Three human rights activists have been arrested and detained by Sudanese authorities in Khartoum. Amir Suliman, Abdelmoneim Aljak and Osman Hummaida were summoned to the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) offices on 24 November, where they were detained and questioned about their human rights activities.

The three men were summoned by the NISS’s political affairs section, which deals with civil society organisations and political parties. This is not the first time that the three have been detained due to their human rights activism.

Amir Suliman was released later the same day and Abdelmoneim Aljak was released early on the following morning but subsequently arrested again on November 26. British citizen Osman Hummaida also remains in custody. None of the men have been charged with any crime, and the sole subject of questioning was their human rights activities.

Hummaida and Aljak work as consultants to civil society and nongovernmental organisations, while Suliman is chairman of the Khartoum centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED). All three activists have participated in awareness-raising campaigns on justice and accountability, as well as highlighting the ongoing human rights situation in Sudan (especially the troubled Darfur region).

Human rights organisations have received ever more frequent reports of the Sudanese government targeting those who have spoken out about human rights abuses in Sudan, the situation in Darfur, or international justice. This harassment of human rights groups has intensified after the May 10 attack by the rebel ‘Justice and Equality Movement’ (JEM) in Khartoum. Equally, the July 14 announcement by the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court requesting an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide has increased government pressure on journalists and activists. Those attempting to publish articles about such sensitive topics have been forced to censor any articles seen as being critical of the authorities.

Human Rights Watch’s Africa Director, Georgette Gagnon, sees this event as “part of a wider pattern of trying to silence those who support justice and to suppress information about the human rights situation in Sudan.”