Joint Statement: Urgent safety concern for student activists detained incommunicado after Khartoum University protests

Paris-Geneva-Kampala,May 17, 2016. Sudanese authorities should immediately release and guaranteethe safety of 12 student activists currently detained incommunicado and withoutcharges by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) inconnection with protests on the University of Khartoum campus, FIDH, the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the African Centre for Justice andPeace Studies (ACJPS) said today. There are serious concerns for the safety ofthe students who have been denied access to their families and lawyers.Authorities have also refused access for lawyers to three other students whoare currently detained incommunicado in police custody, accused of attacking apolice officer during protests at the University of Khartoum.

On May 5, 2016, at around 2pmlocal time, a group of plain-clothed NISS officers, armed with Kalashnikovrifles and pistols, raided the offices of prominent human rights lawyer Mr. NabilAdib in Khartoum. At the time of the raid, Nabil Adib, Chairperson of the Sudanese Human Rights Monitor (SHRM), aKhartoum-based human rights organisation, was holding a meeting at his legaloffices with a group of students who had recently been dismissed or suspendedfrom studies at the University of Khartoum following protests on the campus. 10students, who were meeting with lawyers to discuss an administrative appeal tothe dismissals, were detained from the office together with two lawyers and twofemale employees of the law firm.

During the armed raid, NISSofficers ransacked the law office and seized legal files and equipment,including Nabil Adib's personal laptop, without providing a warrant and inviolation of the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and theprinciple of lawyer-client confidentiality. Lawyers present in the office wereforced to crouch beneath their desks during the raid and the two femaleemployees were beaten.

“Theviolent raid on Nabil Adib’s human rights law firm is the latest in a catalogueof attacks by Sudan’s security agency against independent Sudanese civil society.Sudanese authorities must immediately cease all arbitrary restrictions andabuses against human rights defenders, student activists and others”, said Mossaad Mohamed Ali of ACJPS.

The lawyers and employees werereleased at around 8pm the same day after interrogations at NISS offices inKhartoum North, but the 10 student activists remain detained incommunicado andwithout charge. Eight male students are currently detained at the politicalsection of the NISS nearby to Shendi Bus Station in Khartoum North, while twofemale students detained during the raid have been transferred to a section ofOmdurman Women’s Prison run by the NISS.

In a separate incident two dayslater on May 7, two other student activists who were also dismissed fromstudies at the University of Khartoum, Muafaq Mohamed Abdul Hafiz and MohamedOmer Hamid, were detained by the NISS in Um Dagarsy village, Al Jazeerastate. It is thought that the two men, who were reportedly detained whilst onroute to Al Gadarif state, have since been transferred to NISS custody inKhartoum, although authorities have refused to disclose their whereabouts.

There are also serious safetyconcerns for three students detained incommunicado in police custody inconnection with the recent protests at the University of Khartoum. Requests bylawyers to visit their clients have been denied. Asim Omer, AdamHassan Mohamadien and Fatih Mohamed Abdu Ismail, were arrested bythe NISS in three separate incidents between May 2 and 5, and later transferredto police custody. Lawyers have been informed that their clients are chargedunder Article 130 (murder) of the 1991 Criminal Act in connection with anattack on a police officer during a protest at the University of Khartoum.

The lack of access for lawyersand family members to the 12 students detained in NISS custody and three othersnow in police custody, together with the well-documented use by the NISS oftorture and other forms of ill-treatment against detainees, gives rise toserious concerns for their safety.

“Our organisations call on the Sudanese authorities to immediatelyguarantee the safety of the student detainees, grant them immediate andunequivocal access to their lawyers and family members, and release them in theabsence of valid legal charges consistent with international standards”, said Karim Lahidji, Presidentof the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).

A total of 17 students weredismissed from study at the University of Khartoum following theirparticipation in nationwidestudent protests that started at the University of Khartoum on April 13, 2016.Six students were dismissed permanently and 11 others suspended from studiesfor two years. On April 19 and 27, 2016, two student activists, Abubakar Hassan and Mohamed al-Sadiq Wayo were killed in two separate incidents whengovernment forces used live ammunition to disperse demonstrators on twouniversity campuses.

“We are deeply concerned bythe systematic pattern of abuse by Sudan’s security agency and repeated resortto the excessive use of force by Sudanese authorities to suppress peacefulsocial movements. Sudanese authorities must immediately put an end to theon-going crackdown against student activists in the country and ensure justiceand reparations for all victims of human rights violations”,Gerald Staberock, OMCT SecretaryGeneral.

Furtherinformation

Namesof students detained incommunicado by the NISS following armed raid on NabilAdib’s law office on May 5

1. HassanAlday Mohammed, (m), University of Khartoum Faculty of Law, Level 4, dismissedfrom studies.

2. MohammedAlmahjoub Otaiba, (m), University of Khartoum Faculty of Law, Level 4,suspended from studies for 2 years.

3. HamidOmar Digno, (m), University of Khartoum, brother of student Mohamed Omer Hamidwho was dismissed from studies at the University of Khartoum.

4. MudasirTayseer Mudasir, (m), University of Khartoum Faculty of Science, Level 5,suspended from studies for 2 years.

5. MaiAdil Ibrahim, (f), University of Khartoum Faculty of Engineering, Level 4,suspended from studies for 2 years.

6. HusseinYahya Haran, (m), University of Khartoum Faculty of Science, Level 4, suspendedfrom studies for 2 years.

7. BadrAlddin Salah Mohammed, (m), University of Khartoum, Faculty of Economics­,Level 1, suspended from studies for 2 years.

8. WifagGurashi, (f), University of Khartoum Faculty of Arts, Level 3, dismissed fromstudies.

The names of two other male students detained fromNabil Adib’s law offices are not disclosed.

Names of students detained in Al Jazeera State on May 7, currentlydetained incommunicado by the NISS in Khartoum

1. Muafaq Mohamed Abdul Hafiz, (m), Universityof Khartoum, dismissed from studies.

2. Mohamed Omer Hamid, (m), dismissed fromstudies.

Names of students detained incommunicado in police custody in Khartoum

1. Asim Omer, (m), University of Khartoum,arrested by the NISS in front of the University of Khartoum on 2 May 2016,later transferred to police custody.

2. Adam Hassan Mohamadien, (m), University ofKhartoum, arrested by the NISS from a public garden in Omdurman on 5 May 2016,later transferred to police custody.

3. Fatih Mohamed Abdu Ismail, (m), University ofKhartoum, suspended from studies for 2 years, location and date of detentionunclear, currently in police custody.

For more information, please contact:

• FIDH: Arthur Manet/Audrey Couprie: + 33 (0) 143 55 25 18

• OMCT: Delphine Reculeau: +41 22 809 49 39
• ACJPS: Mossaad Mohamed Ali, ExecutiveDirector, +256 779584542 or Katherine Perks, Programme Director, +256775072136, info@acjps.org