Last month, over 300 students from the University of Khartoum were arrested by security forces who raided the student dorms at 4 a.m. The students were manhandled, beaten and instructed to pack their bags in under a minute for a forceful eviction. They were then rounded up by the police forces and taken to more than half a dozen police station scattered across the triangular capital of Khartoum.
In December, the campus of the University of Khartoum marked several protests by students demanding compensation for the people of Manasir who were displaced from their homes due to the construction of a dam near the city of Dammir, namely Merowe dam. They also protested in demand of their right to form a students’ union and to end police violence. The university was hence shut down until further notice.
There was no justification by the police as to why the mass arrest took place, but many speculate that it is a response to a peaceful protest planned by the students two days ahead. However, they were threatened with charges of “causing public nuisance” and “disturbing public safety”.
At 5 p.m., police stations began releasing the students who then gathered at the Sudanese Human Rights Monitor for a press conference. At the press conference, released students testified that they were beaten with batons and metal rods and electrically shocked.
According to a press release youth movement “Girifna” posted on its website, thousands of police officers were involved in the crackdown and the students were subjected to racist verbal abuse. “Girifna” also quoted a student who spoke during the conference as reporting two students missing. The movement fears that the students, Muammar Musa Mohamed who is affiliated with the organizing committee of the protests, and Amin Kamal Karrar, may have been kidnapped by the National Intelligence and Security System (NISS). Moreover, another two students, Mohamed Haroun (a student at Al Zaeem Al Azhari University who was spending the night at the dorms) and Hussein Ismail were reported hospitalized after sustaining severe injuries due to the excessive violence they were subjected to by security forces.
At the press conference, the students reiterated the demands of the students and stated that they will not accept to go back to university unless their demands are met, starting with the immediate resignation of both the president and the vice-president of the university.
“We were awakened at 4 a.m. by the sounds of the police trucks,” recounted Muawia Mohamed, a student who was arrested during the police raid. “The police beat us out of bed and used excessive violence on us. We were both physically and verbally abused, and the police looted many of the students’ possessions. The first question we were asked after our names was the name of our tribe.” When asked where he was headed following his release and the conclusion of the press conference, Muawia replied: “The dorms are our home. My family lives in Darfur, there is no way for me to go back.”
Following the press conference, the students, who were present at the Sudanese Human Rights Monitor with their luggage upon their release from detention, took a unified stand and decided to return to the dorms despite the risk.
On December 30, 2011, two University of Khartoum students were kidnapped by the NISS and detained in Kober prison located in Khartoum North. The students, Tajelsir Gaafer and Mohamed Idriss Jiddo, are both “Girifna” members who were active on campus during the December protests. They were released after spending over a month in detention and facing no charges. The Sudanese NISS is notorious for brutally torturing political detainees.
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