Sudanese Government Holds Darfur Human Rights Defender in Illegal Detention
Human Rights First
(New York, February 24, 2005) Human Rights First called on the government of Sudan to provide urgently-needed medical care to Dr. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, a human rights activist it has held without charge or trial for a month, and to release him from prison.
Dr. Mudawi and fellow human rights advocate Salah Mohammed Abdalrahman were detained on January 24, 2005, and held in an unknown location. On February 23, family members were permitted to meet with Dr. Mudawi in Kobar Prison and confirmed his ill-health. He told them that he had been on hunger strike for six days to protest his harsh treatment, solitary confinement, and illegal imprisonment at an unrecognized place of detention-what is known in Sudan as a “ghost house.” Mr. Abdalrahman has not been seen since his detention and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Dr. Mudawi is chairperson of the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO), an organization actively monitoring human rights violations in Darfur. Human Rights First believes that Dr. Mudawi’s detention is intended to deter human rights activists in Sudan from exposing continuing violations of human rights in Darfur.
“The government of Sudan claims that its judicial system can handle the human rights crisis in Darfur,” said Neil Hicks, Director of International Programs at Human Rights First. “But instead of prosecuting the perpetrators and putting an end to heinous crimes, government agents are detaining activists like Dr. Mudawi without charge in unknown locations.”
During the continuing human rights emergency in Darfur, the Sudanese government has engaged in a pattern of targeting human rights defenders. Incidents include the arrest and detention of human rights lawyers, individuals who met with Red Cross representatives and African Union personnel, and others who spoke out about the gross violations occurring in Darfur. More than 2.1 million people have been cast out of their homes and are living in fear in precarious conditions as internally displaced persons in Sudan or as refugees in Chad. As many as 300,000 people may have already died as consequence of government policies in Darfur.
“The protection of human rights defenders is part and parcel of any solution to the crisis in Darfur,” said Hicks. “Their role in standing up for human rights is an essential element of the very accountability the Sudanese government is struggling to avoid.”
In January 2005, the U.N. appointed International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur strongly recommended to the U.N. Security Council that the situation in Sudan be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and stated that such a move would contribute to the restoration of peace in the region.
“The continued intimidation of human rights activists demonstrates that international pressure to curb abuses in Darfur has not yet been effective. In its treatment of Dr. Mudawi, the government of Sudan is making the case for the referral to the International Criminal Court by the United Nations Security Council.”
– Contact: Kristin Flood, (212)845-5298
– Email: [email protected]