SPLM OFFICIAL: ARREST, TORTURE AND POLITICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ASMARA 000158 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/SPG LONDON, PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2018 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM PREF SU ER SUBJECT: SPLM OFFICIAL: ARREST, TORTURE AND POLITICAL MACHINATIONS BY NCP SECURITY REF: KHARTOUM 169 ASMARA 00000158 001.3 OF 003 Classified By: AMBASSADOR RONALD K. MCMULLEN FOR REASON 1.4(d). ¶1. (C) Summary: On March 13, DCM met with Amar Najm Eddine al-Jak (Amar),a Khartoum spokesman for the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement (SPLM),who had been spirited from Sudan to Asmara by the SPLM after being arrested and tortured by Sudanese National Security services (reftel). Amar relayed the details of his arrest and interrogation on November 20, his two-month detention in a Sudanese political prison, and his eventual release and departure to Eritrea. Under torture, Amar stated he was forced into making a false taped "confession" that the SPLM leadership was plotting with Darfuri SLA leader Abdulwahid Nur to provoke an insurrection in Nubia. He also relayed his conversations in prison with two incarcerated Chadian rebels, one of whom claimed the Chadian opposition was being funded by China, and an incident in which Sudanese prison official hid Ethiopian and Eritrean prisoners during an Amnesty International visit (to be reported septels). End Summary. BIO NOTE -------------- ¶2. (C) Amar, a young man in his 20s and a Nubian Muslim, has been serving in the position of Secretary of Media and Culture for the SPLM in the Khartoum region since August ¶2006. Prior to his membership in the SPLM, he had been part of the Sudanese Alliance Forces which had merged with the SPLM several years before. Amar maintains close contacts with Khartoum-based student leaders of the umbrella group, "Youth for a New Sudan" to include students in groups supporting SLA Abdulwahid's faction. ARREST, INTERROGATION, TORTURE, AND ATTEMPTED BRIBERY -------------- -------------- ¶3. (C) On the morning of November 20, Amar was arrested at Khartoum's airport while waiting to fly to Juba on personal and SPLM business. Without a warrant or explanation, Amar stated that National Security officials removed him forcibly from the airport and transported him to their office located at Khartoum Bahry. Prior to leaving the airport, Amar was able to text his wife and phone SPLM contacts to tell them what was happening. ¶4. (C) Upon arrival at Khartoum Bahry, two National Security officials began immediately beating Amar with electric cord/wire, "to psychologically soften me up for interrogation," Amar commented. He then described a day-long ordeal of torture interspersed with interrogations, including his transfer to a different facility in which he was forced to stand for a half hour in a water tank in which the temperatures alternated between near-boiling to near-freezing. During the day, National Security interrogators questioned Amar about the number of SPLM members in Khartoum, the group's sources of funding, and other organizational questions. He also was questioned closely about his relationship with Abdulwahid and his relationship with the SLA faction. His interrogators accused Amar of planning to fly onward to Nairobi through Juba, stating his real objective had been to meet Abdulwahid in Kenya in order to plan an armed insurrection in Nubia. According to the officials, Abdulwahid was to provide Amar with guns and support for this insurrection. The interrogators ordered Amar to telephone two Khartoum student leaders, members of organizations supporting Abdulwahid and personal friends of Amar's, in order to set up a meeting with them. ¶5. (C) Amar refused throughout the day to answer his interrogators' questions or to contact his friends, despite the beatings. Late that evening, he was taken to an office presided over by four National Security officials with a tape recorder. Amar was told to state, on tape, that SPLM leaders Yassir Arman and Malik Agar had asked him to go to Nairobi to meet with Abdulwahid to start an armed struggle in Nubia. He was also told to mention that Yassir and Malik had ordered other SPLM cadres to travel to Asmara and London to meet with Abdulwahid's supporters. When Amar refused to make these statements, he was sexually molested, after which Amar said he "collapsed" and provided the National Security officials with the statements they had demanded. He was then transported to Kobar Prison and placed in solitary confinement. ASMARA 00000158 002.3 OF 003 ¶6. (C) The following morning, Amar was transported back to the Khartoum Bahry offices for continued questioning about the SPLM and its relationship with Abdulwahid. At one juncture, Amar's interrogators offered him $20,000 if he would meet with Yassir and Malik fr drinks. Once they were incapacitated by alcohol, Amar was supposed to "rape" them and take photos on a mobile phone camera. Amar refused. In early evening, Amar was told that he would be meeting with an SPLM representative and warned not to mention that he had been mistreated in any way. When the alleged SPLM representative arrived, Amar repeated his "confession," making no mention of any torture. (Note: Amar said that he did not know the SPLM representative and after his release, made inquiries. None of his SPLM contacts recognized the officer's name either. End Note.) After the interview, Amar was incarcerated in Kobar prison for four days with no further questioning. Around November 25, Amar was blindfolded, loaded into a mini-bus and taken to Dabak Prison, a facility Amar described as a "political prison" located in northern Khartoum, where he was imprisoned in a shipping container with three other men. FORCED DENUNCIATION BY FRIEND -------------- ¶7. (C) In mid-December, Amar was transported again to Khartoum Bahry. Shortly after arrival, National Security officials brought out two student leaders, the same individuals which Amar had refused to contact during the November 20 interrogation. A National Security official asked one of the students if Amar had been planning to meet Abdulwahid in November in order to plan an insurrection. The student leader responded, "yes," and both men were taken from the room. (Note: Amar believes that the student had been tortured into making this statement. End Note.) Amar was then beaten severely, and transported back to Dabak Prison where he remained for another month. OUT OF PRISON BUT UNDER SCRUTINY -------------- ¶8. (C) On January 23, Amar was told he would be released following a meeting that evening with General Majak (National Security second-in-command and SPLM member) at the National Security offices at the airport. En route, Amar was warned not to mention any incidents of torture, or he would be re-imprisoned. Amar was taken into a meeting with SPLM and National Congress Party (NCP) representatives to include General Majak, Major General Al Hadi, and Vice President Ali Osman Taha. Amar speculated that this high level meeting resulted from public pressure by the SPLM, Sudanese and international media, and the UK Embassy about his case. At the meeting, Amar was informed that he was being released; however, meeting participants also noted that he was considered a threat to national security given his plotting to inspire an uprising. Amar stated that all participants appeared to have been given his taped "confession," and he did not dare to refute the charges in this meeting. ¶9. (C) Several days later, Amar began talking to the SPLM leadership and media about his incarceration and torture, which included an interview on the UN's radio, "Maraya." On the evening of February 6, Amar was driving in the Kalatya neighborhood, when his car was suddenly blocked in by another car. Recognizing one of his interrogators in the other vehicle, Amar jumped out of his car and began running through the neighborhood chased by several men. By chance, he ran into a friend who drove him to the house of Presidential Advisor Mansur Khalid who provided him temporary safe haven. The following day, Amar met with SPLM Deputy Secretary General Yassir Arman. Noting that the SPLM could not protect him, Yassir said Amar had two choices: either confront the NCP and National Security apparatus in court, or flee the country. Yassir advised him to leave the country. From that point onward, Amar kept moving between houses of friends and eventually traveled to Kassala - where, with the help of the SPLM, he crossed the border and arrived in Asmara. Since late February, SPLM representatives and employees of an Asmara-based Sudanese NGO have sheltered Amar in Asmara. On March 18, Amar flew to Cairo to obtain medical treatment, although he noted that he did not plan to stay there long, fearing that the Egyptian security services might deport him back to Sudan. COMMENT ASMARA 00000158 003.4 OF 003 -------------- ¶10. (C) This interview was facilitated by Dr. Taisier Ali, a respected, exiled Sudanese academic who runs the Asmara-based NGO, Peacebuilding Center for the Horn of Africa (PCHA). Dr. Taisier believes Amar was targeted by the Sudanese security services precisely because he is a northern SPLM member. According to Taisier, the NCP seeks to contain the SPLM to the South, and in advance of national elections, is actively working to prevent the expansion of its influence into the North and Darfur. In support of this assessment, Amar noted that during his interrogations, he was accused repeatedly of betraying both Islam and the Nubians by his SPLM membership. The Khartoum regime regards Muslims in the SPLM such as Yassir Arman and Malik Agar with particular scorn and suspicion. ¶11. (C) Amar's severe torture is a grim reminder of the brutality of the Khartoum regime. Amar was likely targeted specifically because of his leadership role in coordinating between the SPLM and the SLM, as Khartoum's greatest fear is the intersection of the North-South and Darfur conflicts. The torture also occurred during the SPLM's October-December 2007 walkout from the Government of National Unity (GNU) at a point when both parties seemed to be heading toward military confrontation, and while the SPLM was directly engaged in helping several Darfur rebel factions unify in Juba (rebel unification is something Khartoum actively tries to prevent). ¶12. (C) Several PCHA employees sat in and interpreted for the interview. Dr. Taisier and the PCHA clearly deemed Amar's narrative to be highly credible. ¶13. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Khartoum. MCMULLEN