Amnesty International report condemns ‘brutal’ Sudanese security measures against opponents

Amnesty: Sudan security services upping repression

CAIRO — Sudan’s security services are waging a “brutal campaign” against government critics, particularly since nationwide elections in April, the London-based human rights group Amnesty International said in a report released Monday.

The repression comes against a backdrop of increasing isolation for the Khartoum government as the International Criminal Court in The Hague moves to charge Sudan’s president with genocide and next year’s crucial referendum over the future of the secession-minded south looms.

“The Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) is carrying out a brutal campaign of arbitrary detentions, torture, and mental and physical intimidation against opponents,” Amnesty said in a statement accompanying the report.

The repression typically peaks during periods of political tensions, such as when Darfur rebels attacked the capital in May 2008 or when the ICC issued its first arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir, the report said.

“NISS agents have systematically used intimidation and various forms of ill-treatment, including torture, against supporters of the political opposition,” Amnesty said in a statement, citing the use of beatings, electric shocks and sleep deprivation against detainees.

The report cited the example of Ahmed Ali Mohamed Osman arrested by NISS in March 2009 after writing an article critical of the expulsion of aid groups from Darfur and alleged rapes there.

“They kicked me in the testicles repeatedly while they talked about the report on rape in Darfur,” he told Amnesty, adding that he was also beaten all over his body with electric cables.

The role of the security services is especially sensitive because of the delicate negotiations being carried out over the country’s future between the central government and the leaders in the south. The two side fought a two-decade civil war that claimed 2 million lives.

As part of the 2005 peace deal, the powers of the intelligence service were meant to be curtailed, but a bill passed by parliament fell short of what the opposition was calling for.

In 2011, a referendum will be held across the oil-rich south to determine if it remains part of Sudan.