01/25/2019
Sudan: Two government critics killed
Human rights activists demand independent investigation into violence against protesters (Press release)
"In order to punish those who are responsible, it is necessary to document the killings, the enforced disappearances, the cases of torture of protesters, the systematic violations of the right to demonstrate and the freedom of assembly, and the targeted obstruction of media coverage in the country and abroad". Photo: United Nations Photo via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Following the violent deaths of two government critics in the course of public protests in Sudan, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls for independent investigations by United Nations human rights experts. "In order to punish those who are responsible, it is necessary to document the killings, the enforced disappearances, the cases of torture of protesters, the systematic violations of the right to demonstrate and the freedom of assembly, and the targeted obstruction of media coverage in the country and abroad," the STP stated in an appeal to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. On Thursday, 22-year-old Abdel-Azem Babikir got killed in the course of protests in Khartoum – and, according to doctors, medical student Mahjoub al-Taj Mahjoub Ibrahim died as a result of torture in the custody of NISS.
According to official figures, at least 29 people have already been killed in the course of the protests in Sudan, which have been going on for five weeks. According to estimates by several human rights organizations, the actual number of victims is higher than that, probably more than 40.
On Thursday, the Sudanese capital experienced the biggest protests since the beginning of the riots. Thousands of demonstrators took part in a star march from 17 different districts to the presidential palace, demanding President Omar Hassan, who has been ruling the country for 29 years, to step down. In the days before, there had also been public protests in many other cities.
"We fear that the fate of the medical student is not an isolated case – and we are very worried about other protesters who are kept detained by NISS," emphasized Ulrich Delius, the STP's director, in Göttingen on Friday. "We fear that 46-year-old Ahmed Abdalla Omer might even be in danger of dying in the torture chambers of NISS." The agricultural engineer had been kidnapped by intelligence officials in the course of a demonstration in Omdurman on January 20, 2019. Officially, NISS denied having detained the man.
Header image: United Nations Photo via Flickr
