Six activists detained in Sudan’s Sennar and El Gedaref in two weeks

A joint force of Sudan’s military intelligence and the General Intelligence Service (GIS) agents detained a member of El Gedaref Resistance Committees, bringing the total number of activists reportedly detained within past two weeks to six.

Witnesses report that the authorities have Ayman Hariri, a member of the Resistance Committees El Gedaref as well as Aref Abdullah on April 9. Two days later activist Walid Mohammed El Rih was also detained and taken to the same detention centre.

Reliable sources told Radio Dabanga that more detentions occurred across the state, including Mohammed Abdullah and Hassan Idris, members of a local Resistance Committee, and the imam of a mosque in the Salama El Bey neighbourhood.

Activists explained to Radio Dabanga that military intelligence and the GIS collaborate to detain anyone who opposes the war or calls for its cessation. Activists and outspoken leaders have been detained without any charges being brought forward.

The authorities in the states of North Kordofan, Sennar and White Nile are also waging similar campaigns for activists in emergency rooms and political parties.

Detentions in Sennar

The Emergency Lawyers group said that the security authorities detained 48 people in Sennar since the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took control of El Gezira, explaining that the detentions included the localities of Singa, Sennar, El Dinder, Abu Hajjar, and others, and warned of more detentions to come.

Emergency lawyers pointed out in a report on Saturday that there is no legal framework that gives the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) the authority to detain, and that some detainees ‘were taken hostage’ to pressure their relatives to surrender, noting the detentions were accompanied by night raids and violation of homes in addition to insulting and degrading detainees. They pointed to systematic surveillance and inspection campaigns targeting political activists at the entrances and crossings of the state.

Enforced disappearance

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, the Sudanese civil society group, Missing Initiative, report staggering documentation regarding the ongoing conflict in Sudan, detailing a total of 990 cases of enforced disappearances since the conflict erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Among the victims are 95 women and at least 50 children, according to the initiative’s latest report published yesterday.

Speaking to Radio Dabanga, the head of the Missing Initiative states they received reports of between five and 10 missing children per month.