Report on the situation of Human Rights in Sudan
[[Issue 18, October 2004: shro-cairo.org]]
DETERIORATING SITUATION
The human rights situation deteriorated during this period compared to the SHRO-Cairo previous report. In March, the situation of DarFur was actually the worst humanitarian crisis in the whole world as 1.2 million humans were displaced from their homes. Grave human rights violations included extra-judicial killings, tortures, rapes, kidnappings, destruction of villages and property, pillage, and forced migration of civilians. Most of these violations were systematically pursued by the Janjaweed militias and the government troops without accountability. The African groups of the Fur, Massaleit, and Zaghawa were main targets of the attacks of which many were crimes against humanity.
The government arbitrarily arrested hundreds of citizens in this period and further tortured them. The prompt justice courts issued harsh sentences including capital punishment, amputation, and flogging.
During the last week of September, the security forces terrorized the National Capital Khartoum with inspection operations that subjected hundreds of people to arbitrary arrest in the streets, besides other humiliating procedures. Many residential areas were inspected without legal warrant, and the property of citizens was unlawfully wasted.
On September 21st, the justice minister Ali Mohamed Yasin announced that the concerned authorities arrested 10 members of the disciplinary forces in DarFur on charges of human rights violations. The minister said that the arrested persons would be put on fair trial. The minister admitted that there were rapes; however, he stressed that there was exaggeration about the cases and a misunderstanding of the concept of rape, according to reports by the investigation committees.
These statements were announced for the first time by a government official on the occurrence of such crimes by disciplinary forces. Another statement by the Sudanese Embassy in Washington claimed the authorities’ arrested more than 40 Janjaweed militiamen. But the Embassy did not substantiate that claim with material evidence.
The SHRO-Cairo Organization believes that the government has not yet held the Janjaweed leaders accountable for the reported crimes: on August 9, the first vice president Ali Osman Mohamed Taha relayed to the BBC that the leader of the Janjaweed was not put under arrest because there wasn’t any evidence against him. Ali Osman affirmed they “respect the human rights of people, so they would not arrest a person or put him on trial based on false claims!”
The Janjaweed militias maintained their camps in DarFur. They even established other camps. The Organization was informed about the construction of three additional camps in June. Out of the 16 Janjaweed camps in northern and western DarFur, there were five camps accommodating both Janjaweed and government troops of the armed forces. The Organization received further information on the government’s incorporation of Janjaweed militias into the police, armed forces, and the People’s Defense Forces (PDFs). With estimated 20,000 militiamen, most of the Janjaweed camps were located nearby the displaced camps in al-Masri, Kutum, Um-Sayalla in northern DarFur, and other camps in the surroundings to the west of the Niyala city.
At the same time, the government officials ascertained the religious nature of the State, thus retaining the government militias for the pursued Jihad [holy war], regardless of the approved peace agreement between the warring groups. In March, for example, the minister of defense Major-General Bakri Hassan Salih ascertained a presidential pledge to maintain the PDFs in the post-peace stage. The minister said before the PDFs first deliberations forum that, “the PDF would continue as long as there is salvation, Jihad, and armed forces.”
In the same month, the deputy coordinator of the national service assured the government’s determination to pursue the law of national service under all circumstances. After the latest amendment of the law in February 1992, the previous exemptions were cancelled, except for the condition of lacking physical fitness, which was decided upon by the medical authorities. The case of the only son in a family, for example, would not be exempted from the national service. The service would be applicable on all males and females: “when the war would be stopped for peace making, we will establish the Dababeen brigades as reserve or emergency troops.”
On May 17, most of the Sudanese newspapers published paid commercials by the general secretariat of the Sudan ‘Ulama [religious scholars] saying Khartoum “is the capital of the Islamic State.” The ‘Ulama declared they had consulted with different Muslim constituencies including the Jama’at Ansar al-Sunna, the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Ansar besides other individuals representing broad Islamic trends.
The ‘Ulama Declaration dictated that: “First, any retreat from the Shari’a application in the northern states will never be condoned since all Muslims are required to abide-by the Shar’ia guidance. A ruler who doesn’t adhere to the Shari’a rule is considered heretic, blasphemous, or transgressor. Second: Khartoum is the capital of the Islamic Republic. It is the land of Islam and the Muslims. Any mention of a secular Khartoum is rejected; this fact further nullifies the competency of those who call for it. Third: It is not possible to enforce two laws in one geographical territory. This duality is unacceptable by the Shari’a law as well as secular laws.” Rejecting the infliction of a hudud penalty upon non-Muslims, however, the ‘Ulama agreed on the discretion of a judge to choose from jurist views what he might think fit.” The ‘Ulama, however, made an attempt to circumvent the negative impact of their declaration affirming that: “the non-Muslim inhabitants of the National Capital will not be accountable for wine-drinking unless it shows out by unsteady walking!”
The same period witnessed a few positive achievements. In early April, the Sudan Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed an agreement to extend the protection of civilians until the 30th of March, 2005. On April 8, the government signed with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equity Movement (JEM) a cease-fire agreement in Ndjamina to facilitate humanitarian relief in DarFur for 45 days. This renewable agreement obligated each party to stop military action, recruitment, connivance, mining, armament, or acts of violence against civilians. The two partners agreed by protocol to process relief materials to the needy population of the region.
Notwithstanding this humanitarian protocol, the two parties violated their covenant with mutual aggression and violence against the civilians. Following the agreement, the African Union sent 100 cease-fire observers to the area. By the end of September, the government agreed to increase the number to 3,000 observers.
On May 26, the government and the SPLM signed 6 protocols in a significant step to end the civil war to make peace in the South. The protocols ascertained the commitment to democratic transition and human rights by virtue of a transitional constitution that guarantees universal suffrage by the end of the first half of the transitional period. The six protocols transcended the question of war and peace to handle the issues of a national identity, unity, democracy, system of rule, development, wealth distribution, the army, security, foreign affairs, and the other elements of the Sudan’s crisis.
The protocols, nonetheless, implicated the political margin of the two partners over the other groups of the nation. By agreement, the ruling National Congress Party, which reigns the North on its own right, would enjoy 52 per cent of the legislative representation of the transitional government whereas the SPLM, which controls substantial authority in the South, would have 28 percent of the country’s central legislative representation.
The Six Protocols would be placed over and above the democratic transitional constitution in the case of discrepancies between the constitution and the protocols. The agreements did not specify a date for the national election. Equally important, the agreements did not indicate the need to investigate the human rights violations, or the administrative and financial corruption of the NIF Salvation Government, or the necessary compensation of victims. Additionally, the status of the National Capital was vaguely mentioned in terms of civil liberties, for example the provision for the exercise of human rights being “the behavior that complies with the culture and custom, that does not disturb the public order, and is not rejected by the other mores or openly violates the law or the public order.”
On the 30th of August, representatives of the Sudan Government and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) signed an agreement to enter in negotiations leading to a comprehensive political settlement of the crisis of Sudan. The two parties agreed to establish a negotiating committee with the power to form other specialized committees to deal with the constitutional, political, economic, and settlement problems. Despite an assigned date to involve in direct negotiations in Cairo by the fourth week of September 2004, the NDA-Government talks were not operated until the end of the month.
VIOLATING THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
On March 1, a court in Khartoum suspended al-Azmina newspaper for 3 days for the charge of posting false information. The Azmina editor was fined half of a million pounds or one month imprisonment in default.
April 10, the Khartoum North criminal court sentenced with imprisonment Islam Salih, the director of the Qatar-based Jazeera Channel in Khartoum, for the charge of disseminating false information, besides obstructing a police officer while performing official duties.
On May 16, the Sudanese security forces held under investigation six journalists accused of resisting the press and publications law. The journalists were part of the Committee for Press Freedoms, which submitted a memorandum to the head of state demanding his immediate intervention to abrogate the press law. This law, stated the memo, “was restrictive of journalist freedoms and is against all the legislative and lawful provisions.” The security interrogation included Mahgoub Mohamed Salih, Mahgoub ‘Irwa, Mohamed Latif, Zuhair al-Sarraj, and Ahmed Sir al-Khatim.
July 7, the security authorities suspended the “sudanonline” independent website from the international internet by the technical assistance of the state’s national communications agency.
By mid May, the journalists rejected a new act of the press issued by the head of state by republication decree as a temporary legislation. A memo signed by 200 journalists held that the new act had not been issued in consultation with the journalists’ union or the other concerned groups. The act ignored a draft earlier endorsed by the Press and Publications Council before enforcement of the new act. The journalists criticized the issuance of the act with a republican decree: “the constitution prohibited the violation of public liberties by Article 25 on the freedom of expression, information, publication, and the press,” affirmed the memo.
The Journalists’ Memo noticed that the new act ignored the ongoing political change since it harshly curtailed the freedom of the press. Also criticized was the provision of censorial executive, legislative, and judicial powers to the governmental Press and Publications Council (PPC). The PPC judges, for instance, were allowed to dismiss journalists from the union register or to suspend a newspaper prior to the incidence of legal accountability. These penalties were frequently imposed by prosecutors of the crimes against the state until the minister of justice most recently decided to stop the application of the law of criminal procedure against the press.
The act established a new court to decide on violations of the press by summary trials. The new court would have the authority to fine journalists with less than a million pounds and imprisonment, dismiss them from the journalists’ register as well as suspend the press and publications. The act made of the press owners equal partners in the criminal responsibility of a charged newspaper editor, or writer, or distributor. Previously, the role played by the PPC was not limited to judicial decisions. The PPC acted as a foe of the press because it pursued legal motions against the journalist activities and institutions before the judiciary.
The Journalists’ Memorandum called for the abrogation of the new act of the press. The memo suggested that a committee composed of journalists, writers, and legal experts should draft a new law that must be rigorously discussed with the authorities.
The Journalists’ Memo asserted the new act is flawed in both form and content. The act is restrictive and is harshly punishable with license withdrawals and heavy fines as well as press and publications confiscation. The act increases the principal capital of a press company from 50 million pounds to 500 millions. The act empowers the PPC, the national supervisory agency of the press, with a right to suspend newspapers for any given period of time until a complaint is decided upon.
ARBIRTRARY ARRESTS
On March 4, the security forces assaulted the dwelling of Bashir Adam Rahama, a political leader of the al-Mutamar al-Sha’bi party who was later detained in a clandestine detention center.
On March 15, the Niyala security forces arrested Ali Dosa, a parliamentary representative of Southern DarFur in the Khartoum’s government-controlled National Council who was accused of collaboration with the DarFur rebels. Also, the authorities arrested twelve students from DarFur at their home in northern Niyala. The students were Ali Zakariya Mohamed Adam (3rd year engineering), al-Hafiz Yaqoub Ahmed (5th year veterinary), Ibrahim Musa Mohamed Wadi (1st year), Haroun Idris Mohamed (4th year veterinary), Eissa Ahmed Ali (3rd year education), Mahmoud Mohamed Abd al-Aziz (4th year economics), Abd-Allah Hussain Adam (5th year engineering), Ali Ishaq Ali (5th year veterinary), al-Yamani Abd-Allah Arabi (4th year engineering), Abd al-Latif Adam Hamad (3rd year economics), Abd-Allah Adam Abakar (3rd year engineering), and Babiker Ahmed (1st year education).
On March 19, the army arrested three juveniles at the village of Joway Khain. The juveniles included Abd al-Rahman Abbakar Abd al-Rahman (17 years), Zakariya Abd-Allah Abd al-Karim (13 years), and Suliman Adam Salih (14 years). The three Zaghawa youth were tortured by the military intelligence with severe beating and flogging. Also arrested from the same village were eight other citizens accused of attacking the town of Boram with the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA). The accused persons were al-Sadiq Ahmed Harba, Haroun Bashir, Abdo, Mohamed Yousif, Mohamed Adam Harri, Zakariya Madibo (60 years), Mohamed Ahmed Abu Kantush, and al-Faki Abd-Allah Krikiro. These persons were arrested at the army camp in Boram for nine days before they were later detained in the military prison of Niyala. They were severely tortured by savage beating, starvation, and bodily hurt.
On March 29, Abd al-Karim Jabir Naro (a merchant from Boram) and Abd al-Shaffi Badawi (a businessperson from Niyala) were arrested by the security forces accused of collaboration with the rebels. Between March 29 and April 6, the authorities arrested ten persons of African descent accused of plotting to destroy the ruling regime. The detainees included Dr. Hassan al-Turabi chair of the al-Mutamar al-Sha’bi, Dr. Bashir Adam Rahama, the political secretary of the party, Ibrahim al-Sanoasi, member of the leadership committee, Badraddin Taha, the social affairs secretary, engineer Adam Hamdoun, the Khartoum party secretary, Hassan Satti member of the leadership committee and secretary of the economic affairs, Suliman Sandal a lawyer and leading member of the al-Mutamar, and the party activists Mohamed Ahmed Dahab and Ahmed Fadl in addition to four lawyers, Abd-Allah al-Doma, Mohamed Ismail, Mohamed Haroun, and Babiker Abd-Allah.
Among the arrested military were colonel pilot Fathi Abakar Mohamed Salih, lieutenant-colonel engineer Abd-Allah Mohamed Adam Idris, major pilot Hashim Mohamed Salih Ali al-Sharif, captain pilot Abd al-Mageed Abbas Hammad, captain Khalid Osman Nasr Hamdan, captain Salah al-Deen Atiyat-Allah Ageeb, captain Abd-Allah Shamina Abd al-Gabbar Bakheit, Ali Ibrahim Fadl, Sayed al-Magboul Adam al-Haj, and captain Abd-Allah al-Haj Ahmed. The arrested persons were accused under sections 50, 58, 62-63, 66, and 69 of the criminal law 1991. The accusations were related to the commission of actions to destroy the ruling regime and sedition. The penalties of these crimes are capital punishment or life sentence.
On May 4, the authorities arrested Ahmed Abd al-Hamid (38 years) of the Fur tribe in Niyala accused of membership with the SLA. Like the other detainees, he was subjected to starvation and prevented from family visitations.
On May 5, the Zalingi authorities arrested Osman Abd al-Moula, an employee in a non-governmental relief agency.
On May 9, the Fur leaders Nuraddin Mohamed Abd al-Rahim and Bahraddin Abd-Allah were arrested following a meeting held between their relief agency and the Red Crescent on the issue of human rights violations at the district of Kabkabiya.
June 12: the security and the intelligence forces arrested seven citizens in Boram, South DarFur, suspected of collaboration with the armed opposition. The detainees were Babiker Abd al-Rasoul (Merchant), Ali Mohamed Adam (farmer), Adam Hassan (businessman), Adam Mohamed Nada (businessman), Mustafa Belal (businessman), Dahab Juma’ Singa (driver), and Mudathir Mohamed Zain (manual worker). On June 26, the arrested persons were transferred to the Niyala central police station.
On June 15, the authorities arrested in al-Fasher Dr. al-Sadiq Hussain Jami’, a psychologist at the al-Fasher University. On June 19, Mohamed Ishaq Adam, a taxi driver, and the merchant Adam Badawi Yousif were arrested without charge at the security office in al-Fasher. On June 16, the activist lawyer Adil Abd-Allah Nasraddin was arrested in Niyala. Adil had been a member of the defense team of the persons subjected to physical punishment, including limb amputations, all these past years.
On June 18, the authorities arrested Abd al-Rahman Adam Badawi, an administrative officer, and accused him of collaboration with the rebels. Dr. Ishaq Sabeel, a lecturer at al-Fasher College, was arrested from the airport.
On June 30, the authorities arrested 15 internally displaced persons in a camp at Abu Shoak. The arrested persons included Mohamd Adam Khamis, Abd al-Latif Suliman, Mohamedain Mohamed Hussain, Ahmed Adam Abd al-Magid, al-Sheikh Yahya Mohamed Adam, al-Faki Mohamed Faki, and Abd al-Mon’im Ahmed. The arrestees were detained in a security detention center in al-Fasher. In the same day, Ahmed Eissa Ishag, al-Tayeb Ali Adam, al-Sadiq Abd-Allah, and Mohamed Haroun Suliman were arrested at Kabkabiya. In the Mustariha Camp, Ahmed Suliman and the mayor Khider Ahmed Abd al-Rahman were further arrested.
On the 4th of July, three members of the security and intelligence departments arrested student Mohamed Ishag Abd-Allah (3rd year electric engineering, Sudan University) at the taxi station of the al-Suq al-Arabi in Khartoum. Mohamed was moved blind-folded to an unknown detention center where he was severely tortured with electric shocks and beatings and threatened with rape. He was released the next day after he had been compelled to sign a bond “never to involve in opposition activities against the government.”
On July 14, the security forces of Port Sudan assaulted the residence of Rasheed Mohamed Salih to arrest him. Because Rasheed was not available at the time of the assault, the officers arrested his father Mohamed Salih Mohamed Ahmed until his son Rasheed would deliver himself to the security department. Raheed, a student at the Seas Sciences College in the Red Sea University (Port Sudan) member of the Democratic Front was tortured in detention. He was arrested on May 27, 2004, having paid a visit to a relative at the national service training camp.
On July 15, Yagoub Khatir and his son Abd al-Aziz Yagoub Khatir were arrested with Bashir Haroun Hassan at Abu Deraiga near al-Fasher. On July 17, Bashir al-Juma’ Arabi, Yagoub Khatir Arabi, Ahmed Ishaq, and Abd al-Magid Mohamed Bush were arrested in al-Fasher. These persons were arbitrarily arrested because they talked with some of the African Union cease-fire observers.
On June 20, the Zaghawa men, farmers Suliman Idris Hasab al-Nabi, Abd al-Karim Idris Jar al-Nabbi, Musa Abd al-Gadim Tabit, Abd al-Gabar Suliman Adam, and Ahmed Ishag Babiker and the student Jamal Abbaker Rajab and the children Ismail Mohamed Yahya Juma’ (12 years), Abd al-Rahman Ibrahim Nur (13 years), and Ayoub Abbakr Omer (12 years) were arrested and transferred to the military prison in Niyala following 2 days of unlawful detention at the Shi’airiya village. The Zaghawa were severely tortured with iron rods and violent beating. The three children were released after three weeks; four of the men were released on August 17 while Suliman Idris and Abd al-Karim Idris were not released.
On July 22, four security and military intelligence officers arrested student Taj al-Sir Hassan Ibrahim (finalist, economics, Sharq al-Nilain University) who was then detained blind-folded to an unknown detention center where he was severely beaten and threatened with rape. The student was released the next day; but his identity cards and mobile were dispossessed.
On July 24, the Niyala security authorities arrested the distinguished lawyer human rights activist Aba-Zr Ahmed al-Bashir from his office in the town. Aba-Zr had been detained for eight days since he delivered a memorandum to the governor of South DarFur asking him to put an end to the crisis of the region. Also, other signers of the memo were arrested.
On July 28, five internally displaced citizens, Adil Mohamed Basi, Abd al-Hakam Adam Ishag, Abd al-Ghani Ahmadi Abd al-Rasoul, Mohamed Ahmed Abd-Allah, and Mohamed Adam Khamis were arrested at the Abu Shoak Camp. On July 29, the military intelligence of Niyala arrested Yahya Ismail, a Zaghawa farmer suspected of collaboration with the SLA. He was severely tortured at the intelligence offices to plea guilty.
Towards the closing week of July, the authorities arrested 22 internally displaced people in the Kalma Camp east of Niyala, accused of sedition. On August 1, the detainees were moved to the central police station of Niyala. The next day, they were accused of breaching the public order and immediately put to trial. The detainees were Abd-Allah Bashir, Abd al-Wahab Abd al-Rahman Adam, Adam Mahdi Mohamed Ahmed, Malik Mansour Mohamed Bakheit, Abu al-Gasim Mohamed Ibrahim, Abd-Allah Ibrahim Mango, Yasin Mohamed Arabi, Suliman Musa Mohamed, Saifaddin Salih Adam, Mohamed Adam Abd-Allah, Abd-Allah Osman Mohamed Salih, Abbas Omer Ishag, Mohamed Abbakr Jaali, Izaddin Abd-Allah Ali, Mahmoud Mohamed Salih, Bahraddin Bashir Sharif, Adam Abd al-Rahman Suliman, Qamaraddin Mohamed Ibrahim, Yousif Abd-Allah Omer, Abd-Allah Yousif Tigani, Mustafa Ahmed Gabr-Allah, and Nuraddin Babiker Hassan.
On July 29, Buthaina Mohamed Ahmed, a teacher, member of the Sudanese Women’s Union was arrested in Niyala because she criticized the government at a conference held in al-Fasher.
In Khartoum, the authorities arrested Hassan Abd al-Qadir Hilal (Democratic Unionist Party), Yusif Hussain (the Communist Party), Ibrahim al-Sheikh (al-Mutamar), Satti Mohamed al-Haj (the Nasserist Party), and Yunis Siddig Yunis (Abd al-Mageed Cultural Center) who established the DarFur Call alliance.
On August 3, the security department arrested Abd al-Salam Mohamed, Ali al-Nur Ahmed, Salahaddin Babiker, Juma’ Adam Haqqar, and Adam Adam. These internally displaced citizens were severely battered and further denied medical attention. On August 3, Sabri Adam Nurain, Hamid Siddiq Abd-Allah, and Mariam, a woman from Malit, were immediately arrested because they talked with the African Union cease-fire observers.
On August 4, the authorities raided the house of the human rights activist Zubaida Rabih Abd-Allah. Accused of disseminating false information, the 2-months pregnant woman was tortured and humiliated.
On August 5, the Zalingi security forces arrested Osman Adam Abd al-Moula, an activist lawyer who worked with the Sudan Organization for Agricultural Development in Niyala.
August 15, the Sudanese Armed Forces arrested 50 internally displaced citizens from the camp of Kalma east of the Niyala city. The arrested persons were detained in the central police station. They included Ayman Ahmed Adam, Abd al-Kareem Adam, Adam Yahya Mohamed, Yagoub Abd-Allah Mohamed, Ja’far Yusif Adam, Mohamed Musa Mohamed Abbaker, Hussain Ja’far Saifaddin, Abd-Allah Abbaker Osman, Adam Abd-Allah al-Sadiq, Ismail Yusif Ismail, Faisal Abd al-Raziq Mohamed, Adam Mohamed Hussain, Suliman Bahr Adam, Ishaq Mohamed al-Haj, Ibrahim Haroun Abbaker, Yagoub Abd-Allah Ali, Musa Ahmed Haroun, Hasib Ishaq al-Zain, Nuraddin Adam al-Nur, Baraka Musa Salih, Adam Hassan Abd al-Rahman, Amir al-Tayeb Sharafaddin, Abdin Gibril Ibrahim, Osman Ibrahim Abd-Allah, Mutasim Suliman Eissa, Ali Mohamed Ishaq, Mohamed Abd al-Rahman Abd al-Aziz, Ismail Haroun Abd-Allah, al-Tayeb Mohamed Adam, Adam Abd al-Rahman Ahmed, Eissa Adam Arga, Abd al-Magid Abbaker Mohamed, Mohamed Abd al-Rahamn Ibrahim, Mohamed Abbaker Mohamed, Abd al-Shakour Abd-Allah Yahya, al-Sadiq Hassan Mohamed, Hashim Musa Yagoub, Mohamed Yagoub Zayid, Hasan Ibrahim Abd al-Karim, Ismail Abbaker Abd al-Rasoul, Anwar Eissa Abd al-Shaffi, Mohamed Abbaker Digais, Mohamed Nuraddin Ishag, Mohamed Saeed Hussain, Ahmed Yahya Adam, Ahmed Adam Idris, Eissa Ishag Yagoub, Abd al-Malik Suliman Abd-Allah, Yahya Musa Yahya, and Anwar al-Nur Yusif. The detainees were harshly tortured by the army personnel that accused them of urging the displaced people to stay in the camps, instead of returning to the villages.
On September 8 and succeeding days, the security forces detained about 60 leaders active members of the al-Mutamar al-Sha’bi party, in addition to a number of military personnel accused of preparing a military coup against the ruling party. Most of the detainees were severely tortured, which led to the death of students Shamsaddin Idris and Abd al-Rahman Suliman Adam. The detainees included Ibrahim al-Sanoasi, Ahmed al-Shain al-Wali, Ahmed Fedail, Abu al-Qasim Hussain Abd al-Qur’an, Anwar Awad al-Karim, Ahmed Mohamed Omer, Ashraf Abdin, Ibrahim Zayid, Ibrahim Qabbani, Ibrahim Abd al-Hafiz, Ibrahim Mohamed al-Sanoasi, Ahmed Omer, Adam al-Tahir Hamdoun, Ismail al-Azhari, Ashweel Angor, al-Safi Nuraddin, al-Nagi Abd-Allah, Adam Sabun, Babiker Abd-Alah, Badraddin Taha, Bashir Adam Rahama, Hafiz Ahmed Ibrahim, Hassan Abd-Allah, Hassan Mohamed Satti, Hassan Khalifa, Hussain Khugali, Khalifa Fadl, Khairy al-Gedail Adam, Khalid al-Daw, Khalid Osman, Daoud Salih, Suliman Sandal, Saifaddin Ahmed Mohamed, Salih Mohamed Ali, Siddig Hassan Abd-Allah al-Turabi, Siddiq Abd al-Wahid al-Ahmer, Salah Abd-Allah Ali, Tariq Mahgoub Mohamed, Tilal Ismail, Amir Lika Kuku, Abbas al-Bakhiet Musa, Abd-Allah Suliman al-Awad, Abd-Allah Deng Niyal, Abd-Allah Mohamed Abu Fatima, Abd al-Atti Abd al-Khair, Abd al-Hamid Adam Sabi, Abd al-Rahman Ibrahim, Abd al-Karim Mohamed, Abd al-Mon’im Ali Bashir, Omer Abd al-Ma’rouf, Awad Siddiq Faqiri, Awad Babiker, Mohamed al-Sheikh al-Nabahani, Mohamed Abd al-Halim, Mohamed Babiker, Mohamed Ahmed Dahab, Mohamed Adam Hagwab, Mohamed Ismail, Mohamed al-Amin Khalifa, Mohamed Abd-Allah al-Doma, Mohamed Haroun, Mustafa Medani, Musa al-Mek Kor, Mahmoud Adroab, Naguib Dahab, Yasir Abd-Allah Khalid, Yasir Musa, and Yousif Kowa.
The military detainees included colonel Jabir Mohamed Hasab-Allah, captain Ali Ibrahim Fadl, captain Abd-Allah Mohamed Adam, captain Yousif Ismail, lieutenant Mohamed al-Doma,lieutenantYasir Zakariyah Ibrahim, lieutenant Abd al-Rahman Fadl Haroun, lieutenant Yagoub al-Doma, lieutenant Abd al-Magid Abd al-Rahman Ahmed, and lieutenant Ahmed Babiker.
On September 23, the government activated via Interpol Note the arrest of the chairperson of the executive committee of the Sudanese National Alliance/Forces, brigadier Abd al-Aziz Khalid, in Abu Dabi on his arrival from Cairo.
AIR RAIDING AND CIVILIAN ATTACKS
On the evening of March 12, the government antenov bombers bombarded Shariyah (70 kilometers east of Niyala), which caused the death of six women and a one year infant plus the injury of 25 citizens. The air bombing was accompanied with janjaweed attacks on the village.
On April 17, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Janjaweed Militias raided the Hilat Ibrahim village about 10 kilometers south of Niyala and the village of Abu Jora 35 kilometers to the south of Niyala. The attack led to the death of 45 civilians and the destruction of 312 houses. The murdered people included Hussain Adam Haroun, al-Hadi Omer Abbaker, Ibrahim Osman, al-Sayer Osman Omer, Eissa Mohamedain Mohamed, Jido Mohamedain, Abd-Allah Abbaker Ahmed, Mustafa al-Taj, Mariam Omer Ali, Sumaiya Mohamed Musa, Hamad Adam Musa, Bashir Haroun Mohamed, al-Tayeb Ibrahim, Ishag Abd al-Karim Bush, Hassan Ibrahim, Haroun Mohamed Ibrahim, al-Faki Hussain Ramadan, Abbaker Ahmed Abbu, Adam Abbaker Mohamed, Yagoub Dogal, Yousif Zakariya, al-Fadil Hussain, Mohamed Omer, al-Faki al-Tahir Abd al-Qadir, Abd-Allah al-Haj Abbaker, Yusif Ahmed Ramadan, al-Zain Ibrahim Abd-Allah, Abbaker Musa, Ahmed Omer Ali, Abd-Allah Musa, Fatima Ali Ahmed, al-Tahir Abd al-Qadir, Musa Abd-Allah Ahmed, Abd-Allah Habib Adam, Kamal Hassan Abd al-Gabir, al-Sadiq Mohamed Musa, and al-Faki Hassan Haroun Adam. There were Dinka people among the murdered citizens who included Deng Jifaik, Baq Deng, Daoud Dot, Maloaq Bel, Deng Dal, and Abd-Allah Majwan Mawak.
The last weeks of August witnessed air bombing of the villages of Yasin, Hashaba, Jalab, and Joqa that led to the murdering of 64 civilians and the injury of tens of people in the village of Hashaba. Seven citizens were killed in Joqa by Janjaweed attacks.
ERADCIATING POLITICAL OPPONENTS
On March 17, the police forces suppressed with fire arms a peaceful demonstration by the internally displaced people of DarFur at the Mayo suburbs in Khartoum south who were asking for human services in the area.
On September 10, the Nubian student Shamsaddin Idris of the Nilain University died of tortures following one day arrest by security officers. The police claimed the cause of death was “intestinal pain.” The medical report on the cause of death, however, assured the incidence of hemorrhage as well as beatings against the intestines, legs, and shoulders.
On September 14, the Darfurian student Abd al-Rahman Suliman Adam of al-Gazira University died of tortures in the hospital. The police claimed the death was caused when the student fell from a police car after his arrest. The medical report, however, indicated the student skull was fractured. Both students belonged to the al-Mutamar al-Sha’bai members who had been arrested in the second week of September.
EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS
Between the 5th and the 6th of March, the Janjaweed militiamen arrested 168 members of the Fur tribe and murdered them inside the security offices of Delaig at the Wadi Salih Province of Western DarFur. The names of 118 persons included from the Zarari village Nasraddin Ahmed Abd al-Rahman, Idris Ahmed abd al-Rahman, Ismail Mohamed Daoud, Nuraddin Mohamed Daoud, Abbaker Mohamed Eissa, Omer Adam Abd al-Shaffi, Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Khamis, Omer Siddiq Abbaker, Mohamed Abbaker Atim, Abd-Allah Abd al-Rahman, Mohamed Adam Atim, Abbaker Salih Babiker, Adam Yahya Adam, Eissa Adam, Ishaq Adam Belal, Siddiq Abbaker Ishag, Shayib Adam Abd al-Mahmoud. From the village of Firgo, the army arrested Mohamed Mohamed Adam, Abd al-Wali Musa, Haroun Ahmed Haroun, Mohamed Siddiq Yusif, Bakor Suliman Abbaker, Ibrahim Ahmed, Mohamed Burma Hassan, Mohamed Eissa Adam, Zakariya Abd al-Moula Abbaker, Adam Mohamed Abu al-Qasim, Adam Abd al-Mageed Degaish, and Khalil Eissa Toor. Idris Adam Ahmed, Yagoub Adam Ahmed, al-Faki Haroun Adam Eissa, Sharafaddin Salih Musa, Sharafaddin Abbaker Abd al-Karim, Mohamed Ibrahim Arman, Musa Tahi Ibrahim, Musa Mohamed Yahya, Gibril Musa Mohamed, Yahya Abd al-Karim Abd-Allah, Adam Abd al-Karim Mohamed, Adam Mohamed Idris, Adam Abd al-Mageed Mohamed, Abd al-Raziq Abd al-Mageed, Fadl Adam Hamid, Eissa Haroun Adam, Yagoub Mohamed Yagoub were arrested from the village of Tirgo. Ishag Ahmed Ishag, Eissa Haroun Ismail, Nurain Idris Adam, Abd al-Moula Haroun Ibrahim, Mohamed Yahya Hussain, Salih Yunis Mohamed, Haroun Mohamed Haroun, Suliman Ahmed Hassan, Mohamed Eissa Haroun, Idris Hassan Yahya, Musa Adam Abd al-Moula, Abd al-Mon’im Salih, Abbaker Ismail, Musa Abd al-Qadir, mayor Mohamed Suliman Abd al-Shaffi, mayor Jantour, Adam Abd al-Rahman, Ismail Abd al-Aziz, Yahya Ahmed Zarouq, and Mohamed Omer Ahmed Zarouq were arrested from the village of Kashildo. Hassan Ismail Daoud, al-Hadi Adam Abd al-Karim, Fadl Adam Hamid, Adam Abd al-Mageed, Abd al-Raziq Adam Abd al-Karim, Eissa Haroun, Yagoub Mohamed, Abd al-Raziq Abbaker, al-Haj Salih Hassan, Faki Salih Abd al-Karim, Mohamed Bahir, Fako Ismail Suliman, Faki Adam Abd-Allah, Adam Abbaker Eissa, Faki Abd-Allah Kiry from the village of Kirting, and Hussain Abd-Allah, Sayed Abd al-Mousa, Mohamed Salih, Ismail, Musa Yousif, Abbaker Hussain, Yahya Yusif, Faki Yusif Taqali, Ibrahim Adam Suliman, Ahmed Ishag from Kusu, mayor Jido Khamis Abd al-Kareem, al-Sheikh Zakariya Abbaker Adam, Mohamed Adam Mohamed Bahir, Adam Musa Yusif, Hamza Hussain Ishag, Abd al-Kareem Hussain Ishag from Ghaba, Faki Haroun Abd al-Rahman, Yahya Abd al-Kareem Riziq, Musa Ahmed Yusif, Gibril Musa Ahmed, Idris Adam Ahmed, Yagoub Adam Ahmed, Musa al-Tahir adam, Mohamed Ibrahim Nasour, Sharafaddin Abbaker Yahya, Sharif Salih from Suqu, Abd-Allah Adam Abd al-Rahman, Adam Yahya, Abd-Allah Musa, Adam Abd al-Rahman Ishag, al-Sheikh Ismail, mayor Mohamed Suliman, mayor Adam Hussain, mayor Ahmed Jantour, mayor Yahya Ahmed Zarouq, Mohamed Omer Ahmed Zarouq from Massa village, and al-Sheikh Adam Abbaker Riziq, Mohamed Abbaker Daoud, Mohamed Salih, Yahya Yagoub Ibrahim, Osman Yousif, Adam Hussain, Haroun Suliman, Adam Salih Ali from the village of Um Jamina.
On the sixth of June, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Janjaweed attacked and burnt to earth 16 villages. Four villages were rubbed including Abu Doam, Maqlah, Amoray, Ta’isha, Khabsha, Amar Jadid, Jakhana, Um Janna, Zango, Malija, Um Tarrina, and Shaingo. The attacks caused the death of at least 27 citizens including Adam Ali al-Tom, Abdu Khair, Salih Abd-Allah Babiker, Adam Nuraddin, Khadom Mohamed Abd-Allah, Hamid Abd al-Karim, Omer Adam Khamis, Adam al-Nur, Tabin Mohamed Abd-Allah, Adam Ali, Hamid Abd al-Karim, Musa Hamid, Abd al-Rahman Ashaqa, Ibaid Abd-Allah Doka, Hassan Ishag Bolad, Abbaker Aboud, Ismail Ibrahim Haroun, al-Nayir Adam, and the 6-year child Tandal Suliman Ahmed Sanoasi.
HEAVY PENALTIES BY UNFAIR TRIALS
On March 13, the criminal court of Niyala flogged a woman who was condemned for adultery. The court sentenced Ms. Razaz Abbaker with 100 floggings. The sentence was immediately implemented. But the man accused of adultery was discharged. According to the Sudan Criminal Law, the conviction is granted in one of three cases: 1) four witnesses; 2) confession; and 3) pregnancy of an unmarried woman.
On March 20, a prompt justice court sentenced a citizen accused of armed robbery with cross amputation of the right hand and the left leg in accordance with section 167 of the criminal law, which inflicts death penalty, crucifixion, or cross amputation. In the same month, another court sentenced with cross amputations Idris Ibrahim Idris, Mahound Yahya Adam, Yahya al-Doma Yahya, and Abd al-Karim Abd-Allah Adam. The condemned citizens had been arrested in March 2003 accused of misappropriating civilians cars by armed robbery, according to sections 12, 42, 931, 571, and 861 of the criminal law 1991 with sections 24/62 of the arms and ammunition law.
On March 31, a Niyala criminal court sentenced to death Ali Salih Ahmed and Adam Abd al-Rahman Ishag being accused of murdering a citizen in southern DarFur.
On May 30, another prompt justice court in Niyala sentenced to death Musa Eissa Diko (21 years), Adam Harrain Eissa (27 years), and Mohamed Ahmed Abd al-Qadir (30 years) for armed robbery according to section 168 of the penal code.
September 25, a court in Niyala executed three persons and punished six others for 3 up to 5 years imprisonment convicted with murder, armed robbery, and the unlawful seizure of fire arms.
On April 10, a court in Khartoum imprisoned a journalist for a month added to million pounds fine: Islam Salih, the director of the Quatrain Jazeera office in Khartoum, was convicted under section 66 of the criminal law for publicizing false information.
On September 29, a court in Khartoum started the trials of 28 members of the al-Mutamar al-Sha’bi party who had been accused of planning on a military coup to change the existing ruling regime. The government disallowed 30 lawyers of the defense staff to enter into the court room. The defense staff issued a statement claiming that the defense member, lawyer Abd al-Salam al-Gijouli, was told to leave the court room because he asked the bench to observe the right of an accused person to defense. The lawyers of the accused person had been earlier arrested. The court refused to allow families of the accused persons to enter the court hall for the same reason.