Complaint against Sudan security service by cultural centre

In El Gedaref, a cultural forum filed a complaint against Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), which stopped one of its events.

El Shorouq Cultural Forum filed the administrative complaint against the state’s security apparatus for preventing it from celebrating October Memorial at Deim Hamad club over the weekend.

The head of the forum, Ramzi Yahya, said that the security services intervened ten minutes before the start of the event and announced their decision to prevent it. “This caused great material and moral damage to the forum and its guests.”

He explained that the forum will make a strong case because preventing such public activities contradicts the Sudanese constitution. “The security apparatus also prevented public events of ours in 2016.

“Starting 2007, El Shorouq Cultural Forum in El Gadaref has been registered in the cultural groups' act and has regularly been engaged in arts, music, social issues and combating harmful customs in Sudan, such as racial discrimination and violence against women.

The administration of culture in El Gedaref has allowed the forum to exercise its activities elsewhere. But holding these activities at places such as El Gedaref Club and the Teachers’ Club has made the forum vulnerable to targeting by the security service, Yahya said.