
SPLM/A-IO: “Continued Confinement of Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon: A Dark Cloud over the HLRF/ARCSS – A plea from SPLA/M-(IO) Representatives to Troika Countries” (06.02.2018)











A total of 700 children have been screened and registered for release in phases.
JUBA, South Sudan, February 7, 2018 – More than 300 child soldiers have today been officially released by armed groups in Yambio to begin reintegrating into their communities and learning new skills to support themselves, according to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
“Children should not be carrying guns and killing each other. They should be playing, learning, having fun with friends, protected and cherished by the adults around them,” said the UN’s Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of UNMISS, David Shearer.
A total of 700 children have been screened and registered for release in phases – 563 from the South Sudan National Liberation Movement (SSNLM) and 137 associated with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army In-Opposition (SPLA-IO). The first phase of the release project involving 311 young people was today marked at a ceremony in Yambio.
Eighty seven of the children released today are girls with the final total involved in the Yambio project expected to reach 220.
“This is the first time so many young women have been involved in a release like this in South Sudan,” said David Shearer. “They will have endured suffering, including sexual abuse. It is vital that they receive the support they need to rejoin their communities and that they are welcomed home by family and friends without any sense of stigma.”
UNMISS has been leading the project to release the children for more than six months, including providing peacekeeping troops to escort religious leaders into remote bush areas to make contact and negotiate with the armed groups. It has also worked closely with other key partners such as UNICEF, state and local authorities as well as community groups.
“Without the combined effort of all of these partners, today’s release would not have been possible,” said David Shearer. “I would like to pay particular credit to religious leaders who travelled into conflict zones and risked their own lives to bring these children to safety.”
David Shearer said the challenge ahead is to ensure the young people have the financial, practical, and emotional support they need to undertake training, find jobs, and access the opportunities they deserve to reach their full potential.
To assist in this process, UNMISS engineers have rehabilitated the road between Yambio and a nearby vocational training center so the young people can travel safely for training. UNMISS is also progressing other projects to release child soldiers over the coming months in Morobo, Bentiu, and in Pibor where 315 have been verified and registered so far.






KHARTOUM, Sudan, January 31, 2018 – Local Statement by European Union Resident Member States in Sudan:
“The Ambassadors of the resident EU Embassies in Sudan are very concerned by the prolonged detention without charge or trial of a large number of political leaders, human rights activists and other citizens, and by the repeated seizures of national newspapers.
We call on the Sudanese Government to release all these detainees as soon as possible, to ensure they are not mistreated and to respect the right of Sudanese people to peaceful freedom of expression and association, including freedom of the media. We condemn the violence used against peaceful protest, and continue to encourage those exercising their fundamental rights to do so peacefully.
The European Union and its member states remain committed to a stable, democratic and prosperous future for Sudan, for the benefit of its people.”


Mr. Ahmed’s family rejected the findings of the report and insisted that he died as a result of torture suffered whilst in NISS custody.
KHARTOUM, Sudan, January 17, 2018 – Sudanese authorities should urgently investigate the torture and custodial death of a Pharmacist and alleged ill-treatment and torture of five others accused of misusing emergency drugs at Giraida hospital and selling them to private pharmacies.
On 10 January 2018 at 9 AM, six medical professionals attached to Giraida hospital were arrested by NISS of Giraida, South Darfur and detained without charge for their alleged involvement in the illegal sale of emergency drugs from Giraida hospital, a government hospital, to private pharmacies. Five of the six detainees were released the following day, 11 January. Available information suggests that the detainees were beaten and verbally assaulted by the NISS on their first day in custody.
The individuals who were released include:
Following their release, the five personnel were ordered to report to the NISS office every day.
Mr. Ahmed Mohammed Ahmed, a pharmacist at Giraida hospital was held longer in custody and died on 12 January, after spending two days in custody. According to information received, Mr. Ahmed was detained longer on account of his presumed affiliation with the Sudanese Congress Party. Mr. Ahmed is thought to have been severely tortured whilst in custody as his body showed signs of torture, including wounds sustained from a solid object.
On 12 January at 7 PM, the NISS took his body to Giraida Hospital. The Director of Graida hospital contacted Mr. Ahmed’s family to come and receive his body. The family refused to receive the body unless an autopsy was carried out by the hospital. The family reported that they were denied access to criminal form 8, a medical evidence form used in criminal proceedings related to death or grievous hurt.
On 13 January 2018 at 4 AM, the NISS transferred the body of the deceased to Nyala hospital, the main hospital in South Darfur state, under orders from the Commissioner of Giraida municipality. At Nyala hospital a medical report was issued and the findings indicated that Mr. Ahmed died of natural causes. However Mr. Ahmed’s family rejected the findings of the report and insisted that he died as a result of torture suffered whilst in NISS custody.
The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) calls on the Government of Sudan to immediately investigate the grave allegations and hold those responsible to account. The reported allegations of torture and the circumstances leading to the death of Mr. Ahmed should be the subject of an immediate, thorough, impartial, public and transparent investigation by the Sudanese authorities
The authorities should also guarantee the safety of Adam Jar Elnabi, Salam Ahmed Adam, Mubarek Hassan Osman, Nor Aldeen Adam Hassan and Mohamed Yagoub Adam and cease the harassment of the medical personnel. An investigation should be conducted into the allegations of torture or ill-treatment they faced whilst in custody.
ACJPS reiterates its call for law reform and calls on the Government of Sudan to adopt legislation that defines and criminalises torture in line with international standards including the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), provide effective access to justice and adequate reparation to victims of torture, and ensure that confessions obtained under torture are not used or accepted by courts under any circumstances. The Government should expressly denounce the use of torture by security agents to intimidate or extract confessions from persons in their custody.
Background
Sudanese authorities have been consistently implicated in the use of torture as a means of intimidation and to extract confessions. Despite the prohibition of torture in Sudan’s 2005 Interim National Constitution, other legislation, such as the 2010 National Security Act and 1994 Evidence Act, creates conditions rendering detainees extremely vulnerable to torture and ill-treatment. The 2007 Armed Forces Act, 2008 Police Act, and 2010 National Security Act each grant immunities to state actors.
The government of Sudan has repeatedly failed to ensure prompt, thorough, impartial and effective investigations into allegations of torture, ill-treatment and has failed to ensure effective remedies or provide reparation to the victims. Even in cases where the immunities mentioned above have been lifted, victims of torture have faced various barriers that make it extremely hard to report cases of torture. ACJPS is not aware of a single case where an alleged perpetrator of torture has been held to account. The ACHPR found in case 379/09 against Sudan that remedies are not available to people tortured by the NISS because the power to lift immunities is at the discretion of the director of the NISS and is not subject to judicial oversight.