Charity demands release of detained aid workers

Irish charity Trocaire has demanded the immediate release of two staff members of a local relief organisation who have been arrested by Sudanese authorities in the western region of Darfur. The two men, Mossaad Mohamed Ali and Adam Mohammed Sharief, who worked at the Trocaire-supported centre for the treatment and rehabilitation of torture victims in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur State, were arrested on Tuesday, a day after they were interrogated by officers from the Sudanese National Security Bureau, the charity said in statement on Thursday. "This latest arrest of human-rights workers follows a pattern of obstruction and harassment which Trocaire's partners in Darfur have suffered," the organisation said. "This includes arrests and difficulties in getting official permission for activities. One organisation funded by Trocaire has twice this year been ordered to close down and hand over its assets to the authorities in West Darfur, while rebel attacks on relief operations have also caused many problems." Trocaire said the detainees’ family members as well as United Nations staff in Nyala had been unable to visit the aid workers since they had been arrested. On Wednesday, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned that armed clashes and banditry in Darfur were affecting humanitarian work and created numerous security problems for civilians. "Cars are being stopped, stuff looted, and certain areas are not accessible because of such incidents," said Andrea Koenig, ICRC spokeswoman in Khartoum. "And it is not only the ICRC that is affected, but many other humanitarian agencies." The United Nations estimates that some 3.6 million people are affected by conflict in Darfur, of whom 1.8 million are internally displaced and 200,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad. More than 200,000 people have been killed as a result of the violence between the Sudanese government and rebel movements.