Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance & Other Ill Treatment In the early years of the 21st Century, 2000 to
2025 gvnet.com/torture/Sudan.htm
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CAUTION: The following links
have been culled from the web to illuminate the situation in Sudan. Some of these links may lead to websites
that present allegations that are unsubstantiated or even false. No
attempt has been made to validate their authenticity or to verify their content. HOW TO USE THIS WEBPAGE Students If you are looking
for material to use in a term-paper, you are advised to scan the postings on
this page and others to see which aspects of Torture by Authorities are of
particular interest to you. You might
be interested in exploring the moral justification for inflicting pain or
inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment in order to obtain critical
information that may save countless lives, or to elicit a confession for a
criminal act, or to punish someone to teach him a lesson outside of the
courtroom. Perhaps your paper might
focus on some of the methods of torture, like fear, extreme temperatures,
starvation, thirst, sleep deprivation, suffocation, or immersion in freezing
water. On the other hand, you might
choose to write about the people acting in an official capacity who
perpetrate such cruelty. There is a
lot to the subject of Torture by Authorities.
Scan other countries as well as this one. Draw comparisons between activity in
adjacent countries and/or regions.
Meanwhile, check out some of the Term-Paper resources
that are available on-line. ***
ARCHIVES *** 2020 Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices: Sudan U.S. Dept of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor, 30 March 2021 www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/sudan/
[accessed 13 July
2021] TORTURE AND OTHER
CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT On December 16, the
RSF detained Bahaa el-Din Nouri in Khartoum. His
body was found in a morgue five days later showing signs of torture while in
custody. The case was referred to the prosecutor’s office and remained
pending at year’s end. PRISON AND DETENTION
CENTER CONDITIONS Prison conditions
throughout the country remained harsh and life threatening; overcrowding was
a major problem, as was inadequate health care. Physical
Conditions: The nongovernmental organization (NGO) World Prison Brief
estimated, based on 2009 and 2017 data, that the country’s prisons held
approximately 21,000 prisoners in facilities designed for 7,500 prisoners. ARREST PROCEDURES
AND TREATMENT OF DETAINEES Suspects in common criminal
cases, such as theft were compelled to confess guilt while in police custody
through physical abuse and police intimidation of family members. Freedom House
Country Report 2020 Edition freedomhouse.org/country/sudan/freedom-world/2020 [accessed 15 May
2020] F3. IS THERE PROTECTION FROM THE ILLEGITIMATE
USE OF PHYSICAL FORCE AND FREEDOM FROM WAR AND INSURGENCIES? Torture and abuse
of prisoners was rampant under al-Bashir, and intensified as antigovernment protests
gathered momentum, according to UN human rights monitors. Civilians were
frequently victims of deadly violence during the final months of al-Bashir’s
rule and the TMC’s short time in power. In July 2019, the Central Committee
of Sudanese Doctors reported that 246 people had been killed and more than
1,300 wounded since the start of the protest movement in December 2018, most
of them killed by the security forces. To date, almost
none of the perpetrators of these attacks have been held to account, though
eight RSF members were arrested in August 2019 for their involvement in the
June massacre in Khartoum. Sudan Releases 13
Christians Arrested in Darfur after Torture, Threats Morning Star News,
Juba, South Sudan, 23 October 2018 [accessed 23 October
2018] Personnel from
Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) released 12 of the
Christians by Sunday (Oct. 21) and freed church leader Tajaldin
Idriss Yousif on Monday,
all without charges, but they threatened to charge the native Darfur
evangelist and others with apostasy, public disturbance and crimes against
the state, sources said. “All of them were
said to be tortured by NISS and are in bad shape,” a source said. “One of
them is said to be in critical condition owing to torture. He is said to have
been vomiting and bleeding. He was rushed to a hospital, but he was not
attended to by the physicians in that hospital.” Op-ed:
Will Sudan end torture? Ahmed Elzobier, Amnesty International, 3 April 2018 www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/04/op-ed-will-sudan-end-torture/ [accessed 15 April
2018] The NISS has broad
powers of arrest and detention under the National Security Act 2010. This Act
has systematically been used as an instrument to intimidate, silence, and
punish political opponents. NISS has the power to detain suspects for up to
four-and-a-half months without judicial review. The same law also shields NISS
agents from prosecution for any offence they commit in their work. This has
resulted in a pervasive culture of impunity. Armed security
forces in plainclothes, forcefully handcuff, blindfold and shove victims into
their cars. Victims are beaten with sticks, iron bars, gun butts, or kicked,
and verbally abused. Several victims told Amnesty International that they
were severely beaten for hours by several NISS agents. Some are subjected to
electric shocks, whippings, solitary confinement, or they are forced to stand
facing a wall, and not are to talk to each other. Some have fainted during
the torture. Some have been raped. Autopsy
confirms death by torture of Darfur detainee Dabanga, Gireida, 19 January 2018 www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/autopsy-confirms-death-by-torture-of-darfur-detainee [accessed 20 January
2018] An official medical
report has confirmed the death by torture of a pharmacy employee during his
detention by security officers in Gireida, South
Darfur. A family member of
Ahmed spoke to Radio Dabanga yesterday. The autopsy
revealed a rupture of the kidneys, breaking of the testicles, removal of nails
and a cut in the spinal cord. His death was the result of torture. Africa's
Human Rights Tribunal Issues Damning Decision in Sudan Torture Case Katherine Perks,
African Arguments, 3 March 2015 [accessed 1 April
2015] The African
Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Commission), Africa's main
human rights body, recently published a decision holding Sudan responsible
for the arbitrary detention and torture of three prominent Sudanese human
rights defenders. Osman Hummaida, Amir Suliman and Monim El Jak were detained and
tortured by Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) in
November 2008 for their alleged support to the International Criminal Court's
(ICC) investigations into mass atrocities perpetrated in Sudan's Darfur
region. They left Sudan shortly after their release, fearing for their
safety. Human
Rights Watch World Report 2015 - Events of 2014 Human Rights Watch,
29 January 2015 www.hrw.org/world-report/2015/...
or
www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/wr2015_web.pdf [accessed 18 March
2015] SUDAN Sudan saw no
progress in its abysmal rights record in 2014. Instead, new episodes of
conflict in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile
states resulted in large numbers of civilian deaths and displaced; security
forces repeatedly suppressed protesters demonstrating against government
policies; and authorities continued to stifle civil society and independent
media. Torture survivor
calls for rethink on US policy on Sudan Sudan Tribune,
Washington, 15 March 2014 www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article50333 [accessed 19 March
2014] The International
Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Sudanese president Omer
Hassan al-Bashir and other senior government officials in connection to their
alleged role in directing genocide and war crimes in the Darfur region. Elgadi, meanwhile, has
condemned the US government’s continued communication with senior figures in
the Sudanese regime alleged to have overseen killings and torture, including
former presidential adviser Nafie Ali Nafie and Islamist opposition leader Hassan al-Turabi, who received invitations to visit the US. “Seeking guidance
from leaders who torture their people is a fearful sign of regression in the
US foreign policy,” Elgadi writes. “The regime in
Sudan has been committing crimes against humanity for the past 24 years. The US,
along with many other countries, has become complicit by its inaction or
indifference,” his letter continues. Both Nafie and Turabi have been
implicated in the creation and subsequent cover-up of Sudan’s so-called
‘ghost houses’, a feared government-sponsored system of torture and secret
detention that is reportedly still operational across the country. Elgadi himself was held
in a ghost house for 118 days after being arrested at a peaceful protest
where he says he was subjected to up to 30 different methods of torture,
including sexual torture. Sudanese 'diplomats
spying for agents that torture in Khartoum' Damien McElroy,
Foreign Affairs Correspondent, The Telegraph, 09 Jan 2013 [Long
URL] [accessed 10 January
2013] Sudanese officials
have used information gathered by the regime's agents in Britain to
interrogate and torture British-based opposition activists on their return to
the homeland, MPs have alleged Badaoui Malik Badaoui, a Dafur refugee, was arrested
at Khartoum airport in July last year to face questions about his attendance
at demonstrations at Downing St and outside the Sudanese embassy in St James
in 2010. Over a period of nine days
in detention, he suffered daily beatings after undergoing questions for
shaming Darfur. . Mr Nuradin said he ws beaten,
sometimes by hand, sometimes with a metal pipe or rifle butt of a rifle. He
suffered cigarette burns and was made to stand in the sun all day. At night
cold water was thrown on him as he slept. AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL From an old article -- URL not available Article was
published sometime prior to 2015 FREEDOM OF
ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY - The NSS tortured or otherwise ill-treated many of
those detained following the June demonstrations. NSS agents slapped, punched
and kicked prisoners, and beat them with rubber hoses. Detainees were made to
stand outside for hours in scorching heat, and to adopt stress positions.
Many were denied food or water and access to basic hygiene facilities. On 31 July, at
least 10 people, predominantly high-school students, were killed when
security services and paramilitary police opened fire during a demonstration
against fuel prices and the cost of living in Nyala,
Darfur. On 6 and 7 December,
four Darfuri students from Al Jazeera University in Wad Madani
were found dead in a canal near the university. The four had been arrested by
NSS officers following protests at the university. The bodies reportedly bore
signs of beatings, suggesting torture or ill-treatment. Search … AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL For more
articles:: Search Amnesty
International’s website www.amnesty.org/en/search/?q=sudan+torture&ref=&year=&lang=en&adv=1&sort=relevance [accessed 14 January 2019] Scroll
Down Protesters Describe
Torture by Security Officers Human Rights Watch,
New York, March 4, 2011 www.hrw.org/news/2011/03/04/sudan-protesters-describe-torture-security-officers [accessed 10 January
2013] Sudanese national
security officials subjected large numbers of youth protesters to severe
physical and sexual abuse following protests in January and February, 2011,
Human Rights Watch said today. Based on testimony and information collected
by Human Rights Watch, the students and youth, some as young as 18, were
subjected to harsh beatings, electric shocks, and other abuses that amount to
torture. Security officials are also implicated in the rape of a female youth
activist in February. Ali Mohammed Osman,
a student member of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement who was carrying
fliers calling for the release of protesters, was arrested by a group of
security agents in Omdurman on the night of February 14 and interrogated for
more than 24 hours. He told Human
Rights Watch that he was blindfolded, forced into a truck, and taken to a
detention center, where he was threatened, interrogated, and beaten on his
back and shoulders with sticks and a plastic pipe and forced to remain
standing all night. The beatings caused severe injuries, requiring him to seek
medical care upon his release. National security
officials forced detainees to sign statements pledging not to participate in
more protests or talk about conditions of detention before releasing them,
those interviewed told Human Rights Watch. Several detainees went into hiding
after their release, fearing retaliation. Security officers attempted to
re-arrest Osman on two occasions after he publicly reported his mistreatment.
Another youth activist, currently in detention, was re-arrested after he posted
information on Facebook about mistreatment he saw in detention, according to
released detainees. Arrested, beaten
and tortured: young Briton describes year of terror in Sudan Saeed Kamali Dehghan, and James Copnall in Khartoum, The Guardian, 6 August 2012 www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/06/arrested-beaten-tortured-briton-sudan [accessed 10 January
2013] Suspected of
fomenting revolution, Magdy el-Baghdady
was arrested, tried and subjected to a mock execution. For a period of
eight days, Baghdady and his friend were taken from
jail every day to NISS headquarters for interrogation. The beatings and kickings usually came before and after those long
sessions, he said. "The day after
our arrest, men came to the cell, blindfolded and shackled us outside the
cell, and beat us with plastic pipes directly outside the transfer
office," he said. "I was facing a wall, Omar was on my right. They beat
us from behind, made sounds as they struck us, not words. They beat my right
shoulder, the right side of my ribs, and across my right thigh. I fell to the
floor. I tried to use my cuffed arms to protect myself. I was blindfolded so
I could not see the strikes coming. The anticipation was worse than the
blow." One the fourth day,
Baghdady and Mahdi were held against a wall by a
firing squad. "A gunman pressed the muzzle of his weapon on the back of
my head just above my neck, he pressed the gun into
me. I knew all men had the same thing happen to them. "The senior
officer standing on the wall shouted an order. All the men cocked their
weapons once. I heard whimpering from the prisoners, then
complete silence. That was the most intimidating moment. I dare not move my
muscles. The gun never left the back of my head. The high ranking officer
shouted another command, and the guns were cocked a second time. Omar said:
'It's empty, it's empty, it's empty.'" It was later that Baghdady realised it was a mock
execution; an intimidating tactic also used against many other fellow
prisoners, including Mohamed Nour Khalil, an
opposition figure. Human Rights
Overview Human Rights Watch [accessed 10 January
2013] Since June 2012,
the Sudanese government has violently dispersed youth-led protests against
austerity measures and ruling party policies. Security forces have arrested
and detained scores of preceived opponents. They continue to mistreat and torture
detainees and censor the media. Fighting between government forces and armed
opposition groups in Southern Kordofan and Blue
Nile states, bordering South Sudan, broke out in June 2011. Sudan’s
indiscriminate bombing in civilian-populated areas has displaced hundreds of
thousands of people in Sudan and South Sudan. The conflict in the western
region of Darfur continues, nine years on, with no signs of resolution. U.S.
Library of Congress - Country Study 2015 Library of Congress
Call Number DT154.6 .S93 2015 --
Government Printing Office GPO, Washington, DC, 2015 [accessed 14 January
2019] ***
EARLIER EDITIONS OF SOME OF THE ABOVE *** Freedom House
Country Report - Political Rights: 7 Civil Liberties: 7 Status: Not Free 2009 Edition www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2009/sudan [accessed 10 January
2013] LONG
URL ç 2009 Country Reports begin on Page 21 [accessed 13 May
2020] The judiciary is
not independent. Lower courts provide some due process safeguards, but the
higher courts are subject to political control, and special security and
military courts do not apply accepted legal standards. In response to the ICC
investigation into crimes committed in Darfur, the government created the
Special Courts for Darfur; their credibility has been challenged by legal
experts. Sudanese criminal law is based on Sharia and allows punishments such
as flogging and amputation, although such laws apply only to northern, Muslim
states. Police and security forces practice arbitrary arrest and torture with
impunity, and prison conditions do not meet international standards. Under
the CPA, the government created the National Judicial Service Commission
(NJSC) to manage the judicial system; coordinate the relationships between
judiciaries at the national, Southern Sudan, and state levels; and oversee
the appointment, approval, and dismissal of judges. Nevertheless, the NJSC is
subject to government pressure. Human Rights
Reports » 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61594.htm [accessed 10 January
2013] 2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61594.htm [accessed 5 July
2019] TORTURE
AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN, OR DEGRADING TREATMENT OR PUNISHMENT – Although the
constitution prohibits such practices, government security forces continued
to torture, beat, and harass suspected political
opponents and others. In accordance with Shari'a (Islamic law), the Criminal Act provides for physical
punishments, including flogging, amputation, stoning, and
"crucifixion"‑‑the public display of a body after
execution. According to the constitution, the government officially exempts
the 10 southern states from Shari'a law. There were
no reports of physical punishments carried out against non-Muslims in the
North. During the year hundreds of persons, primarily southerners, were
flogged, especially after the August Khartoum riots. On December 25, the
Special Court in Zalingy, Darfur, sentenced a man to
cross amputation after convicting him of murder and armed robbery. Credible sources
indicated that security forces tortured to death several southerners in
security camps during the Khartoum riots. Common methods of torture were
severe beatings and beatings of the genitals. Individuals perceived as
government opponents were subjected to torture. On January 24,
authorities arrested, beat, and detained, and for several months political
activist Salah Abdelrahman; they held Abdelrahman incommunicado for two months before releasing
him on August 11 without filing charges. Impunity continued
to be a serious problem. On October 17, government security forces detained
and tortured nine students on the campus of the Islamic University in Omdurman
after they attempted to form a union. The students were beaten with thick
metal chains, plastic piping sticks, and rifle butts. There were reports
that government security forces tortured and beat persons suspected of
supporting the rebels in Darfur. On February 22, Mahmoud Abaker
Osman and Diggo Abdel Jabbar
were arrested on suspicion of joining the SLA in Darfur. They were reportedly
detained for 11 days in a hole in the ground and beaten with sticks. Security forces
beat and mistreated refugees and injured and killed persons while dispersing
demonstrations (see sections 2.b. and 2.d.). Soldiers, Popular
Defense Force (PDF) members, and militia forces raped women (see section
1.g.). There was a clear and documented pattern of rape and sexual abuse directed
at IDPs of all ages in Darfur (see section 1.g.). Although there were
two convictions for torture during the year, the government seldom acted
against security forces responsible for torture or other such abuses. l material used herein reproduced under the fair use exception of
17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT
ARTICLES. Cite this
webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Torture by Police, Forced Disappearance
& Other Ill Treatment in the early years of the 21st Century-
Sudan", http://gvnet.com/torture/Sudan.htm, [accessed <date>] |
