PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 54/085/2006

05 December 2006

Further Information on UA 310/06 (AFR 54/076/2006, 17 November 2006) – 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 (m) (name corrected)

New names: Bashir Digin Abdallah (m)

Bakhit Ibrahim (m)

The six men named above were released by the Janjawid on 17 November and have been able to make their way back to their village. However, two other Zaghawa men from their village, named above, were abducted the same day (14 November, not 15 as given previously). These men were held with them but have not been released. They are subjected to forced labour and are at serious risk of being tortured or otherwise ill-treated, or unlawfully killed.

The six said that they were bound, blindfolded, stripped of their clothes and badly beaten. They were interrogated about subjects including the whereabouts of rebel groups. They were also insulted by the Janjawid who said things like "You are our slaves," and "You can’t govern the Sudan with us". They were then made to herd all the cattle which the Janjawid had looted.

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 government has armed and supported local militia, known as the Janjawid, as a proxy force against the rebels. The Sudanese government and the Janjawid have deliberately targeted civilians of the same ethnicity as the rebel groups, as part of their strategy against the rebels. 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:

- noting that the Janjawid militia have released six of the civilians they abducted on 14 November in the village of Qadir in North Darfur, while operating alongside the Sudan Armed Forces;

- calling on the government to ensure that the two men still in Janjawid custody (naming them) are released immediately;

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

APPEALS TO:

Minister of Internal Affairs

Prof. Al-Zubair Bashir Taha

Ministry of Interior

PO Box 281

Khartoum, Sudan

Fax : +249 183 774339

+249 183 776554

Salutation: Dear Minister

President

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

+ 249 183 777583

Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:

Dr Abdel Moneim Osman Taha

Rapporteur

Advisory Council for Human Rights

PO Box 302

Khartoum

human_rights_sudan@hotmail.com

Fax: +249 183 779173

+249 183 770883

and 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 17 January 2006.

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