Sudan Organisation Against Torture

Some items from their Annual Human Rights Report on Sudan, March 2003 - March 2004

-On 19 May 2003, five men from the Nuba Mountains were arrested and detained by National Security Agency (NSA) officers in Dongola, Northern Sudan. They have been named as: Awad Ibrahim Qamar; Jum’a Omar; Abu Nagi El El- Amin; Jum’a Mahmoud; Ramadan Ismail

NSA officers arrested the five men from Mr. Qamar’s house and disrupted a meeting that was taking place. The men have reportedly been accused of being traitors and attempting to incite the people of the Nuba against the Sudanese government.

Security officers participated in the torture of Mr. Jum’a using instruments such as a water pipe, an electric wire and a stick. Acid was also thrown onto his body. He was subsequently transferred to the Kidney Unit of Khartoum Hospital on 23 June after his health deteriorated and to the Abdominal Unit on 26 June. Later on the same day, Mr. Jum’a fell into a coma and was taken to Intensive Care.

Mr. Awad Ibrahim Gamar, a graduate and a restaurant employee, was also severely tortured. According to Amnesty International reports Mr. Awad died after 24 hours in custody. Mr. Awad’s body was sent to his family and received by the tribal leaders. There was no medical assessment or a post mortem examination.

-At 10:30 am on Monday 2 June, five officers from the Sudanese National Security Agency (NSA) arrested 38 women from the Nuba Mountain Women’s Association and 3 men who accompanied them as they were departing for a women’s conference for peace and development in Kawda town, Nuba Mountain. They were interrogated regarding their movements, the intentions of their trip and any relations they may have had with the SPLA.

Eight conference delegates were then transported to the NSA offices in Omdurman (near Omdurman Traffic Police Station) where they were forced to sign a declaration promising that they would not leave Khartoum without the permission of the NSA. A number of personal items were confiscated from the group- including mobile phones, computer equipment, documents and diaries containing private details of contacts. In addition to this, a sum of approximately 8 million Sudanese pounds was confiscated and the delegates were made to sit on the floor for an hour in the hot sun. The following people were released at 9pm on Monday 2 June but ordered to report to the NSA offices in Omdurman on a daily basis, from 8am in the morning until 8pm in the evening; They are: Huda Dawood (f), Huwaida Bashir Kumi (f), Ja’fariya Bashina (f), E’timaad Faqih Ali (f), Samir Abdallah (m)

Zeinab Balnad Balnadiya iya (f), President of the Ruayya Association, Jumm’a Durman (f), Camilla (f) were taken to the Khartoum NSA offices until they were finally released at 2am on the morning of 3 June 2003. They were also ordered to remain in Khartoum and to report to the NSA offices daily as described. The remaining members of the Nuba Mountain Women’s Association were released from the NSA offices in Kalakala at 2am on the morning of 3 June 2003. The offices of the Ruayya Women’s Organisation in Al- 'Awda has since been closed down by the NSA.