ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT OF MR. HAJO IN DAMAZIN, SUDAN

No. H.K/UA/01/022
9th February 2023

                                                                                      URGENT APPEAL
                                           ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT OF MR. HAJO IN DAMAZIN, SUDAN
On 26th January 2023, Mr. Ali Hajo was arrested by SAF/ MI in Damazin and the following day
was deported to Damazin police office and then to Roseries prison for three months
imprisonment under the emergency order. He was accused of publishing an article on his
Facebook account.
On 26th January 2023 around 08:00 pm (Sudan time), Mr. Ali Hajo was arrested from the street by a
group of Sudan Armed Force (SAF) soldiers and taken to the military base in Damazin where he spent
a night at the military Intelligence (MI) cell.
On 27th January 2023 at around 08:00 am (Sudan time) Mr. Ali Hajo was transferred to Damazin central
police where he spent about four hours and then taken to Roseries prison for three months
imprisonment according to emergency order without appearing before courts of law.
Mr. Hajo was arrested and imprisoned because of writing and publishing an article on 26th January
2023 (afternoon hours) on his Facebook account. The content of the article was in criticism of the
appointment of Mr. Isam Eldrougi (the former MI commandant of MI in Blue Nile) to lead the
reconciliation committee in Blue Nile. In his article, Mr. Ali Hajo accused Mr. Isam Eldrougi of being
responsible for torturing students and activists in Blue Nile during Omer Al-Bashir regime and he was
one of his victims (according to the article).
HUDO is very concerned about the state of human rights in Blue Nile State and calls upon the state
government to;
· Unconditionally release Mr. Hajo and all those detained due to the emergency orders.
· Stop all kinds of arbitrary arrests.
· Enable the legal and justice procedures as well as rule of law.
· To investigate Mr. Hajo allegations against the head of reconciliation committee in Blue Nile.
· Immediately end the state of emergency that enabled the political and security authorities to
arrest and imprison activists at will.
HUDO Centre
More information
Mr. Ali Hajo (39 years old) is the secretary of the Civil Society Initiative in Blue Nile. He is known as an activist who
experienced a series of arrests during Al-Bashir regime.
According to other activists in Blue Nile; many activists were arrested and sent to prison by the security committee without
appearing before courts of law. The security committee created a form in which they took that decision and to be approved
by the state governor. The security committee consists (mostly) of the heads of the security organs (SAF, police, General
Intelligence and Security Service (GIS) and Rapid Support Force). The committee also includes senior prosecutor in the
state, the head of judiciary in the state and the committee is headed by the state governor.
Lawyers in Blue Nile in collaboration with Darfur Bar Association have created a legal defending group named it Lawyers in
Solidarity. On 5th February 2023, Lawyers in Solidarity submitted a letter to the attorney general demanding the following;
· Rule of law and rights reservation, referring to the domestic, regional and international laws.
· A visit by the attorney general’s office to the designated prisons (Singa, Roseries and Portsudan) and to indicate
the real status and numbers of the detainees under emergency orders.
· Requesting for a meeting with the attorney general.
The Lawyers in Solidarity has cited the following names of other detainees under the same order;
A. In Roseries prison (Blue Nile State) apart from Ali Hajo, the following have been detained since 24th December
2022
1. Fareid Elshobali Elnour
2. Haydar Ajeeb Nasir
3. Elzubair Bashir Elzain
4. Mahmoud Mohammed Mahmoud
5. Abduelrahman Elzain Elkhedir
6. Ahmed Douka Elrasheed
7. Elrasheed Juma
B. In Singa prison (Sina State)
1. Hatim Mohammed Gism-Alla
2. Alaa-Eldin Khogali Eltayeeb
3. Hassan Abdalla Abduelrahman
4. Babikir Ibrahim Adam
5. Redwan Ibrahim Adam
6. Mujahid Ahmed Ibrahim
The affected rights: Personal Freedom and fair trial
· Article 46 and 52 of Sudan Transition Constitutional Document 2019
· Article 9 and 14 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights