Detained UNAMID staffer freed in Darfur

October 9, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – A detained staff member of the United Nations and African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was let off on Saturday without charges, the peacekeeping mission has announced.

UNAMID said in a media brief on Sunday that the freed Sudanese staff member was working in El-Fashir, the state capital of north Darfur, when he was arrested on 3 September by Sudanese security services.

The mission said its Human Rights and Security Sections would continue to monitor the case.

A number of UNAMID’s local employees were arrested and charged by security forces on suspicion of being supportive of rebel groups in the region which has been the scene of a conflict since 2003.

Idris Youssef, another Sudanese civil affairs officer serving with UNMID, has been detained since late July and was recently charged with offenses punishable by death, according to the international rights group Amnesty International (AI) which said he’s at risk of torture.

In May this year, Sudanese security forces arrested a UNMAID’s female staff member, Hawa Abdella, and charged her with propagating Christianity in Darfur displacement camp. She was released later in July.

The Status of Forces Agreement signed between the Government of Sudan and UNAMID says the mission should be immediately informed if the government considers one of its staff members to have committed a criminal offense.

(ST)