Sudan accused of torturing pregnant woman rights campaigner

A displaced Sudanese pregnant mother embraces her daughter at Kalma camp near Nyala south Darfur October 7, 2004. The mother said she was a victim of rape by Janjaweed, Arab militia members.

CAIRO, Oct 13 (APF) — An Arab human rights group accused the Sudanese security services Wednesday of having tortured a women’s rights activist who was two months pregnant.

“On August 4, the Sudanese security forces forced their way into the home of activist Zobaida Rabeh Abdallah, who works to defend women’s rights, arrested her and tortured her,” said a statement from the Cairo-based Arab Program for Human Rights Activists (APHRA).

The statement said that Abdallah, a mother of five, had not only been tortured but sexually harrassed during her detention, and that she need to be hospitalised as a result.

It demanded that she be freed and that her torturers be brought to justice.

Abdallah is accused of “publishing false information” and is to be taken to court at an unspecified date, the statement said.