أول مقبرة جماعية في منطقة الجيلي شمال الخرطوم

Quote: Darfur JEM detainees in Sudan living in poor prison conditions Friday 23 May 2008 04:30. Printer-Friendly version Comments... May 22, 2008 (LONDON) — Darfur rebel group members who are being detained by the Sudanese government are being held in very poor conditions, a rights group said today. The Darfur Center for Human Rights and Development (DCHRD) based in UK issued a report saying that the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) fighters are locked up in Omdurman military prison which has reached “life-threatening proportions” for them. The Center also accused Khartoum of arbitrarily arresting people based on their ethnicities which resulted in “3000 people have been detained, the overwhelming majority from Darfur”. JEM fighters mounted an assault on the Sudanese capital that took the government and international community by surprise. However the Sudanese government repulsed the attack and accused Chad of backing JEM in its attempt. Following the attack there have been numerous reports of a wide-scale crackdown on Darfuris residing in the capital particularly those who appear to belong to the Zaghawa tribe who form the bulk of the JEM members. In a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Sudanese security forces arrested more than 100 people since the rebel attack that left dozens of civilians dead or severely injured. The Sudan Human Rights Organization (SHRO) issued a statement saying that ethnic persecution against Darfuris spread to the capital in the aftermath of the foiled rebel coup. DCHRD said that most of the people detained “have no links to the group involved in the attack”. “Once in the military prison, up to 250 individuals were held in each 50 meter square room. They were held in this condition for five days pending interrogation by the security forces. Most were been beaten, abused and provided no food or water” the report said. “Many young men have died most of them as a result of beatings, starvation and thirst” the rights group added. The Darfur advocacy group called for pressure on the Sudanese government “to take actions secure the welfare of all these detainees”. Yesterday the Sudanese president Omar Hassan Al-Bashir directed the Security services to arrest any members of JEM whether it be a “student or worker or a civil servant”. “Any adult JEM member should be arrested now anywhere they are” Al-Bashir was quoted as saying. (ST)