Stop Arbitrary Arrests and Torture in Sudan

Case SDN 210103
Arbitrary and incommunicado detention / Risk of torture / Freedom of
religion or belief

The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT
intervention in the following situation in Sudan.

Brief description of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the
Sudanese Organisation against Torture, a member of the OMCT network,
of the incommunicado detention and corresponding risk of torture of
Mr. Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla in Sudan.

According to the information received, on the evening of Saturday 18
January 2003, a group of armed security officers arrested Abdallah
Fadl Alla Abdalla, an engineer and member of Al Ukhwan Aljamhoryeen
(republican brother), after raiding his house in Wad Albakhiet in
Omdurman. Abdallah has been taken to an unknown location by security
forces, giving rise to fears that he may be subjected to ill-
treatment or torture during his detention.

Mr. Abdallah was first arrested by the police on the evening of 16
January 2003. The reason given for the arrest was that Mr. Abdalla
was organising a book exhibition at his house in commemoration of the
anniversary of the death of Uztaz Mahmoud Mohamed Taha, a Sudanese
scholar who was executed in 1985 for the crime of apostasy by Jaafar
Numeiri, the dictator who ruled Sudan between 1969 and 1985.
According to the information received, Ustaz Mahmoud Mohamed Taha's
methodology of Islamic reform is premised on the view that the Qur'an
and traditions of the prophet Mohamed can only be understood in
specific historical context. Abdallah was a student of Uztaz Mahmoud
Mohamed Taha. The police confiscated all the books, photos and
posters at the exhibition, and charged Mr. Abdalla with the offence
of insulting the religious creed of Islam under article 125 of the
1991 penal code.

After Abdualah's initial arrest on 16 January 2003, he was released
on bail on the afternoon of 18 January 2003. The security forces
then re-arrested him three hours later, took him to an unknown
location and refused to disclose his whereabouts to either his family
or his lawyer.

The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for the
personal integrity of Mr. Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla notably given
that he is being detained incommunicado and therefore is at a
heightened risk of being subjected to ill-treatment or torture. OMCT
calls on the Sudanese authorities to guarantee his physical and
psychological integrity and order his immediate and unconditional
release.

Action requested

Please write to the authorities in Sudan urging them to:

i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and
psychological integrity of Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla;
ii. immediately locate his whereabouts;
iii. intervene with the appropriate authorities in order to secure
that he is allowed to meet with his relatives and legal
representation;
iv. order his immediate and unconditional release;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms
throughout Sudan in accordance with international human rights
standards.

Addresses

· His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President
of the Republic of Sudan, President's Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum,
Sudan. Fax: + 249 11
771651/ 787676 / 783223
· Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney
General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + + 249 11 774842
/ 774906 / 788941
· Major General Abdul Rahim Muhammed Hussein, Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan.
Fax: + 249 11 774339 /
773046 / 770186 / 777900 / 779383
· Mr. Yasir Sid Ahmed, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302,
Khartoum, Sudan. Fax: + 249 11 779173 / 770883
· His Excellency Ambassador Mr Ibrahim Mirghani Ibrahim, Permanent
Mission of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211
Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: + 4122 7312656. E-mail:
[email protected]

Please also write to the embassies of Sudan in your respective
country.

Geneva, January 21st, 2003

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this
appeal in your reply.
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : [email protected]
http://www.omct.org