AFR 54/016/2006
UA 140/06
Fear for Safety/ Incommunicado Detention
SUDAN : Mossaad Mohamed Ali (m), human rights lawyer
Adam Mohamed Sharief (m), human rights lawyer
18 May 2006
Human rights lawyers Mossaad Mohamed Ali and Adam Mohamed Shareif, who work with the Amel Centre, were detained on 16 May by the National Security Agency (NSA) and are held incommunicado, putting them at risk of torture. They are well-known because of their work, and detaining them sends a clear message to victims of rape and torture that no one in Darfur who attempts to stand up for the rights of the victims is safe.
Mossaad Mohamed Ali is the Coordinator of the Amel Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in Nyala, state capital of South Darfur. Adam Mohamed Sharief is a member of the Amel Centre’s network of lawyers. Both are held in the NSA offices in Nyala.
The Amel Centre provides essential medical treatment, rehabilitation and legal aid for victims of torture.
The two men had been summoned to the NSA offices on 15 May, but released later that day and ordered to return the following morning. The NSA did not question them, and gave no reason for summoning them ; it has refused to allow the UN Mission in Sudan to see them, even though the authorities are supposed to allow the UN unrestricted access to all detainees held in Darfur.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Mossaad Mohamed Ali was previously summoned by the National Security Agency in November 2005 following a visit by the Bar Human Rights Committee (the international human rights arm of the Bar of England and Wales) and the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT).
Human rights defenders in Sudan are frequently detained incommunicado without trial for long periods solely because of their work in defence of human rights. Those working in Darfur have been particularly targeted. The Amel Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture is one of the main such centres in Darfur. It is situated in Nyala and has an office in Kalma Camp, for displaced persons forced to flee their homes by the fighting in the region, about 14km from Nyala. It has treated hundreds of people living in the camp, including rape victims.
On 5 May the government signed the Darfur Peace Agreement, promising to release those detained because of the conflict in Darfur and promising the peacekeeping civil police unhindered access to centres of detention.
RECOMMENDED ACTION :
Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Arabic and English or your own language :
expressing concern that Mossaad Mohamed Ali and Adam Mohamed Shareif have been detained and calling on the authorities to release them immediately ;
expressing concern that they are being held incommunicado and seeking assurances that they will not be tortured or ill-treated ;
calling on the authorities to ensure that they are given immediate access to their families, legal counsel and any medical attention they may need.
APPEALS TO :
Governor of South Darfur State
Al-Hajj Atta al-Manan
c/o People’s Palace,
P.O. Box 281,
Khartoum,
Sudan
Fax : +249 711 832535
Salutation : Dear Sir
Mr Salva Kiir Mayardit
First Vice-President,
People’s Palace, PO Box 281,
Khartoum,
Sudan
Fax : + 249 183 779977
+ 249 183 780796 (Please mark, « FAO First Vice-President »)
Salutation : Your Excellency
Director of the National Security Agency
Nyala, South Darfur,
Sudan
Fax : +249 7118 33191
Mr Muhammad Ali al-Maradhi
Minister of Justice and Attorney General,
Ministry of Justice,
Khartoum,
Sudan
Fax : + 249 183 780796 (Please mark, « FAO Minister of Justice »)
Email : info sudanjudiciary.org
Salutation : Dear Minister
COPIES TO :
Dr Abdel Moneim Osman Taha
Rapporteur, Advisory Council for Human Rights, Khartoum,
Sudan
Email : human_rights_sudan hotmail.com
Ambassade de la République du Soudan
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 124
1050 Bruxelles
Fax : 02.648.34.99
Email : sudanbx yahoo.com
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 29 June 2006.
