PROMINENT CRITIC GOES UNDERGROUND AS GOS CROWS ABOUT HUMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000881 DEPT FOR AF/SPG, A/S FRAZER, SE WILLIAMSON, DRL DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL SOCI SU SUBJECT: PROMINENT CRITIC GOES UNDERGROUND AS GOS CROWS ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS REF: A. KHARTOUM 788 ¶B. KHARTOUM 847 ¶C. KHARTOUM 857 ¶D. KHARTOUM 866 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: GoS authorities held a press conference on June 10 to spotlight JEM human rights violations, and announce that all JEM "collaborators" will soon be charged and brought to trial. One young critic who came to prominence through his internet postings, Ibrahim Bagal, has gone underground, fearing extended detention, torture and trial. End summary. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CRITIC ON THE RUN AFTER FAMILY ARRESTED - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (SBU) On June 11, POLOFF met with Ibrahim Abdalla Bagal, a prominent government critic, chairman of the Association of Darfur Students' Unions, and an accounting student at the University of Juba in Khartoum. An ethnic Zaghawa, Bagal has attracted notoriety through his posts on sudaneseonline.com, unrestrained in his criticism of the Government of Sudan (GoS). Following the May 10 JEM attacks, his web postings have lamented GoS targeting of Darfuri in Khartoum, and called on Sudanese civil society to organize against the detentions. Only 25, he already has been arrested by Sudanese authorities five times and bears scars about the arms and head from his torture. ¶3. (SBU) According to Bagal, officers from the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) have visited his home in Khartoum twice in the last month in order to detain him; on June 6, when Bagal himself was not at home, authorities detained his brothers. Four of Bagal's brothers, the youngest 18, were held for four days, and while interrogated and mildly beaten, they reportedly were not extensively tortured. Bagal himself fears torture should he be arrested, and displayed the accoutrements of a man gone underground - a toothbrush, a wallet flush with 50 pound bills, and four GSM SIM cards for his Nokia cellular phone. Khartoum's close-knit Zaghawa community has managed to assist him in finding a new place to sleep each night. ¶4. (SBU) Although unable to post online, Bagal has continued to conduct research on the heavy-handed GoS reaction against Darfuri living in Khartoum. Some recently released former detainees recount being forced to face a solid concrete wall, to then be hit sharply on the back of the head to break their noses on the wall without revealing the identity of their assailants. Others have recounted their interrogators labeling them "slaves of Darfur" during beatings. Additionally, Zaghawa households in the Um-Beda and Thawrah districts of Omdurman are reporting that GoS round-ups have detained at least one person from each household. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - GOS: JEM VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (SBU) On June 10, POLOFF attended an ambassadorial-level meeting of the Sudan Advisory Council for Human Rights. Abdelmoneim Taha, Rapporteur of the GoS-affiliated council, began the meeting with a long litany of human rights abuses allegedly carried out by JEM leading up to, during, and following the May 10 attacks. Brother of GoS Vice President Ali Osman Taha, Taha accused the international community of adopting a double standard vis-`-vis JEM and GoS human rights violations. As he had previously asserted in his meeting with Charge de Affaires Fernandez last month (Ref. A),Taha insisted that the Advisory Council has been monitoring the arrests from the beginning, and strenuously denied accusations of torture. ¶5. (SBU) Jamal Osman Suleiman, representing the office of the Attorney General for Anti-Terrorism, announced that 105 suspects are still in custody under suspicion of assisting in the May 10 attacks, and 480 individuals have since been released. (Note: Information from human rights organizations in Khartoum indicates that Suleiman's quote of 105 detainees grossly undercounts the number of suspects in the custody of various GoS branches. End note.) Suleiman read a list of violations committed by JEM under various articles of the Sudanese Anti-Terror Act of 2001, including but not limited to: undermining the constitution, inciting conflict, killing civilians, and publishing false information. Colonel Mustafa Ibrahim of the Sudanese Armed Forces said that although the Geneva Convention gives the military the right to try detained JEM supporters in military tribunals, all detainees will face trial in civilian courts. ¶6. (SBU) Legal advocates in Khartoum doubt the possibility of free, fair and open trials, pointing out that the Sudanese Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 allows the GoS to conduct trials in closed courts. KHARTOUM 00000881 002 OF 002 Khartoum-based attorneys with the Darfur Bar Association have submitted several petitions to defend the accused, but the Ministry of Justice has not yet answered their pleas. Discouragingly, the GoS-controlled Sudanese Bar Association has already volunteered to provide defense lawyers should the trials be held in civilian courts. These attorneys are sure to show little interest in actually defending their clients. - - - - Comment - - - - ¶11. (SBU) With at least one critic on the run, possibly thousands jailed (Ref. D),and hundreds facing trial on unknown charges, the human rights situation in Khartoum continues to deteriorate. Historically calm in the midst of disorder on the periphery of the nation, Khartoum is still reeling from the shock of the JEM attacks, and Darfuris here are aware they will continue to make convenient targets for GoS anger. Post will continue to monitor the situation as the detainees make their way through the legal system. DATTA