Sudan
29.10.04
Urgent Interventions
Sudan: arbitrary arrest and ill-treatment of two adults and two minors
Case SDN 291004/ SDN 291004.CC
Urgent Appeal / Child Concern
Arbitrary Arrest / Ill-treatment/ Torture / Risk to life
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sudan.
Brief Description of the Situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudan Organisation against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, of the arrest of:
1. Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, 18 years old
2. Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, 32 years old
3. Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, 17 years old
4. Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan, 15 years old
According to the information received, these two men and two minors from the Birgit tribe and resident in Janjonat, were arrested on 6 October 2004, by the Armed Forces and the Military Intelligence, from a place between Janjonat and Labanti villages, near Doumma, 12 km North of Nyala.
According to the information provided, they were initially taken to the military intelligence offices in Nyala and detained there for 4 days. They were then moved to Nyala Central (Wasat) police station and remained there for 7 days. Finally, the two men and two minors were moved to Nyala prison where they are currently being detained.
Also according to the information, while in the military intelligence offices in Nyala, they were subjected to torture in order them to confess their involvement with rebel group. They were beaten with sticks and kicked with boots on their stomach, heads and backs and all over their bodies.
All four are reportedly charged with joining the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and committing crimes against the state under articles 50 (Offences against the State, undermining the Constitutional System), 51 (Waging war against the state), 58 (Offences relating to Disciplinary Forces – Abetment of Mutiny), 107 (Screening or harbouring offenders) of the 1991 Penal Code, which carries the death penalty.
SOAT’s lawyers have visited the detainees in Nyala prison and submitted an application on 26 October 2004 to the Attorney General requesting a medical examination of the detainees.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the physical and psychological integrity of the detainees Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, and Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan and urges the Sudanese authorities to ensure that they will undergo a fair trial, in which statements made as a result of torture will not be invoked as evidence against them. Concerning the cases of 17 year old Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam and 15 year old Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan, OMCT recalls that Sudan, as a state party to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, is bound by the provisions that a child shall only be deprived of liberty “(…) as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time” (Art. 37 (b)), as well as the “guarantee to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law (i) and to have the matter determined without delay by a competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body in a fair hearing according to law (iii)” (Art. 40, §2.(b)). Moreover under article 37(a), (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.” OMCT calls on the authorities to launch prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the circumstances of these events in order to find those responsible for any violations of human rights and to bring them to justice.
Action Requested
Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, and Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan;
ii. intervene with the proper authorities to ensure that adequate medical assistance is provided as a matter of urgency to all persons who require it;
iii. ensure that their rights to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law would be granted and that there procedural rights be respected;
iv. launch a thorough and impartial investigation in order to identify those responsible for the torture of Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, and Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. guarantee that adequate compensation would be awarded to Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, and Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan;
vi. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses:
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, October 29, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Urgent Appeal / Child Concern
Arbitrary Arrest / Ill-treatment/ Torture / Risk to life
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Sudan.
Brief Description of the Situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudan Organisation against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, of the arrest of:
1. Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, 18 years old
2. Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, 32 years old
3. Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, 17 years old
4. Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan, 15 years old
According to the information received, these two men and two minors from the Birgit tribe and resident in Janjonat, were arrested on 6 October 2004, by the Armed Forces and the Military Intelligence, from a place between Janjonat and Labanti villages, near Doumma, 12 km North of Nyala.
According to the information provided, they were initially taken to the military intelligence offices in Nyala and detained there for 4 days. They were then moved to Nyala Central (Wasat) police station and remained there for 7 days. Finally, the two men and two minors were moved to Nyala prison where they are currently being detained.
Also according to the information, while in the military intelligence offices in Nyala, they were subjected to torture in order them to confess their involvement with rebel group. They were beaten with sticks and kicked with boots on their stomach, heads and backs and all over their bodies.
All four are reportedly charged with joining the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and committing crimes against the state under articles 50 (Offences against the State, undermining the Constitutional System), 51 (Waging war against the state), 58 (Offences relating to Disciplinary Forces – Abetment of Mutiny), 107 (Screening or harbouring offenders) of the 1991 Penal Code, which carries the death penalty.
SOAT’s lawyers have visited the detainees in Nyala prison and submitted an application on 26 October 2004 to the Attorney General requesting a medical examination of the detainees.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the physical and psychological integrity of the detainees Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, and Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan and urges the Sudanese authorities to ensure that they will undergo a fair trial, in which statements made as a result of torture will not be invoked as evidence against them. Concerning the cases of 17 year old Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam and 15 year old Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan, OMCT recalls that Sudan, as a state party to the Convention of the Rights of the Child, is bound by the provisions that a child shall only be deprived of liberty “(…) as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time” (Art. 37 (b)), as well as the “guarantee to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law (i) and to have the matter determined without delay by a competent, independent and impartial authority or judicial body in a fair hearing according to law (iii)” (Art. 40, §2.(b)). Moreover under article 37(a), (b) of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, “no child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no child shall be deprived of his or her liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily.” OMCT calls on the authorities to launch prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into the circumstances of these events in order to find those responsible for any violations of human rights and to bring them to justice.
Action Requested
Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, and Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan;
ii. intervene with the proper authorities to ensure that adequate medical assistance is provided as a matter of urgency to all persons who require it;
iii. ensure that their rights to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law would be granted and that there procedural rights be respected;
iv. launch a thorough and impartial investigation in order to identify those responsible for the torture of Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, and Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. guarantee that adequate compensation would be awarded to Yagoub Abdella Yagoub, Musa Ahmed Mohamed Kamees, Hamid Abdel Majeed Ateam, and Mohamed Mahmoud Abdella Hassan;
vi. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses:
- President of the Republic of Sudan, His Excellency Lieutenant-General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President' s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +24911 771024 / 771651 / 779977
- First Vice-President, Mr Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, People's Palace PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : + 249 11 779977 / 771025
- Mr Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 11 771479
- Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Mustafa Osman Ismail, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax :+249 11 779383
- Advisory Council for Human Rights, Dr Yasir Sid Ahmed, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 779173 / 770883
- Minister of Internal Affairs, Major General Abdul-Rahim Muhammed Hussein, Ministry of Interior, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 11 774339 / 776554 / 777900 / 773046 / 770186
- Minister of Federal Government, Dr Nafie Ali Nafie, Office of the Presidents People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax : +24911 771651 / 783223
- Governor of North Darfur, General Ibrahim Sulayman, c/o People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 731 42696
- His Excellency Ambassador Mr. Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +4122 731 26 56, E-mail: mission.sudan@ties.itu.int; mission.sudan@bluewin.ch.
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, October 29, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.