Doctors Detained for Strike Action, at Risk of Torture in Sudan

This posting is part of our Urgent Action Series. For more information visit www.amnestyusa.org/uan

Officers of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) have arrested six doctors and attacked protesting medical students and doctors in the last two weeks.  This is worrisome for several reasons, including that the arrests are warranted by Sudan’s 2010 National Security Act.

NISS officers are arresting doctors simply for participating in the Doctors’ Strike Committee, which has been pressuring authorities to keep their promises to improve the working conditions and salaries of Sudanese doctors.  The government has neglected its promises to doctors, and instead is using an unjust law to arrest, detain, and intimidate protesting doctors.

Amnesty International is calling on the Sudanese government to reform its unjust laws and to protect the rights of its citizens.  The government has granted itself the power to detain without charge for up to four and a half months, and NISS agents are essentially free to violate human rights as long as they do it as part of their work.  This means that the government can arrest people like Dr. Bahkit and Dr. Aldin, who, as prisoners of conscience, are simply advocating peacefully for better treatment from the government.  Even worse, NISS officers can beat and torture those they arrest without a single worry of future prosecution.

Take action to get the Sudanese government to respect the rights of its citizens. It is deeply disturbing that peaceful doctors are being mistreated and detained without charge.  Sudanese authorities need to grant these doctors the freedom of expression and improved working conditions.

Anna Westlund, Individuals at Risk Campaign, contributed to this blog post.

Join the Urgent Action Network!

Members of the Urgent Action Network provide an effective and rapid response by sending letters, e-mails, and faxes directly to those who have the power to stop the violations. For more information visit: www.amnestyusa.org/uan

AIUSA welcomes a lively and courteous discussion that follow our Community Guidelines. Comments are not pre-screened before they post but AIUSA reserves the right to remove any comments violating our guidelines.

13 thoughts on “Doctors Detained for Strike Action, at Risk of Torture in Sudan

  1. Dear Amnsty international team,
    I'm Mahmoud Aboud, a doctor from Sudan & an activist in the Doctors strike committee.
    I noticed that you didn't mention Ahmed Alabwabi in the list of prisoners on the top of your PDF file (Urgent Action) on this link : http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/ua
    And also Walaa Aldin Ibrahim is now out side custody but he is in risk of arresting & torture again, he was seen last time in public in 14th of June 2010 at about 11pm in a public talk in Khartoum Teaching Hospital.

  2. yes i gree strongly with this issue. and you must take urgent action
    we are in sudan have alot of stragels

  3. Dear Amnsty international team,
    I'm Mahmoud Aboud, a doctor from Sudan & an activist in the Doctors strike committee.
    I noticed that you didn't mention Ahmed Alabwabi in the list of prisoners on the top of your PDF file (Urgent Action) on this link : http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/ua
    And also Walaa Aldin Ibrahim is now out side custody but he is in risk of arresting & torture again, he was seen last time in public in 14th of June 2010 at about 11pm in a public talk in Khartoum Teaching Hospital.

  4. Dear Amnsty international team,
    I'm Mahmoud Aboud, a doctor from Sudan & an activist in the Doctors strike committee.
    I noticed that you didn't mention Ahmed Alabwabi in the list of prisoners on the top of your PDF file (Urgent Action) on this link : http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/ua
    And also Walaa Aldin Ibrahim is now out side custody but he is in risk of arresting & torture again, he was seen last time in public in 14th of June 2010 at about 11pm in a public talk in Khartoum Teaching Hospital.

  5. dear sir; I'm a sudanese doctor a registrar, we are having a doctors strike in sudan since2ed of june2010. the authorities in our country is arresting 6 of the doctors (our colleges) because they are the leaders of this strike, as if it is a crime. they are at risk of torture evry moment and still the security authorities refuse to release them.we are sending you an SOS to interfere for releasing them and saving their lives as soon as possible.

  6. yes i gree strongly with this issue. and you must take urgent action
    we are in sudan have alot of stragels

  7. Dear Amnsty international team,
    I’m Mahmoud Aboud, a doctor from Sudan & an activist in the Doctors strike committee.
    I noticed that you didn’t mention Ahmed Alabwabi in the list of prisoners on the top of your PDF file (Urgent Action) on this link :
    http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa12710.pdf
    And also Walaa Aldin Ibrahim is now out side custody but he is in risk of arresting & torture again, he was seen last time in public in 14th of June 2010 at about 11pm in a public talk in Khartoum Teaching Hospital.

  8. dear sir; I’m a sudanese doctor a registrar, we are having a doctors strike in sudan since2ed of june2010. the authorities in our country is arresting 6 of the doctors (our colleges) because they are the leaders of this strike, as if it is a crime. they are at risk of torture evry moment and still the security authorities refuse to release them.we are sending you an SOS to interfere for releasing them and saving their lives as soon as possible.

  9. i send my sincerest solidarity to the just struggle of the striking Sudanese doctors.

    Doctors are workers like those in any other field, & like all workers their labor must be on a completely voluntary basis, not coerced in any way !

    The "authorities" in certain countries put doctors & certain other categories of workers in a segregated section of so – called "essential" services & make them punishable for any movement they undertake towards their own rights & freedoms.

    Strikes by doctors, as well as those by nurses, healthcare workers, hotel personnel, airline pilots, & so on ( ultimately a wide range of services ) are all depicted by governments, management & the fawning corporate media as "harming" the ordinary people, thus shifting a scenario of deplorable work conditions to one of laying the blame for the existing problems on the struggles of the personnel in the field themselves.

    Unite with the just struggle & cause of the striking doctors in Sudan !

  10. i send my sincerest solidarity to the just struggle of the striking Sudanese doctors.

    Doctors are workers like those in any other field, & like all workers their labor must be on a completely voluntary basis, not coerced in any way !

    The “authorities” in certain countries put doctors & certain other categories of workers in a segregated section of so – called “essential” services & make them punishable for any movement they undertake towards their own rights & freedoms.

    Strikes by doctors, as well as those by nurses, healthcare workers, hotel personnel, airline pilots, & so on ( ultimately a wide range of services ) are all depicted by governments, management & the fawning corporate media as “harming” the ordinary people, thus shifting a scenario of deplorable work conditions to one of laying the blame for the existing problems on the struggles of the personnel in the field themselves.

    Unite with the just struggle & cause of the striking doctors in Sudan !

  11. dear sir
    im dr: omer , a sudanese medical practioner
    our colleagues are still detained and the government refused to release them despite all the efforts of activists . plz plz plz do something to improve this miserable situation.

  12. dear sir
    im dr: omer , a sudanese medical practioner
    our colleagues are still detained and the government refused to release them despite all the efforts of activists . plz plz plz do something to improve this miserable situation.

  13. Nothing new….but this is worse because we're talking about people who provide medical care. Is there really no limit to their actions?

Comments are closed.