AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

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AAAS Human Rights Action Network

FACTS OF THE CASE:

Dr. Yayha Saleh Mukwar, a medical doctor and former Doctors Union official, and engineer Awad al-Karim Mohamed Ahmed were arrested together with 4 other trade union activists in Khartoum on 4 June 1996. They may be at risk of being tortured or ill-treated.

Their current whereabouts are not known, but they are believed to be held by the security authorities in secret detention centres, where torture of political detainees is common. They have not been brought to court or charged.

The six men have been active in clandestine opposition trade union activities since independent trade unions were banned in Sudan. Dr. Yahya Saleh Mukwar has been detained six times before and was last released only in May 1996. According to Amnesty International, they may be prisoners of conscience, arrested solely for their non-violent opposition to the government.

The arrest and detention of Dr. Yahya Saleh Mukwar, Awad al-Karim Mohamed Ahmed and the 4 other activists are contrary to the standards of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted without opposition by the United Nations General Assembly, as well as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Sudan on 18 March 1986. They include:

• The right to life, liberty and security of the person (Declaration, Article 3; Covenant, Article 9);
• Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention and exile (Declaration, Article 9);
• Freedom of opinion and expression (Declaration, Article 19); and
• Equality before the courts and tribunals (Covenant, Article 14).

The measures against the 6 activists are also contrary to the standards of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, ratified by Sudan on 11 March 1986. They include:

• Equality before the law, equal protection of the law (Article 3); Inviolability of human beings, their entitlement to respect for life and integrity (Article 4);
• The right to liberty and security of person (Article 6); and Freedom of conscience (Article 8).

[Source of information on this case is Amnesty International.]

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send telegrams, express/airmail letters, telexes:

• expressing concern about the detention without charge or trial of Dr. Yahya Saleh Mukwar, Awad al-Karim Mohamed Ahmed, and the 4 others, who may be prisoners of conscience;
• asking for assurances that they are not being tortured or ill-treated;
• urging that their whereabouts be publicly disclosed, and that they be given access to their families, to legal representation, and any necessary medical attention; and
• appealing for their immediate release unless they are promptly charged with a recognizably criminal offense and given a fair and speedy trial.

APPEAL AND INQUIRY MESSAGES SHOULD BE SENT TO:

His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir
President of the Republic of the Sudan
People's Palace
PO Box 281
Khartoum, Sudan
Telegrams: Lt Gen Omar Hassan al-Bahir, Khartoum, Sudan
Salutation: Your Excellency

Mr 'Abd al-Basit Sabdarat
Minister of Justice and Attorney General
Ministry of Justice
Khartoum, Sudan
Telegrams: Minister of Justice 'Abd al-Basit Sabdarat, Khartoum, Sudan
Telexes: c/o 22411 KAID SD or 22604 IPOL SD
Salutation: Dear Minister

Mr Ali Osman Mohamed Taha
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Afffairs
PO Box 873
Khartoum, Sudan
Telegrams: Foreign Minister Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, Khartoum, Sudan
Salutation: Dear Minister

COPIES SENT TO:

Mr Obeid Haj Ali
Chief Justice
Law Courts
Khartoum, Sudan


Chairman of the Human Rights Committee
National Assembly
Omdurman, Sudan

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