Port Sudan detainees launch hunger strike over ‘endless’ trial delays

By Suleiman Siri for Radio Dabanga

At least 83 detainees at Port Sudan Central Prison in Red Sea state have begun an indefinite hunger strike, effecting 06:00 today, protesting what they described as violations of their constitutional and legal right to a “fair and expeditious trial”, caused by the “systematic obstruction” of their cases for years as they are all being brought before a single judge.

The detainees addressed a lengthy memorandum to Sovereignty Council chairman Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, seen by Radio Dabanga, detailing what they described as shocking conditions inside the prison. They face charges of collaborating with the Rapid Support Forces, under articles 50 and 51 of the 1991 Criminal Act, relating to undermining the constitutional order and waging war against the state. The offences carry penalties of life imprisonment or death.

The detainees expressed deep frustration at being held in Port Sudan prison for almost two full years. Some, they said, had spent two years in detention without even being referred to court. This, they argued, had overturned all “legal standards” and transformed pre-trial detention – which is legally supposed to be an exceptional and temporary measure – into a prolonged, pre-emptive punishment without legal or humanitarian justification.

They complained of repeated adjournments and lengthy gaps between hearings, adding: “The crisis has become catastrophic because there is only one judge covering [the cases of] 83 detainees.” They said this was a human and administrative situation in which it was impossible to achieve any meaningful degree of justice or ensure the orderly administration of proceedings.

Families of the detainees interviewed by Radio Dabanga also described their suffering, particularly as they live outside Red Sea state and have to travel to visit their relatives held in Port Sudan prison. This means bearing the additional costs of travel and accommodation to check on their relatives and follow their cases, on top of lawyers’ fees, despite the presence of volunteer lawyers.

The sister of one prisoner told Radio Dabanga that the family was struggling to attend her brother’s hearings because of the repeated adjournments, particularly as they travel from distant states in the hope of securing his acquittal. She said the families were also being punished by these procedures, alongside their relatives in prison.

Since the outbreak of war on 15 April 2023, the number of detainees and convicted people held on political charges of collaborating with the RSF has exceeded 400. The number has since fallen to 261 detainees and convicted prisoners, thanks to decisions by the court of appeal, despite lengthy delays in proceedings, after lower courts had handed down death sentences and life imprisonment.

Human rights reports by local and international organisations have documented campaigns of arrests by military intelligence units and special operations forces in several states, targeting volunteers from resistance committees, emergency and service committees, and human rights defenders, without clear reasons.

Prisoners at Port Sudan Central Prison generally complain of deteriorating humanitarian conditions and a worsening sanitary environment, with severe overcrowding as prison wards are packed beyond their capacity. Services have also deteriorated, food is scarce, and medical care is completely absent. Their suffering increases during the summer, with high temperatures and humidity.

Absence of public prosecution representatives

According to their memorandum, the detainees said they were suffering from what they described as the deliberate and repeated disruption of court hearings because of the continued absence of public prosecution representatives, complainants, and prosecution witnesses. They said no firm measures had been taken against those who failed to attend, turning the judicial process into an endless series of unjustified adjournments that “keep us hostage behind bars without any substantive basis”.

They said the prolonged pre-trial detention and continued disruption had left prisoners in an extremely poor psychological and physical state. Some detainees had become completely desperate and no longer wanted to live. The health of some sick prisoners had also deteriorated alarmingly, including diabetics who were on the verge of losing their sight because of inadequate medical care and neglect inside the prison.

They again complained about the repeated postponement of hearings and the long intervals between them, saying the situation had become catastrophic because a single judge was responsible for the cases of 83 detainees. They described this as a human and administrative situation in which it was impossible to achieve any degree of justice or maintain orderly legal proceedings.

“Our cases involving our freedom and our lives are being held up for repeated administrative reasons within the state’s judicial system,” they said in their memorandum. “At times because the judge is ill, and at other times because he is on annual leave, without another judge being appointed or a permanent judicial panel established to deal with our urgent affairs.”

General amnesty and equality

In their memorandum to al-Burhan, the detainees called for their release, citing previous general and political amnesties issued by the leadership that covered various parties and individuals, including Keikal, al-Nour Qubba, al-Savana, and Ibrahim Bakkal.

They argued that the principles of justice and constitutional equality necessarily required these humanitarian and political decisions to extend to all detainees who had spent long periods in prison without their cases being resolved, particularly given the exceptional circumstances and humanitarian threats facing the country.

The detainees called for an urgent meeting with the chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, so that they could personally provide a full account of their suffering and explain the psychological and health conditions in which they were living inside Port Sudan prison, and place the entire case before him.

They renewed their call for a presidential general amnesty covering all detainees in related cases whose detention had been prolonged without a judicial conviction, or even referral to court, in line with similar sovereign decisions.

The detainees also called in their memorandum for immediate legal action, including urgent intervention by the chief justice to establish judicial panels and appoint dedicated judges in Port Sudan to clear what they described as the enormous backlog of “83 detainees before a single judge”.

If a comprehensive amnesty could not be granted, they called for strict deadlines to be imposed for concluding trials, for the failure of prosecution witnesses and complainants to attend to be dealt with under the law, and for urgent medical intervention in critical cases.