Sudan
21.02.01
Urgent Interventions
Sudan: torture and release
URGENT APPEAL - THE OBSERVATORY
SDN 001 / 0012 / OBS 127.01
Torture / Release
Sudan
21st February 2001
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Sudan.
New Information :
The Observatory has been informed by the Sudanese Victims of Torture Group (SVTG) that Mr Gazi Suliman and Mr Mohmoud Ali Hassanein were released on 17th February 2001 at 7pm.
Mr Gazi Suliman was very tired and in a poor state of health. His family sent him to the hospital. He confirmed to SVTG and a friend that he had been kept in solitary confinement, had been badly treated and given a very poor diet. Furthermore, he stated that he had been tortured.
Mohmoud Ali Hassanein also confirmed this information stating that he witnessed the torture of Gazi Suliman. He himself had been himself bitten by mice and rats in his cell on his arm and leg twice.
The Observatory wishes to thank all those individuals, organisations and institutions who intervened on their behalf.
Brief reminder of the facts :
The Observatory had been informed by the Sudanese Victims of Torture Group (SVTG), a member of the OMCT network, that two human rights activists, Mr Gazi Suliman and Mr Mohmoud Ali Hassanein were arrested on 9 December 2000.
At 1am, the security forces raided the house of Mr Gazi Suliman, a lawyer and chairperson of the Sudanese Human Rights Group (SHRO) arrested him at gun point and terrified his family. Mr Suliman requested them to show a warrant for arrest or search but the officers denied that this was needed. They searched his house, and took his briefcase which contained various personal, academic and legal documents. Then, he was taken to an unknown destination
In the afternoon of the same day, at 3:15pm, Mr Suliman had been taken to his office. 6 security forces officers, searched his office and various documents, some relating to his clients and others relating to the SHRO, were confiscated. At the office, Mr Suliman stated to his colleagues that he had not been allowed to take his medicins for diabetes and to eat something. After the office search, he was taken to an unknown destination.
The reason for his arrest was that he sent together with 19 other lawyers a petition to the Ministry of Justice concerning the 7 members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) who were arrested together with an American Diplomat in Khartoum on 6 December at 4pm. The American diplomat was
released shortly afterwards and was declared persona non grata and ordered to leave Sudan within 72 hours.
The NDA members had been attending a meeting of the NDA secretariat with the American diplomat and were arrested by the security forces who burst into the meeting, and confiscated the papers of the meeting. In the petition, Mr Suliman asked either for the release of the 7 NDA members or that they be charged. Furthermore he demanded that their whereabouts are made public, and that they are given permission to see their lawyers. He had also made a statement to a daily newspaper, criticising the government for the arrest of the NDA leaders.
Mr Mohmoud Ali Hassanein, another lawyer responsible for the petition, had also been arrested on 9 December 2000, at 7am. Like Mr Suliman, Mr Hassanein had also given a statement to a newspaper criticising the arrests.
The Observatory has already intervened in favour of Mr Gazi Suliman when he was arrested and sentenced to 5 months' imprisonment in January 1998 for the only reason of his activities for the promotion and defence of human rights. He was finally released after two weeks.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities of Sudan urging them to:
i. order an immediate investigation into these allegations of torture and ill-treatment in order to identify those responsible and bring them to justice;
ii. put an end to the harassment of human rights defenders by security forces;
iii. ensure the application of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the UN on December 9th 1998, especially with respect to the protection of the right of all persons, "...individually or in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" (Art.1.) as well as the duty of the State to ensure “the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration" (Art.12.2);
iv. ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan. Telex : 22385 PEPLC SD or 22411 KAID SD - Fax : (+249 11) 71 7 24
Mr. Abd al-Basit Sabdarat, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Telex : 22459 KHRJA SD or 22461 KHRJA SD (via Ministry of Foreign Affairs) - Fax : (+249 11) 740 63
Mr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan. Telex : 22459 KHRJA SD or 22461 KHRJA SD - Fax : (+249 11) 740 63
The Diplomatic Representatives of Sudan in your country.
Geneva – Paris, 21st February 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line: Fax: + 033 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel: FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT +41 22 809 49 39
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch
SDN 001 / 0012 / OBS 127.01
Torture / Release
Sudan
21st February 2001
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the FIDH and the OMCT, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Sudan.
New Information :
The Observatory has been informed by the Sudanese Victims of Torture Group (SVTG) that Mr Gazi Suliman and Mr Mohmoud Ali Hassanein were released on 17th February 2001 at 7pm.
Mr Gazi Suliman was very tired and in a poor state of health. His family sent him to the hospital. He confirmed to SVTG and a friend that he had been kept in solitary confinement, had been badly treated and given a very poor diet. Furthermore, he stated that he had been tortured.
Mohmoud Ali Hassanein also confirmed this information stating that he witnessed the torture of Gazi Suliman. He himself had been himself bitten by mice and rats in his cell on his arm and leg twice.
The Observatory wishes to thank all those individuals, organisations and institutions who intervened on their behalf.
Brief reminder of the facts :
The Observatory had been informed by the Sudanese Victims of Torture Group (SVTG), a member of the OMCT network, that two human rights activists, Mr Gazi Suliman and Mr Mohmoud Ali Hassanein were arrested on 9 December 2000.
At 1am, the security forces raided the house of Mr Gazi Suliman, a lawyer and chairperson of the Sudanese Human Rights Group (SHRO) arrested him at gun point and terrified his family. Mr Suliman requested them to show a warrant for arrest or search but the officers denied that this was needed. They searched his house, and took his briefcase which contained various personal, academic and legal documents. Then, he was taken to an unknown destination
In the afternoon of the same day, at 3:15pm, Mr Suliman had been taken to his office. 6 security forces officers, searched his office and various documents, some relating to his clients and others relating to the SHRO, were confiscated. At the office, Mr Suliman stated to his colleagues that he had not been allowed to take his medicins for diabetes and to eat something. After the office search, he was taken to an unknown destination.
The reason for his arrest was that he sent together with 19 other lawyers a petition to the Ministry of Justice concerning the 7 members of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) who were arrested together with an American Diplomat in Khartoum on 6 December at 4pm. The American diplomat was
released shortly afterwards and was declared persona non grata and ordered to leave Sudan within 72 hours.
The NDA members had been attending a meeting of the NDA secretariat with the American diplomat and were arrested by the security forces who burst into the meeting, and confiscated the papers of the meeting. In the petition, Mr Suliman asked either for the release of the 7 NDA members or that they be charged. Furthermore he demanded that their whereabouts are made public, and that they are given permission to see their lawyers. He had also made a statement to a daily newspaper, criticising the government for the arrest of the NDA leaders.
Mr Mohmoud Ali Hassanein, another lawyer responsible for the petition, had also been arrested on 9 December 2000, at 7am. Like Mr Suliman, Mr Hassanein had also given a statement to a newspaper criticising the arrests.
The Observatory has already intervened in favour of Mr Gazi Suliman when he was arrested and sentenced to 5 months' imprisonment in January 1998 for the only reason of his activities for the promotion and defence of human rights. He was finally released after two weeks.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities of Sudan urging them to:
i. order an immediate investigation into these allegations of torture and ill-treatment in order to identify those responsible and bring them to justice;
ii. put an end to the harassment of human rights defenders by security forces;
iii. ensure the application of the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the General Assembly of the UN on December 9th 1998, especially with respect to the protection of the right of all persons, "...individually or in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels" (Art.1.) as well as the duty of the State to ensure “the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure, adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration" (Art.12.2);
iv. ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan. Telex : 22385 PEPLC SD or 22411 KAID SD - Fax : (+249 11) 71 7 24
Mr. Abd al-Basit Sabdarat, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Telex : 22459 KHRJA SD or 22461 KHRJA SD (via Ministry of Foreign Affairs) - Fax : (+249 11) 740 63
Mr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan. Telex : 22459 KHRJA SD or 22461 KHRJA SD - Fax : (+249 11) 740 63
The Diplomatic Representatives of Sudan in your country.
Geneva – Paris, 21st February 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need.
The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line: Fax: + 033 (0) 1 55 80 83 92
Tel: FIDH 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 OMCT +41 22 809 49 39
E-mail: observatoire@iprolink.ch