Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2003 - Sudan

Arrest and continued harassment of Mr. Gazi Suleiman⁵⁹

On 8th February 2003, Mr. Gazi Suleiman, a lawyer and president of the Sudan Human Rights Group (SHRG) was arrested by the National Security Agency (NSA), together with Mr. Al Haj Warrag, managing director of the daily newspaper Al Horia, and Mr. Gnodtke, the Ambassador of Germany to Sudan. The three men had met to prepare the annual commemoration of the death of Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, an intellectual murdered in 1985 during the Numeiri regime.

When the Ambassador was recognised, he was released immediately. Mr. Warrag and Mr. Suleiman were only released a few hours later after having been questioned about their activities.

Mr. Suleiman was arrested again on 2nd July 2003 by NSA agents who burst into his home and then took him to the NSA Department of political affairs, where he was questioned about a press conference that was supposed to be held in his office that same day, in honour of the signing of the Khartoum Declaration (E'laan El Khartoum). This declaration had been signed by 18 political parties, 14 civil society organisations and 78 eminent personalities, in support of the peace process in Sudan and the Cairo Declaration, which called for respect for the diversity of the Sudanese population without discrimination as to ethnic group, sex, religion or political opinion.

After two hours of examination, Mr. Suleiman was told to go home, collect some personal effects and tell his family that he was going to be detained at the Kober prison. His family had no news from him until he was released on 15th July. When his family and close friends tried to visit him in the Kober prison or at the NSA headquarters, they were told that Mr. Suleiman was not being held there.

The NSA agents streamed into Mr. Suleiman's offices and prevented the press conference from taking place on 2nd July. The people there were detained in the offices for over an hour before being taken to the NSA headquarters. They were finally set free later that day.

During the last few years Mr. Suleiman has been arbitrarily arrested and detained several times⁶⁰ by the authorities. In May 2002 he was ordered to dissolve the SHRG.⁶¹

Continued harassment of Mr. Faisal el Bagir Mohamed and against the Amal Centre⁶²

Mr. Faisal el Bagir, who is an independent journalist, a correspondent for Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a member of the Sudan Organisation against Torture (SOAT) and of the Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED), was arrested on 8th June 2003 when he returned from Athens where he had attended an international conference on the future of Iraqi information media.

The airport security services went through his luggage and confiscated his passport and various newspapers he had with. After waiting for two hours, he was taken to the NSA Department of political affairs and questioned at length about his activities as a journalist, his political opinions, the purpose of his trip to Athens, and his connections with SOAT, KCHRED and RSF. Several hours went by before he was released.

Mr. el Bagir, whose activities have been kept under surveillance and checked regularly since 2001 was arrested again under similar circumstances on 26th July and 7th October 2003. He had already been arrested in October 2002 when returning from abroad.

Furthermore, on 6th August 2003 he was arrested when together with Dr. Nageeb Nagmeldin el Toum, a SOAT member and head of the Amal Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Physical and Mental Trauma. The two men were convened by NSA after SOAT had issued a press release expressing its satisfaction at the liberation of 32 political prisoners; the press release had been published in that day's issue of the Al Rai Alam newspaper. After answering questions on the activities of SOAT, Mr. el Bagir and Mr. el Toum also had to provide the papers and the participants' list for a conference that SOAT had held on 26th June at the Abd Al Karim Mirghani Centre in Omdurman to commemorate the U.N. International day in support of victims of torture. The two men had participated in this conference which was chaired by Mr. Murtada Algali, a SOAT member and activist of the KCHRED.

Mr. el Bagir and Mr. Algali were summoned again to the NSA media Department on 18th October 2003, after the publication of an article denouncing restrictions on freedom of the press in Sudan and the closing of certain newspapers. The NSA agents had them fill in a file giving details of their private life, their political affiliations and the names of their friends.

Freedom of press has not only been inhibited by constant harassment of independent journalists (in particular regular arrests, for very short periods of time), but also by many other restrictions in 2003. Despite a government decree in December 2002 that officially ended censorship, the authorities drew a sort of "red line" for the press. Any article mentioning subjects that are behind the "red line" such as abductions of women and children, the peace process, the situation of political opponents, the outlawed opposition party Popular National Congress (PNC) or conflicts in the Darfour region, is systematically seized and may not be published. Many independent newspapers were shut down in 2003, e.g. the Khartoum Monitor, the only English-language newspaper in the country. It was suspended four times because of articles criticising the government. Its manager, Mr. Nhial Bol, had to flee abroad in November.

Continued repression of students' movements⁶³

Students were confronted with an upsurge of violence against them in 2003. Many peaceful demonstrations were fiercely repressed by antiriot squads, followed by arbitrary arrests in many universities across the country. During a peaceful march-past in front of the Bakt al Ridah University on 17th March 2003 organised to protest against the ban on creating a students' association, the police intervened and violently dispersed the demonstrators. Several people were wounded, and 45 students were arrested.

In addition, students suspected of belonging to students' associations or participating in political activities of any sort are systematically sanctioned by their universities, e.g. suspensions and expulsions. Reports indicate that many students are arrested and that some are even tortured during their detention. On 5th January 2004 for instance, the NSA arrested Mr. Waiel Taha, a member of the Khartoum University Student Union and a SOAT activist, during a meeting organised in protest at police violence against a group of female students on 3rd and 4th January. Mr. Taha was held in the NSA building, beaten and tortured. He was finally released on 7th January. The prosecutor responsible for "crimes against the state" accused him of "intimidation" (Article 144 of the Criminal Code) and "criminal action" (Article 182). By 10th January 2004, Mr. Taha had not yet been summoned by the court.

Arrest and detention of Mr. Ibrahim Adam Madawi⁶⁴

On 27th December 2003, Mr. Ibrahim Adam Madawi, president of the Sudan Social Development Organisation (SUDO), ran a seminar on human rights in Shendi. The next day he was arrested by the NSA at his home in Omdurman.

After searching and ransacking his house, the security agents seized an important amount of documents, in particular the ones concerning a water development project in southern Sudan. They took him to his office at Lamda Engineering, searched the premises and seized his computer.

Mr. Madawi was then detained in some unknown place. On 30th December his wife asked the authorities for permission to visit him. The next day Mr. Madawi was allowed to call home. On 3rd January 2004, his wife was told that he had been transferred to Kober Prison. In early January he was being held there although no charges had been brought against him. The authorities have not given any explanation for this arrest.

SUDO is a volunteer organisation working on sustainable development, especially in the Darfour region where it is researching human rights violations and providing assistance to internally displaced persons. Several SUDO members have been harassed because of their activities. Mr. Hussein Ibrahim Gindeel, for instance, SUDO executive director, was held incommunicado from 24th to 27th March, as he was supposed to lead a seminarnon the role of the civil society in peace pocess in Damazin, from 24th to 27th March 2003. Authorities who initially had given permission for a seminar to be held, cancelled it on 24th March without giving any reasons.

[Refworld note: This report as posted on the FIDH website (www.fidh.org) was in pdf format with country chapters run together by region. Footnote numbers have been retained here, so do not necessarily begin at 1.]

59. See Urgent Appeal SDN 001/0603/OBS 031.

60. See Annual Report 2002.

61. Idem.

62. Idem.

63. Idem.

64. See Urgent Appeal 001/0104/OBS 001.