الحكومة البريطانية تطالب بالتحقيق في إعتقال وتعذيب بريطاني في السودان

Quote: The British government has demanded an investigation into the imprisonment of Magdy el-Baghdady. Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian It started out as an adventurous plan to open a restaurant in Sudan. But by the time Magdy el-Baghdady, a young Briton from north London, left the country, he had been imprisoned for more than two months, beaten, tortured, tried and even subjected to mock execution, and finally prevented from leaving the country for almost a year. "It was a brutal experience that has changed my life," he reflected. "At times I thought I would not get out alive." Baghdady's misfortune was to be identified by Sudanese security forces as an activist intent on fomenting revolution in a country determined to resist the upheaval roiling its northern neighbours, Egypt and Libya. "I was sitting in the flat I had just rented in Khartoum when they raided," he told the Guardian. Blindfolded and with his feet shacked, Baghdady was taken to the headquarters of Sudan's national intelligence and security services (NISS) in Khartoum where he was interrogated before being transferred to the political remand centre at the notorious Kober prison. "The NISS put me in a chair in the middle of a room with interrogators surrounding me," he recalled. "One man, my height but extremely well built, held me by the hair. He had his left hand on the table in front of me while his right hand held the back of my head to drive it into the table." They insisted that the 30-year-old was not British, despite his passport. "This man demanded I speak Arabic to them, pulling my hair so violently that it tore. I was extremely distraught." It did not help Baghdady that his mother was Polish. "Once I told them that I do not speak Arabic and I spoke Polish as the second language they said I therefore must be a Jew." But the most serious accusation was that Baghdady had links to the pro-democracy movements that have been sweeping across the region and intended to take the Arab spring to Sudan. In mid-February 2011, when he was arrested, events in neighbouring Egypt had already put Omar al-Bashir's regime on alert and in a state of paranoia about foreigners in the country. Baghdady had gone to the city of Omdurman to see a friend, Omar al-Mahdi, the nephew of a former prime minister who he supposed would be well-placed to help him set up his catering business. Mahdi was arrested at the same time. 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. The worst beating came on the last of the eight days he was held. "I was dragged from outside the cell by my arms. The man dragging me stamped on my right foot with the heel of his boot. I fractured my foot across the second and third toe area. It has never healed. My right achilles tendon area has a skin cut from the shackle, and there are two cigarette burns on my left foot. They also kicked us in the testicles." The British government has demanded a rapid investigation. "We continue to press on this matter," an Foreign Office spokesperson said. "We are deeply concerned by Mr El-Baghdady's allegations that he was mistreated during his detention." A senior official at the Sudanese ministry of information, Rabbie Abd al-Attie, refused to comment. Spokespeople for the foreign ministry and the governing National Congress party were unavailable for comment. Sudan has categorically denied torturing detainees in the past. Baghdady is now trying to spread awareness about the human rights situation in Sudan. Since his release, he has been working with activists including Waging Peace, which campaigns against human rights abuses, especially in Africa. One of Baghdady's aims is to get more protection for Sudanese asylum seekers in the UK. "Working with Sudanese asylum seekers in the UK, we see evidence every day of the atrocities that the regime in Khartoum carries out against innocent people. This includes the use of detention, torture and murder as a weapon against those who oppose the government. This is not just limited to ethnic minorities in Darfur, where the regime has carried out a genocide, but extends to anyone they perceive as a threat," said Waging Peace's director, Olivia Warham. "We have been overwhelmed by Magdy's bravery and determination to use his horrific experiences to highlight the practices that the Sudanese government are using and to demand justice for the innocent victims who have lost their liberty, and their lives, at the hands of this vicious government." Baghdady said that his ordeal was in no way comparable to the mistreatment of local prisoners. According to Waging Peace, which documents testimonies by torture survivors from Sudan, "with few exceptions, most detainees are tortured in Sudanese prisons, including two teenagers whom Magdy witnessed being horrifically beaten for breakdancing on the street. Ten-year-olds were held in the cell next to him. Others were stripped, suspended from bars and flogged for hours. Some were sodomised and burned." The horrific experience in Sudan have given Baghdady new eyes to view the world. "There are simple things in my life now that I enjoy more than ever, things like sitting in the tube, walking in the streets freely," he said. "There are so many things in our lives that we just take for granted."

(عدل بواسطة على عجب on 08-06-2012, 08:09 PM)

Quote: But the most serious accusation was that Baghdady had links to the pro-democracy movements that have been sweeping across the region and intended to take the Arab spring to Sudan. In mid-February 2011, when he was arrested, events in neighbouring Egypt had already put Omar al-Bashir's regime on alert and in a state of paranoia about foreigners in the country.

Quote: Baghdady said that his ordeal was in no way comparable to the mistreatment of local prisoners. According to Waging Peace, which documents testimonies by torture survivors from Sudan, "with few exceptions, most detainees are tortured in Sudanese prisons, including two teenagers whom Magdy witnessed being horrifically beaten for breakdancing on the street. Ten-year-olds were held in the cell next to him. Others were stripped, suspended from bars and flogged for hours. Some were sodomised and burned."

Quote: "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.'"

Quote: Baghdady is now trying to spread awareness about the human rights situation in Sudan. Since his release, he has been working with activists including Waging Peace, which campaigns against human rights abuses, especially in Africa. One of Baghdady's aims is to get more protection for Sudanese asylum seekers in the UK.