Darfur students protest at three Sudanese universities
April 4, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – Students have staged protests at three of Sudan’s universities, including Nyala, Al-Fashir, and Khartoum, on Thursday, leading to an atmosphere of unrest and high tension.
Informed sources in South Darfur state capital of Nyala told Sudan Tribune that security forces launched a campaign of mass arrests against the students and detained several of them inside the university campus, noting it used tear gas which led to several cases of fainting among students.
According to the same sources, the security forces sought to disperse the protests which erupted as a result of detaining a female student who criticised the deteriorating security situation in Darfur at a political rally inside the university campus three days ago.
Meanwhile, the University of El-Fasher in North Darfur state witnessed two days of protests following the death of a female student who was shot by her angry boyfriend inside the university campus.
Dozens of students protested at the university on Thursday demanding investigation on how the armed killer managed to enter the campus. The university administration vacated the students’ hostels and suspended classes in all faculties in order to prevent further deterioration of the situation.
The head of the African Union United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) Mohamed bin Chambas briefed the UN Security Council on Thursday about the security situation in Darfur. He decried the “alarming escalation of violence” in the region saying it forced over 215,000 people to flee their villages.
At the University of Khartoum, dozens of students protested in front of the university administration building demanding revealing the report of the investigation committee on the death of a student three weeks ago and brining perpetrator to justice.
Ali Abakr Moussa Idris, a third-year economics student, died in hospital of gunshot wounds sustained during a demonstration organized by students from Darfur following a public rally denouncing the deteriorating security situation in the region.
(ST)