JEM combatant dies of TB in Khartoum prison : statement

August 19, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), on Friday, said that one of its combatant died from tuberculosis (TB) in his cell at a prison in Khartoum, and accused the Sudanese authorities of refusing to provide the needed treatment to the prisoners of war.

A statement by JEM Office of Prisoners and Detainees said the prisoner Mustafa Ismail Adam, died of TB on Thursday in his cell at al-Huda prison, north of Omdurman, where he was detained in a section of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS).

The rebel group said the deceased and others were captured after al-Nikhara battle in South Darfur on 26 April 2015.

“Since that date, the government authorities did not allow the prisoners to communicate with their families, provide them any therapeutic services or bring them to trial,” said the group adding that about five prisoners have died from torture and ill-treatment, as well as 29 prisoners infected with TB

“They are on deathbed,” stressed the statement.

In April 2015, the Rapid Support Forces militia defeated JEM fighters in South Darfur. At the time, President Omer al-Bashir travelled to al-Nikhara to celebrate their victory. Also, JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim admitted the defeat and the capture of his combatants.

An unofficial statistics released by the National Dialogue mechanism estimate that 93 prisoners from the rebel groups have been convicted, in addition to other rebels detained after several battles.

JEM called on “the United Nations, the African Union, the Red Cross and other international groups working against torture to intervene and put pressure on the Sudanese government “to save the lives of the rest of the prisoners in the prisons, transfer those who are ill to hospitals, allow them to communicate with their families and bring them to trial and lawyers to defend them.”

(ST)