So I have not written a blogpost in a very long time. In fact, I've not written anything in a long time. This is long over-due, but at least I am writing it now!
Since Sudan began revolting in mid-June, hundreds have been detained. Many remain in detention , mostly men since most female detainees were released in the last few days. Since its easier to highlight the arrest of politicians or activists, many names were left off lists of detainees, in particular, the random people arrested.
The random people arrested were arrested just because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Let me give you a few examples.
-A good friend of mine was getting arrested by two NISS officers when the owner of the grocery shop he happened to be standing in front interfered. The kind man told them that this young man was doing nothing wrong and why are they arresting him anyways? He was arrested with my friend and released a few hours ago. At the same time, some kids playing football were curiously observing the arrest only to get arrested along with the guy.
One man arrested randomly , an electrician who was fixing something at the house of one of the detainees when the NISS raided her house, was given a hard time. He kept telling the NISS that he was an electrician to no avail, they kept telling him that he "thinks he is smart for being in disguise" and accusing him of "pretending to be someone he is not". The poor electrician fainted in detention from all the stress after saying that he has not eaten anything the whole day.
-When Mawahib Majzoub and her husband were arrested after NISS raided their house, they happened to have guests at the time. Yes, the guests who do not even live in Khartoum were arrested with them and released the next day.
-When Girifna activist, Rudwan Dawood, was arrested in early July, his brother and father were arrested along with him. His brother's mental condition exacerbated due to the detention conditions and torture, this did not stop NISS from including him and the father, Yacoub Dawood, in the court case against the activist.
-For the NISS, Seraj Omar represents a challenge. Tall, skinny, smart and equipped with excellent security skills ( as a result of being affiliated with the communist party), Seraj has vanished into thin air. The NISS raided his house a few weeks ago, he managed to escape, but this didn't stop them from arresting his brother and two uncles. The uncles were released, but his brother, a non-politically activist youth remains in detention to pressure Seraj to hand himself in.
There are many other cases of haphazard arrests, I just wanted to highlight a few. Freedom to all detainees and freedom to Sudan from the NCP rule
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing Kizzie. The part about the electrician getting arrested made me laugh and feel sad at the same time.
Two friends of mine were arrested on their way home from a wedding. They stopped the car after they got into a small accident. They, along with the driver of the other car, were first beaten brutally & then rounded up and taken to NISS headquarters. They were released days after. My friend was beaten severely in his knee where he recently had surgery; this caused him health complications. He was only released because he threw up and then lost consciousness during the torture session. He had a brain bleed after his release. All this for trying to get home from a wedding.
I weep for the state that my country has come to.. but at the same time I applaud the courage of detainees and ex-detainees who will stop at nothing in their quest for a free Sudan.
It's Kafkaesque isn't it. Randomly snatched and then tasked with proving your own innocence.
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