Detention without charge must stop, says rights group

The high-profile release of a number of Sudan's political prisoners this week is a welcome move, but prolonged incommunicado detention for political reasons continues in the Darfur region of western Sudan, says rights group Amnesty International (AI). It said Sudan must do more to prove its commitment to human rights by abolishing Article 31 of its National Security Forces Act, which allows detention for up to nine months without charge or judicial review. In Darfur a number of community leaders of the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit ethnic groups have been detained without charge - 11 known to AI - on suspicion of supporting the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army rebel group. There have also been numerous allegations of torture and ill-treatment in Darfur made by the UK-based Sudan Organisation Against Torture. The release of Dr Hassan al-Turabi, Islamist leader of the Popular National Congress and other party members including Yusuf Saleh Libis, was widely welcomed by observers this week. Turabi was arrested in February 2001 after a power struggle with President Umar al-Bashir. He was charged with offences related to "crimes against the state", and never brought to trial. "According to international human rights law, anyone detained must have access to relatives, lawyers and medical care if needs, and must be promptly charged with a recognisable criminal offence or else released," Ai pointed out. It called for a registry of persons detained by the security forces in Sudan. In August, Bashir committed himself to releasing all political detainees as part of peace talks with the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). On Tuesday, the office of the president reportedly denied that Turabi's release was due to international pressure, saying it came about because there was no reason to continue detaining him.