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Re: قوات الأمن تعتقل من جديد دكتور مضوي ابراهيم آدم (Re: peace builder)
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PUBLIC AI Index: AFR 54/047/2005
09 May 2005
UA 116/05 Fear for safety
SUDAN Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam (m), Chair of the Sudan Development Organisation (SUDO) Yasir Salim (m) Abdallah Taha (m), SUDO driver
Human rights defender Dr Mudawi Ibrahim was arrested on 8 May by members of the National Security and Intelligence Agency, in Khartoum North. Yasir Salim and Abdallah Taha were arrested with him: both work for the organisation headed by Dr Mudawi, the Sudan Development Organisation (SUDO). The three are said to be held in the National Security Centre, Khartoum North. No reason has been given for their arrest. Amnesty International considers all three to be prisoners of conscience, detained solely for their peaceful activities in defence of human rights.
This is the third time that Dr Mudawi has been arrested in the past 18 months, in a worrying pattern of harassment and intimidation of a leading human rights defender. This latest arrest took place the day before he was due to fly to Ireland to accept one of the inaugural awards from the Dublin-based NGO, Front Line Human Rights Defenders, handed out by the President of Ireland, Mary AcAleese.
SUDO is a voluntary organization created to promote sustainable development and human rights, and has organized a number of seminars on subjects connected with human rights. It is also engaged in humanitarian activities, providing emergency food and shelter in the war-torn region of Darfur, in western Sudan. It has been involved in promoting discussion and reconciliation between groups involved in conflicts in Sudan. A reconciliation meeting between ethnic groups involved in the 20-year conflict between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has reportedly been cancelled since Dr Mudawi’s arrest.
This year Dr Mudawi has already spent over a month in prison. He was arrested on 24 January and held incommunicado and without charge. On 19 February he went on hunger strike demanding to be charged or released; he was then charged with attempting to commit suicide and taken to hospital. On 3 March he was released on bail.
Dr Mudawi was previously arrested on 28 December 2003 (see UA 02/04, AFR 54/002/2004, 5 January 2004, and follow-ups). After going on hunger strike demanding to be charged or released he was charged with "crimes against the state". The evidence against him included Amnesty International documents found in his possession. Amnesty International believes that the real reason for his arrest was related to the humanitarian and human rights activities of SUDO in Darfur. All charges against Dr Mudawi were dropped in August 2004.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
In January 2005 the government and the SPLA signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end more than 20 years of conflict. However, the government has not yet lifted the state of emergency, in place since 1999, which allows the government to extend indefinitely detention without charge or trial, sometimes without any access to the outside world.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Arabic, English or your own language: - expressing concern for the safety of Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, Yasir Salim and Abdallah Taha; - calling for Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, Yasir Salim and Abdallah Taha to be released immediately and unconditionally, as they are prisoners of conscience, detained solely for their peaceful activities in defence of human rights activities; - calling on the authorities to ensure that human rights activists are not harassed or detained, and to respect their commitments to observe international human rights law, commitments which were reaffirmed in January under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. APPEALS TO: (If your faxed or emailed appeal does not get through, please either send it by mail or forward it to the diplomatic representative of Sudan in your country and ask them to pass on your appeal to the authorities)
Mr Ali Osman Mohamed Taha First Vice-President, People's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan Fax: + 249 183 779977 + 249 183 780796 (Please mark: "For the attention of the First Vice-President") Salutation: Your Excellency
Mr Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan Fax: + 249 183 780796 (Please mark "For the attention of the Minister of Justice") Email: [email protected] Salutation: Dear Minister
Mr Mustafa Osman Ismail Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan Fax : + 249 183 777268 Salutation: Dear Minister
COPIES TO: Dr Abdel Moneim Osman Taha Rapporteur, Advisory Council for Human Rights, Khartoum, Sudan Email: [email protected]
and to diplomatic representatives of Sudan accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 20 June 2005.
and this is the urgent action issued by Amnesty International, Muna Khugali
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