM/SPLA released all POWs but Khartoum released nothing even death certificates.
Paul Ongee
Khartoum, Sudan