For Immediate Release
UPDATE: On November 28, PHR received confirmation that both Osman Hummaida and Abdel Monim Elgak have been released from detention. They expressed their gratitude for the efforts of human rights advocates on their behalf. The text of the original press release remains below.
Physicians for Human Rights is deeply concerned about the arrest and incommunicado detention of human rights defenders Osman Hummaida and Abdel Monim Elgak. Both men were reportedly stopped on the streets of Khartoum on Monday, November 24, and interrogated for hours by officers of the Sudanese National Security Intelligence Services. Mr. Hummaida is the former director of the Sudanese Organization Against Torture (SOAT) and a citizen of the United Kingdom.
PHR has no information on the two mens’ location or conditions of confinement, but is concerned for their safety and for the health of Mr. Hummaida, who suffers from high blood pressure and asthma. He reportedly has not been given access to a doctor. A family member who asked to visit Mr. Hummaida was refused access to him. Mr. Hommaida was previously arrested by Sudanese authorities in 1990 and spent 18 months in secret detention locations where he was subjected to torture.
PHR calls on the Sudanese government to release these men from incommunicado detention, and to respect their rights to immediately contact UK Consular representation and/or legal counsel and to receive medical care as well as family visits.
Since its founding in 1986, PHR’s Colleagues at Risk Program has defended the rights of our colleagues whose rights are threatened due to their medical, humanitarian and human rights work.
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations. Learn more here.