World Organization Against Torture (Geneva)
PRESS RELEASE
April 7, 2006
Posted to the web April 7, 2006
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT), a member of the OMCT network, that in March and April 2006 the mass arrest of the leading members of the Beja Congress by Security Officers in Kassala State, Eastern Sudan, took place.
According to the information received, the arrest of these twelve men could result in what appears to be the crackdown of the group. No reason was given for the arrest and the detention
The following members of the Beja Congress were allegedly arrested in the Red Sea State between 6 and 10 March 2006:
-- Mr. Osman Hassan Al-masri, General Secretary of the Beja Congress in Gadarif State - arrested in Gadarif State on 06 March 2006
-- Mr. Alamin Alhaj, Chairperson of the Beja Congress in Gadarif State - arrested in Gadarif State on 06 March 2006
-- Mr. Ali Hussain Omer Member of the Beja Congress Secretariat in Kassala State - arrested in Kassala on 07 March 2006 - transferred form security detention to Kassala Prison, began a hunger strike on 26 March 2006
-- Mr. Ali Omer, Member of the Beja Congress Secretariat in Kassala State - arrested in Kassala on 08 March 2006
-- Mr. Mahmoud Ibrahim Osman, Assistant General Secretary of the Beja Congress in Kassala State - arrested in Kassala on 10 March 2006
-- Mr. Ali Omer Mohamed Ali, Member of the Eastern Front - arrested on 07 March 2006, began a hunger strike in Kassala on 26 March 2006
-- Mr. Haroun Mohamed Ali, Member of Eastern Front - arrested in Kassala on 07 March 2006, began a hunger strike on 26 March 2006
Moreover, on 3 and 4 April 2006, the following members of the Beja Congress were arrested:
-- Mr. Mohamed Din Suleiman, Chairperson of the Secretariat of the Beja Congress in Kassala State - arrested on 03 April 2006
-- Mr. Gafar Mohamed Adam, General Secretary of the Beja Congress in Kassala State General - arrested on 03 April 2006, previously arrested on 10 March 2006
-- Mr. Mohamed Osman Alkhalifa, Member of the Beja Secretariat in Kassala State - arrested in Kassala on 03 April 2006
-- Mr. Alamin Alfaidabi, Member of the Secretariat - arrested in Kassala on 04 April 2006
-- Mr. Hashim Hangag, Lawyer, Spokesperson for the Beja Congress in Kassala State - arrested on 04 April 2006. Mr. Hashim Hangag was also previously arrested in Kassala on 10 March 2006.
The International Secretariat has no information regarding their places of detention.
The International Secretariat of the OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of the abovementioned persons and calls for an immediate and impartial investigation into their arbitrary detention.
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