Jehanne Henry, Sudan researcher for Human Rights Watch, has said that the arrests [of the doctors] were part of a general clampdown on the opposition following President al Bashir's recent victory in elections that were neither free nor fair.
The targeting of doctors is clearly related to the government’s post-elections crack-down. Once the National Congress Party declared victory in April, it went on to further restrict civil liberties by arresting political opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists and preventing their freedom of movement.
She said the doctors were now being targeted “because they, too, present a threat to the ruling party,” adding:
This pattern of oppression yet again confirms the elections did nothing to promote the democratic transformation envisioned in Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
PHR has learned that Dr. Hisham Abdulgani, who was arrested leaving the Khartoum hospital meeting aimed at resolving the doctors' dispute, has subsequently been freed. The other doctors remain in custody.Please email the Sudanese Government today and urge them to release these doctors immediately and unconditionally and to provide any medical attention they may need.