Sudan
02.06.04
Urgent Interventions
Sudan: incommunicado detention since February 22nd of Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir
Case SDN 020604
Incommunicado detention / Risk of torture
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 a Sudanese Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, of the incommunicado detention since February 22nd, 2004, of Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir in Sudan.
According to the information received, on Sunday, 22 February 2004, Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir was arrested by National Security Agency (NSA) officers, at his home in Souba, Khartoum. Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir, 52, a member of the Fur tribe, from Jabal Marra region, Darfur, is an employee at the Ministry for Environment and Urban Development. He was requested to accompany the security officers to the NSA headquarters for brief questioning, and the officers promised his family that he will return home later on that day. However, he failed to return home that night and continues to be detained until the present.
The following day, February 23rd, 2004, his family contacted his office and informed them that Mr. Mamoun had been arrested; executives at the Ministry confirmed to them that he is being detained by the NSA.
Mr. Mamoun's family made several requests to see him, the first request was on March 6th, 2004 and the last was on May 29th, 2004, but since his arrest they have not been able to see him. He has not faced any official charges and his whereabouts remain unknown, giving rise to fears that he may be being subjected to torture or ill treatment.
Mr Mamoun was previously arrested in 1989 when he was living in Nyala, Darfur, and was detained at Shala prison for three months.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir, given that he has been detained incommunicado for a lengthy period of time, during which he has faced a heightened risk of being subjected to torture or ill treatment. OMCT calls upon the Sudanese authorities to immediately locate Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir’s whereabouts, to guarantee his personal integrity and to release him in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. OMCT also urges the authorities to launch a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify those responsible and bring them to justice. Finally, OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:
i. immediately locate Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir’s whereabouts;
ii. take all measures necessary to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity;
iii. order his immediate release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of this arrest and incommunicado detention, and any allegations of torture and/or ill treatment, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, President' s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 783223
· Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 788941
· Mr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 779383
· Dr. Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 770883
· 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.
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, June 2nd, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Incommunicado detention / Risk of torture
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 a Sudanese Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, of the incommunicado detention since February 22nd, 2004, of Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir in Sudan.
According to the information received, on Sunday, 22 February 2004, Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir was arrested by National Security Agency (NSA) officers, at his home in Souba, Khartoum. Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir, 52, a member of the Fur tribe, from Jabal Marra region, Darfur, is an employee at the Ministry for Environment and Urban Development. He was requested to accompany the security officers to the NSA headquarters for brief questioning, and the officers promised his family that he will return home later on that day. However, he failed to return home that night and continues to be detained until the present.
The following day, February 23rd, 2004, his family contacted his office and informed them that Mr. Mamoun had been arrested; executives at the Ministry confirmed to them that he is being detained by the NSA.
Mr. Mamoun's family made several requests to see him, the first request was on March 6th, 2004 and the last was on May 29th, 2004, but since his arrest they have not been able to see him. He has not faced any official charges and his whereabouts remain unknown, giving rise to fears that he may be being subjected to torture or ill treatment.
Mr Mamoun was previously arrested in 1989 when he was living in Nyala, Darfur, and was detained at Shala prison for three months.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir, given that he has been detained incommunicado for a lengthy period of time, during which he has faced a heightened risk of being subjected to torture or ill treatment. OMCT calls upon the Sudanese authorities to immediately locate Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir’s whereabouts, to guarantee his personal integrity and to release him in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards. OMCT also urges the authorities to launch a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into these events, in order to identify those responsible and bring them to justice. Finally, OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee that adequate reparation is provided to Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:
i. immediately locate Mr. Ma'moun Issa Abd Algadir’s whereabouts;
ii. take all measures necessary to guarantee his physical and psychological integrity;
iii. order his immediate release in the absence of legal charges that are consistent with international law and standards, or, if such charges exist, bring him before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee his procedural rights at all times;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of this arrest and incommunicado detention, and any allegations of torture and/or ill treatment, in order to identify all those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, President' s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 783223
· Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 788941
· Mr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 779383
· Dr. Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 770883
· 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.
Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective country.
Geneva, June 2nd, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.