3 November 2010
UA 231/10 - Risk of torture/ Incommunicado detention/ Legal concern
SUDAN
Abdelrahman Mohammed Al Gasim (m) human rights defender
Dirar Adam Dirar (m) human rights defender
Abdelrahman Adam Abdelrahman (m) human rights defender
Manal Mohammed Adam (f) activist
Aziza Ali Idriss (f) activist
Aisha Sardo Sherif (f) activist
Abu Gasim Al Din (m)
Zakaria Yacoub (m)
Between 30 October and 1 November, eight Darfuris, including a number of human rights activists, have been arrested in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Although the authorities have not yet acknowledged the arrests, there are reports from Sudan that all eight of them are being held incommunicado by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), without access to a lawyer or their families. They are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.
Abdelrahman Mohammed Al Gasim, legal aid and protection coordinator for the Darfur Bar Association, and member of the Human Rights and Advocacy Network for Democracy (HAND); Dirar Adam Dirar, finance and administration officer at HAND, and Abdelrahman Adam Abdelrahman, deputy director of HAND were reportedly arrested by the NISS on the evening of 30 October in Khartoum.
Three female activists, Manal Mohammed Adam, Aziza Ali Idriss, and Aisha Sardo Sherif were also reportedly arrested by the NISS on 30 October.
Another two men, Abu Gasim Al Din and Zakaria Yacoub were reportedly also arrested. There are reports that more people have been arrested, but there is no confirmation as to all their names, identity or present whereabouts. The arrests have targeted Darfuris working for HAND, which is a coalition of grassroots Darfuri organizations that publishes human rights monitoring reports on Darfur, and people working for Radio Dabanga, a Sudanese radio station registered in the Netherlands that broadcasts news on the conflict in Darfur. Both reportedly share the same building in Khartoum.
None of the families of those arrested have had any news of their whereabouts or reasons for the arrests. There are reports that Abdelrahman Adam Abdelrahman may have been subjected to torture or other forms of ill-treatment.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Torture or other forms of ill-treatment of human rights activists and journalists by the National Intelligence and Security Services is often reported in Sudan, particularly amongst Darfuris and when those detained are not given access to the outside world. Amnesty International documented many cases of torture and ill-treatment in detention against human rights activists and journalists, and amongst Darfuris, namely at the hands of the NISS.
The 2010 National Security Act (2010 NSA), passed in December 2009, provides extensive powers of arrest and detention to members of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS). Under the same Act, NISS agents are also provided with immunity from prosecution for any act committed in the course of their work. The 2010 NSA maintained powers and immunities provided under the previous law, the 1999 National Security Forces Act. As a result of these laws, a culture of impunity has pervaded in Sudan and NISS members have been carrying out human rights violations with impunity.
Although Sudan’s Criminal Procedure Code contains safeguards against incommunicado detention, Article 50 of the 2010 NSA stipulates that the NISS can arrest and detain any person for a total period of four and a half months without judicial oversight. The 2010 Act does not specify the grounds on which such detentions can be made. Such incommunicado detention without access to the outside world and without any outside inspection increases the likelihood of torture taking place.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Urging the authorities to disclose the names and whereabouts of all those detained, including Abdelrahman Mohammed Al Gasim, Dirar Adam Dirar, Abdelrahman Adam Abdelrahman, Manal Mohammed Adam, Aziza Ali Idriss, Aisha Sardo Sherif, Abu Gasim Al Din and Zakaria Yacoub;
- Calling on the authorities to release all those detained or charge them with recognizably criminal offences;
- Urging the authorities to allow all the detainees access to legal representation as well as family visits and any medical attention they might require;
- Calling on the Sudanese government to immediately stop the harassment and intimidation of human rights activists and journalists in Sudan;
- Calling for the 2010 National Security Act to be reformed to remove the excessive powers of the NISS, including powers of arrest and detention without judicial oversight.
APPEALS TO:
President
HE Omar Hassan Ahmad ad-Bashir
Office of the President
People’s Palace PO Box 281
Khartoum
SUDAN
Fax: 011 249 183 782 541
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Justice
Mr Mohammed Bushara Dousa
Ministry of Justice
PO Box 302
Khartoum
SUDAN
Fax: 011 249 183 764 168
Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO:
Minister of Interior
Mr Ibrahim Mohamed Hamed
Ministry of Interior
PO Box 873
Khartoum
SUDAN
H.E. Ambassador Khidir Haroun Ahmed
Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan
2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel: 1 202 338 8565
Fax: 1 202 667 2406
E-mail: info@sudanembassy.org
kahmed@sudanembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 15 December 2010.
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Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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URGENT ACTION APPEAL
- From Amnesty International USA
To learn about recent Urgent Action successes and updates, go to
http://www.amnestyusa.org/iar/success
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For a print-friendly version of this Urgent Action (PDF):
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa22610.pdf
2 November 2010
UA 226/10 Death Penalty/ Legal Concern
SUDAN
Idriss Adam Abbaker - alleged child
Abdallah Abdallah Daoud – alleged child
Ibrahim Shareef Youssif – alleged child
Abdelrazig Daoud Abdessed – alleged child
Altayib Mohammed Yagoub
Abdelgasim Abdallah Abubaker
Adam Altoum Adam
Mohammed Adam Hasballah
Alsadig Abbakar Yahya
On October 21, the Special Court in Darfur, western Sudan, sentenced ten individuals including four alleged children to death by hanging following an unfair trial. One of the children has had his sentence commuted after a medical examination established him to be under 18 years old.
The ten were sentenced to death for their reported involvement in an attack on a government escorted convoy in South Darfur in May 2010. A total of eleven individuals allegedly affiliated with the Darfurian armed opposition group, the Justice and Equality Movement, were tried in relation to the attack. One of the eleven was acquitted.
The defendants were prosecuted for a number of criminal offences under the 1991 Criminal Act, including murder, offences against the state, armed robbery and criminal damages. The trial was flawed and violated the right of the accused to a fair trial. The detainees were denied access to their lawyers and their families before the trial except for one occasion when their lawyers were permitted to meet with them for half an hour.
The four alleged children were placed in the same detention facilities as adults and were all tried together with the adult defendants before the Special Court. Despite the fact that the four reportedly gave their exact age to the court’s registry, only two were allegedly sent for medical inspections, despite requests by the lawyers and claims by the other two that they were also under 18. In Sudan, many people do not have birth certificates, so courts sometimes rely on medical examinations to establish people’s ages when they are not provided by the defendants.
Idriss Adam Abbaker and Abdallah Abdallah Daoud, were reportedly both found to be under 18 by the first medical examination. A second examination only confirmed Idriss Adam Abbaker as a child, so only he had his sentence commuted. The court did not look for further medical expertise to verify the results and reasons behind the contradictory results and also did not allow Ibrahim Shareef Youssif and Abdelrazig Daoud Abdessed to undergo the same examination. This raises concerns about the arbitrariness of the process of determining the age of the defendants by the court. The adults sentenced to death are Altayib Mohammed Yagoub, Abdelgasim Abdallah Abubaker, Hassan Ishag Abdallah, Adam Altoum Adam, Mohammed Adam Hasballah and Alsadig Abbakar Yahya. The defence lawyers submitted an appeal on behalf of the defendants before the Chief Justice for South.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible:
- Stating that international human rights law and standards and the Sudanese 2010 Child Act prohibit the execution of children;
- Calling on the authorities to commute the death sentences of the nine people sentenced to death;
- Urging the authorities to ensure that the appeal is in accordance with international fair trial standards;
- Urging the authorities to transfer the suspected juvenile offenders to a juveniles detention facility, or release them pending their re-trial, and to re-try them before a juvenile court;
- Stating your opposition to the death penalty as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment, and calling for all death sentences to be commuted and a moratorium established.
APPEALS TO:
President
HE Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir
Office of the President
People’s Palace PO Box 281
Khartoum,
SUDAN
Fax: 011 249 183 782 541
Salutation: Your Excellency
Minister of Justice
Mr Mohammed Bushara Dousa
Ministry of Justice, PO Box 302
Al Nil Avenue
Khartoum,
SUDAN
Fax: 011 249 183 764 168
Salutation: Your Excellency
COPIES TO:
Minister of Interior
Mr Ibrahim Mohamed Hamed
Ministry of Interior
PO Box 873
Khartoum,
SUDAN
H.E. Ambassador Khidir Haroun Ahmed
Embassy of the Republic of the Sudan
2210 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel: 202 338 8565
Fax: 1 202 667 2406
E-mail: info@sudanembassy.org
kahmed@sudanembassy.org
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY.
Check with the AIUSA Urgent Action office if sending appeals after 14 December 2010.
----------------------------------
Tip of the Month:
Write as soon as you can. Try to write as close as possible to the date a case is issued.
** POSTAGE RATES **
Within the United States:
$0.28 - Postcards
$0.44 - Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Canada:
$0.75 - Postcards
$0.75 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To Mexico:
$0.79 - Postcards
$0.79 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
To all other destination countries:
$0.98 - Postcards
$0.98 - Airmail Letters and Cards (up to 1 oz.)
Amnesty International is a worldwide grassroots movement that promotes and defends human rights.
This Urgent Action may be reposted if kept intact, including contact information and stop action date (if applicable). Thank you for your help with this appeal.
Urgent Action Network
Amnesty International USA
600 Pennsylvania Ave SE 5th fl
Washington DC 20003
Email: uan@aiusa.org
http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/
Phone: 202.544.0200
Fax: 202.675.8566
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END OF URGENT ACTION APPEAL
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