Three SCP leaders and Darfur student still detained in Sudan

23/01/2018 18:26 KHARTOUM

The president of the Sudanese Congress Party, Omar El Digeir, and two of his fellow party leaders remain in detention by the security service. Their whereabouts are unknown. In Khartoum, the detention of a student has continued for five months.

Omar El Digeir, chairman of SCP, who was not allowed to speak at press conference on 1 Feb 2016 (RD)

The president of the Sudanese Congress Party, Omar El Digeir, and two of his fellow party leaders remain in detention by the security service. Their whereabouts are unknown. In Khartoum, the detention of a student has continued for five months.

Hamza Faroug, prominent member of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) said that the detainees have not been allowed visitors. “The chairman of the SCP in Sennar state, Mahi Mohamed Suleiman, is also still in detention.

“The security service also arrested lawyer Igbal Ahmed Ali, who is a member of the SCP legal sector.” Both were detained when they attended a peaceful march on January 8.

The previous day, Omar El Digeir was held by security officers in El Obeid on Sunday morning, a few hours after former party leader Ibrahim El Sheikh and head of the SCP Human Rights Secretariat Jalal Mustafa were detained in Khartoum.

Nasreldin’s detention

The family of Nasreldin Mukhtar, as student who has been in detention by the Sudanese security apparatus since August 21 has expressed its concern about the deterioration of his health. He was recently transferred to a hospital by ambulance.

His family issued a press statement. “In light of the escalating wave of arrests of activists and students, Nasreldin Mukhtar has spent sixth months in detention without any justification or clear reasons since August 21, 2017.

“His transport by ambulance showed the effects of physical and psychological torture. The authorities did not allow us to visit him again for about a month, after we announced and explained his condition in public.”

Mukhtar is the former head of the Darfur Students Association branch of the University of the Holy Koran. He was detained earlier by the NISS, in 2015, for months, and released when his health deteriorated.

According to his brother who spoke to this station earlier this month, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) have allowed his relatives to visit him twice. The first time was after two months.