PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 54/076/2006

17 November 2006

UA 310/06 Fear of torture or ill-treatment/Unlawful detention

SUDAN Bakhit Hamed al-Thayer (m)

Ibrahim Hamed al-Thayer (m)

Aqib Hamed al-Thayer (m)

Abdallah Suleiman Hamed al-Thayer (m)

Adam Daf'allah (m)

Idris Hussein Zaghawa (m)

A
mnesty International fears for the safety of the six civilians listed above who were abducted by Janjawid militias in the early afternoon of 15 November from a cattle camp called Qadir in North Darfur. All six men are either cattle owners or hired cattle herders. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) arrived in the area with the Janjawid in a large fleet of vehicles. While the SAF launched an attack on an armed opposition base at Bir Maza the Janjawid went to Qadir cattle camp and abducted the six men.

Amnesty International has gathered testimonies from people who have survived detention by the Janjawid. The following statement made by a Masalit man from Neuah in West Darfur demonstrates how people who are unlawfully detained by Janjawid militias can be treated:

"The Janjawid caught me. They tied me up. They were wearing khaki and carrying Kalashnikovs. They were riding camels and horses. They looted cattle from the people. I was forced to water the cattle. I was also made to kill a goat. After that, they tied my hands up and pulled me along behind a camel. I was like a slave. They then put a large rock on me and left me. Some women found me and released me. They took me by donkey to the village of Habila and from there to the hospital where I was treated. I still suffer pain."

Amnesty International is gravely concerned that the six men listed above are at serious risk of being tortured or ill-treated, subjected to forced labour and/or unlawfully killed.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Since the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) took up arms against the Sudanese government in Darfur in 2003, the Sudanese government has armed and supported local militia, known as the Janjawid, as a proxy force against the rebels. The Sudanese government and the Janjawid deliberately targeted civilians of the same ethnicity as the rebel groups as a counter-insurgency strategy. Rebel groups have also committed human rights abuses, including targeting humanitarian convoys and workers. Amnesty International and the UN have called the attacks committed in Darfur crimes against humanity and war crimes.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:

• condemning the abduction of six civilians from the village of Qadir in North Darfur by Janjawid militias who were accompanying the Sudan Armed Forces in an attack on a near by armed opposition Bir Maza on 15 November;

• calling on the Sudan Government to ensure the immediate release of the six civilians who have been unlawfully detained by the Janjawid militias since 15 November;

• urging the Sudan Government to disarm the Janjawid and hold to account all those who have been involved in attacking and unlawfully detaining civilians.

APPEALS TO:

Prof. Al-Zubair Bashir Taha
Minister of Internal Affairs
Ministry of  Interior
PO Box 281
Khartoum
Fax : +249 183 774339 / 776554
Salutation: Dear Minister

Lieutenant-General Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir

President and Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces

President's Palace

PO Box 281

Khartoum

Sudan

Fax: + 249 183 776603 / 777583

Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Dr Abdel Moneim Osman Taha
Advisory Council for Human Rights
PO Box 302
Khartoum
Fax: + 249 183 779173 / 770883

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 30 December 2006.