No. H.K/PS/07/023
24th February 2023
PRESS STATEMENT
ARREST OF MUKHTAR BY SAF IN TALODI, SUDAN
On 15th December 2022, Mr. Mukhtar Ali Saleh was arrested by SAF soldiers from
the
Agricultural bank in Talodi. He was held incommunicado for two days at the
military base and
later released.
On 15th December 2022, Mr. Mukhtar Ali Saleh was arrested by two Sudan Armed
Force soldiers from
Talodi Agricultural bank while he was there for banking issue. The two soldiers
took him with their
military vehicle to Talodi military base. The family, friends and lawyer were
not allowed to visit him. Mr.
Mukhtar spent two days incommunicado at the military base. According to his own
confession, he was
interrogated, intimidated and asked why he was in Talodi. Before releasing Mr.
Mukhtar, the soldiers
instructed him to report to the military base whenever he comes to Talodi.
One of the Talodi activists told HUDO Centre that; ‘we believe Mr. Mukhtar
was arrested because of
his activism against the goldmine which is polluting the environment’.
Mr. Mukhtar Ali Saleh (31 years old) is a resident of Kologi town. He is a
social worker at a community
based organization (CBO) called Madid. Madid works on peace-building, social
communication and
development. Mr. Mukhtar is active in opposing the use of toxic materials in
goldmines.
Talodi is the capital city of Talodi locality while Kologi is a capital city of
Gadeir locality of South Kordufan
State/ Nuba Mountains. Kologi is about 40 km east of Talodi.
HUDO is very concerned about the situation of civilians in Sudan and
calls upon:
·
SAF in Talodi to stop arrest civilians.
·
Sudan government to end the state of emergency in conflict areas which enables
SAF to carry
out arrests at will.
·
Sudan government to ensure that there is rule of law.
·
The SAF and authorities in South Kordufan State/ Nuba Mountains to investigate
the
circumstances around Mr. Mukhtar’s arrest by SAF Talodi and to make the
findings public.
End: For more information, please write to hudo2009@gmail.com