ARREST OF CIVILIANS BY MI IN TALODI SUDAN

No. H.K/UA/15/020
28th December 2020

                                                             URGENT APPEAL ARREST OF CIVILIANS BY MI IN TALODI, SUDAN
On 18 th December 2020, SAF/MI in Talodi arrested Mr. Taj-Elsir Abdalla Mesaibeil and Mr. Hussein Ibrahim Abu-Jarra. The reason for their arrest was not given/ unknown. They have been kept incommunicado and detained in poor conditions since then, this raised fear that they could be under torture. On 17 th December 2020, Mr. Taj-Elsir Abdalla Mesaibeil and Mr. Hussein Ibrahim Abu-Jarra arrived in Talodi town from Mandi village accompanying their blind and sick uncle Mr. Elbasheir Meseibeil Adam. They came to Talodi town in order to send their sick Uncle to Khartoum for treatment. They were hosted at the house of Mr. Eltayeb Musa Eltayeb in Talodi. On 18 th December 2020, four (4) armed Sudan Armed Force (SAF) soldiers arrested both Taj-Elsir and Hussein from Mr. Eltayeb’s house and took them to SAF’s military base and detained them under poor conditions. They are only served one meal per day and are not allowed to access their lawyers or relatives to visit them. This raised the fear that they could be undergoing torture. It’s presumed that the reason for their arrest is because they were coming from the area controlled by Sudan People Liberation Army – North (SPLA-N) to the governmental territory. HUDO is very concerned about the situation of civilians in conflict areas. HUDO calls upon:
· The military authority in Talodi to immediately release or to transfer them to the courts of law if there is a case against them.
· Sudan government to hold to account SAF commandant in Talodi for this arrest.
· Sudan government to end the state of emergency in conflict areas which enables MI to arrest civilians at will.
· Sudan government to respect the constitutional rights of citizens
· Sudan government to respect its international obligations. HUDO Centre More information The detainees Mr. Taj-Elsir Abdalla Mesaibeil is 28 years old and health worker/ advisor in Mandi health centre and Mr. Hussein Ibrahim Abu-Jarra is 24 years old and trader (self-employed) at Mandi market. Talodi is the capital town of Talodi Locality in Nuba Mountains/ South Kordufan State and it’s under the Sudan government control. Mandi is a village in Talodi locality and it’s about 25 km Northeast of Talodi town and it’s under SPLA-N controlled territory. After the ouster of former president (Bashir) in 2019, open markets (social markets) started operating in different areas in Nuba Mountains (like in Talodi) for the people in two controlled areas (government and SPLA-N) which enabled relatives to meet after years of separation. Traders also exchange goods and people mixed freely from either sides. But recently, the new Military Intelligence (MI) commandant for SAF in Talodi by names of Major/ Ibrahim Abduelhafeez has been arresting civilians who come from SPLA-N controlled areas. SAF also confiscates the goods/valuables of the arrested civilians. This led to the closure of the open markets in Talodi and the separation of people from either side. The affected rights: Personal Freedom + Freedom of Movement and residency
· Articles 46 & 60 of Sudan Transition Constitutional Document 2019
· Articles 9& 12 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights