The Sudanese Communist Party has condemned the detention of its resistance committee member in Damazin, the capital of Sudan’s Blue Nile region, and demanded that the authorities disclose his whereabouts and either release him or bring him before a court for a fair trial.
The arrest of Ahmed Babiker has drawn condemnation from political and human rights groups after he was detained by a security cell, with no official information available about the reasons for his arrest or his whereabouts.
A member of the Damazin Resistance Committee popularly known as “Jaghraf,” he was arrested by the security cell on Thursday, 5 November, while passing through the western entrance to the city on his way to work at a camp for internally displaced people.
Al-Tayyib Saad, a member of the Damazin Resistance Committees, told Radio Tamazuj that they are yet to receive information about Babiker’s place of detention or the reasons for his arrest. He said Babiker had not been allowed to contact his family or lawyer.
“The arrest is a violation of fundamental rights and international human rights standards,” he said. “We call on the security authorities to immediately disclose Babiker’s whereabouts, allow him access to his family and legal counsel, and guarantee his physical and psychological well-being.”
He reiterated the resistance committees’ opposition to what he called arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances targeting the December Revolution youths and resistance committee members.
Saad stressed that Babiker should either be brought before a court for a fair trial if he faces criminal charges or be released immediately.
Meanwhile, the Sudanese Communist Party condemned the arrest, describing it as arbitrary.
“The party strongly condemns Babiker’s arrest by the security cell and demands that he either be brought before a court for a fair trial in accordance with the law or be released,” Mahjoub Al-Haj, a senior Communist Party official, told Radio Tamazuj.
Al-Haj said several other civilians had also been subjected to arbitrary arrests, expressing the party’s rejection of such practices and reiterating its condemnation of Babiker’s detention on behalf of the Communist Party in southern Blue Nile.
The arrest has also raised legal questions about the legitimacy of the security cell and the procedures it follows when detaining civilians.
Mohamed Nour Ali, a lawyer and human rights activist, told Radio Tamazuj that the security cell had emerged as a de facto body under wartime conditions but was, in his assessment, an unlawful entity established through a political decision.
He said that according to the information available to him, Babiker had been arrested without a warrant or any specific charges being brought against him.
He added that Babiker’s family had not been notified of his detention and that he had not been held in custody at any police station, but had instead been taken to an undisclosed location.
Ali said they were prepared to provide legal representation for Babiker should he be brought before the public prosecutor, noting that he had not yet been permitted to meet with a lawyer.
The arrest comes amid rapidly evolving security developments in Damazin, raising concerns about the potential impact of the security situation on civil liberties and political and civic activity across the region.
With no official information available about the circumstances of the arrest or Babiker’s place of detention, resistance committees and political groups continue to demand that the authorities disclose his whereabouts, safeguard his legal rights and personal safety, and clarify the legal grounds for his detention.
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