Sudan: Arbitrary Detention of a Member of the Opposition Following Abduction by the Intelligence
On 17 March 2017, Alkarama and the Arab Coalition for Sudan (ACS) sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (SRFRDX) concerning the arbitrary detention of Mohamed Al Amin Omar Moussa, a member of the opposition who was arrested by members of the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), for merely peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. His family fears that he could be tortured or ill-treated while in detention, in reprisal against his peaceful activism and political opposition to the government.
On 25 January 2017, Mohamed Al Amin was attending a meeting at the headquarters of the Communist Party in Khartoum when he was arrested, without any warrant, by plain-clothed members of the NISS and forcibly taken to an unknown location. Al Amin was told he was being arrested for “incitement to resist the system and create resistance movements”. He was then transferred to the Kober Prison of Khartoum and still has not been officially brought before a competent judicial authority by the Sudanese authorities.
Al Amin is a leading member of the Sudanese Nasserist Democratic Unionist Party and of the National Consensus Party. His arrest was carried out following public statements he made criticising the current government’s policies infringing civil and political rights and calling for reforms. Alkarama and ACS fear that his commitment to politically oppose the government’s policies have caused his arrest and might put him at risk of ill-treatment and unfair trial.
“We are deeply concerned by the continued crackdown against peaceful activists and political opponents in Sudan and by the systematic practice of arbitrary arrests and secret detention by the NISS, notorious for torturing and ill-treating detainees in complete impunity” said Radidja Nemar, Alkarama's Regional Legal Officer for the Maghreb and the Nile “The Sudanese authorities must repeal the National Security Act of 2010 which gives to the NISS discretionary powers to arrest and detain individuals for long periods of time without any judicial supervision. This Act is putting political opponents and human rights advocates at a constant risk of being arrested and tortured while being detained outside the protection of law,” she added.
In their urgent appeal, Alkarama and ACS requested the Special Rapporteur to promptly intervene with the Sudanese authorities and ask them to release Al Amin or at least to put him under the protection of the law and guarantee his physical and mental health. Furthermore, Alkarama and ACS reminded the Sudanese authorities of their international obligations and urged them to put an end to the ongoing repression against human rights defenders and members of the opposition.
For more information or an interview, please contact media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).