PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 54/002/2006

13 February 2006

UA 33/06 Fear of torture or ill-treatment/ incommunicado detention

SUDAN Alrayah Ibrahim Eldaw (m), staff member of the Sudan Development Organization (SUDO)

Sayed Abu Bakr (m), SUDO volunteer

Alfaris Ibrahim (m), SUDO staff member

Dawalbeit Kabbur (m), SUDO staff member

Osman Ali Ismael (m), SUDO staff member

Alrayah Ibrahim Eldaw, Alfaris Ibrahim, Dawalbeit Kabbur and Osman Ali Ismael, staff members of non-governmental organization the Sudan Development Organization (SUDO), and Sayed Abu Bakr, a volunteer for SUDO, are being held incommunicado and without charge by security forces in the town of Ed Dain in South Darfur. They are at risk of torture or ill-treatment.

The five human rights defenders were arrested on 13 February at Ed Dain University, as they conducted a training session on human rights monitoring, which had been organized by SUDO. At 11am, an unknown number of armed security personnel entered the room where the session was being held, and arrested the five men. The men are being held incommunicado at the Ed Dain Security Office. No reason has been given for their arrest, and they have not been notified of any charges against them.

SUDO is a voluntary organization created to promote sustainable development and human rights, and has organized a number of seminars and training sessions related to human rights. It is also engaged in humanitarian activities, providing emergency food and shelter in the war-torn region of Darfur. The head of SUDO, Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, has been arrested several times in recent years in relation to his human rights work (see for example UA 116/05, AFR 54/047/2005, 09 May 2005, and follow-ups).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The arrest and harassment of staff of human rights organizations occurs frequently in all parts of Sudan but is particularly widespread in Darfur. Most recently, on 22 January, a meeting of Africa-focussed international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in cooperation with Sudanese NGOs, taking place in Khartoum during the African Union Summit was also broken up by security forces. Participants were detained briefly and threatened. The authorities are apparently attempting to intimidate activists into ceasing their work. Sudanese human rights defenders are more vulnerable to such intimidation, and receive less mediaattention than international humanitarian and human rights workers in Sudan, therefore making them an easier target for the authorities.

Darfur has been the scene of internal armed conflict since February 2003, when the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) took up arms against the government because of what they perceived as the lack of government protection for their people and the marginalization and underdevelopment of the Darfur region. Fighting between these groups, government-backed forcesand the Janjawid militia has led to the displacement of over 1.8 million people internally and 220,000 as refugees across the border with Chad.

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

- expressing concern at the arrest of human rights defenders Alrayah Ibrahim Eldaw, Sayed Abu Bakr, Alfaris Ibrahim, Dawalbeit Kabbur and Osman Ali Ismael, while they conducted a training session on human rights monitoring in Ed Dain University;

- seeking assurances that they will not be tortured or ill-treated;

- calling for them to be given immediate access to lawyers, relatives and any necessary medical treatment;

- urging the authorities to release them immediately unless they are to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence;

- calling on the authorities to ensure that all human rights defenders in Sudan are able to carry out their legitimate human rights work, in line with Sudan's commitments under international human rights law.

APPEALS TO: Please note the postal system is unreliable, so please send appeals by fax to:

Governor of South Darfur

Alhaj Atta Almannan

Fax: + 249 711 832535

Salutation: Dear Governor

If you are unable to get through, please send appeals via the Sudanese embassy or diplomatic representative in your country, asking them to forward your appeals to the Governor of South Darfur.

COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Sudan accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 27 March 2006.