Arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances raise alarms across Sudan

Security authorities in Abu Jubeiha, South Kordofan, reportedly arrested hospital clerical worker Ahmed Hassan Shamboul yesterday without providing any reason for the detention. The arrest has sparked widespread concern among his family and local residents, amid fears of escalating political repression in the area.

According to eyewitnesses and relatives who spoke to Radio Dabanga, “a force of the security service stopped Shamboul in front of the main gate of Abu Jubeiha Hospital and took him to one of the security offices nearby, without providing any explanations about the circumstances or motives of the detention.”

A family member said Shamboul was arrested during “an intensive security campaign that included house searches and large-scale arrests.” Local sources reportedly linked the campaign to “attempts to settle political accounts, in light of tensions between the parties to the conflict in the country.”

Sources further described the events as “the systematic campaign carried out by elements of the former regime against its opponents, or those suspected of sympathising with the Rapid Support Forces.”

Radio Dabanga attempted to obtain an official response from security authorities in Abu Jubeiha, but all requests for comment went unanswered.

Human rights lawyers and civil society activists have called for Shamboul’s immediate release or for him to be brought to trial if there are formal charges, stressing “the importance of respecting human rights and the requirements of justice in light of the sensitive situation in the country.”

‘Enforced disappearance’

The Emergency Lawyers group condemned the continued detention of writer and historian Khaled Beheiri, who has reportedly been held “for the fifth month, in an unknown place, without a judicial order.”

According to the group, “Beheiri was taken from his home on January 14, and has since remained [in] arbitrary detention, while denying him access to his lawyer and family.” He appeared only once, “three months after his arrest, in the El Managil locality [of El Gezira],” and “the effects of fatigue appeared on him, and his health condition deteriorated as a result of the harsh conditions of detention.”

The Emergency Lawyers stated that Beheiri’s arrest came “against the background of his peaceful civil activity,” including his role in leading “relief initiatives in the city of Wad Madani” and documenting these efforts online.

The group warned that “the continuation of this pattern of enforced disappearance is a serious violation of constitutional rights and international law, especially the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention Against Enforced Disappearance.”

They demanded “the immediate and unconditional release of Khaled Beheiri, the disclosure of his place and conditions of detention,” and stressed that “the party that arrested him bears fully responsible for his physical and psychological integrity.”

These developments come as security crackdowns intensify across Sudan. The El Gezira state government previously stated it had “arrested more than 4,000 people.”

Rights organisations continue to accuse authorities of carrying out arbitrary detentions in areas recently recaptured by the Sudanese Armed Forces.