Opposition leader under house arrest

AI – Amnesty International

18 May 2012

Ezdehar Jumaa Said Ahmad, a leader of the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, is under house arrest. She has not been charged. Her five young children must go out unaccompanied to buy food.

Ezdehar Jumaa Said Ahmad was arrested in the morning of 21 April by three armed men in plain clothes and taken to the offices of the National Security Service (NSS) in Khartoum North (a suburb of the capital, Khartoum). She was released the same day, but placed under house arrest with her five children, aged between three and 12 years. She has not been charged.

As Ezdehar Jumaa Said Ahmad has been unable to leave her house, her children must go out unaccompanied to buy food, putting them at risk. The children are subjected to body searches by NSS agents stationed outside the house every time they enter or leave. On at least one occasion, a child was beaten by an NSS agent while playing outside.

Ezdehar Jumaa Said Ahmad is the Acting Secretary General of the opposition party Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), which was banned in 2011. As a lawyer, she has been working in recent months on the issue of political detainees, particularly those of her own party.

Please write immediately in Arabic, English or your own language:

• Calling on the authorities to lift the house arrest of Ezdehar Jumaa Said Ahmad or charge her with a recognizably criminal offence;
• Expressing concern that NSS agents have harassed and assaulted Ezdehar Jumaa Said Ahmad’s children, and urging the authorities to ensure that this does not happen again;
• Urging them to end immediately their harassment and intimidation of peaceful activists in Sudan, and respect their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 29 JUNE 2012 TO:

President HE Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir, Office of the President, People’s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan; Email: [email protected]; Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bushara Dousa, Ministry of Justice, PO Box 302, Al Nil Avenue, Khartoum, Sudan; Salutation: Your Excellency

And copies to:
Minister of Interior, Ibrahim Mohamed Hamed, Ministry of Interior, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan; Email: [email protected]; Salutation: Your Excellency

Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country. Please insert local diplomatic addresses below:

Name Address 1 Address 2 Address 3 Fax Fax number Email Email address Salutation Salutation

Please check with your section office if sending appeals after the above date.