Amnesty International

DETAINED FEMALE YOUTH ACTIVIST RISKS TORTURE

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR54/028/2012/en

July 3 2012

An activist from Sudan’s youth movement Girifna, Rashida Shams al-Din, was arrested in the early morning of 24 June by security forces. She is being detained by the National Security Services (NSS) in an undisclosed location, without access to her family or a lawyer. She is at risk of torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

On the evening of 23 June, Rashida Shams al-Din left a wedding she was attending shortly after midnight. She told her family she was going toward Amarat, an area of the capital Khartoum where demonstrations had been taking place in recent days. She did not return home that night, and her family has not heard from her since.

A relative of Rashida Shams al-Din went repeatedly to the Airport Street offices of the National Security Services to enquire on her situation. On 26 June, the NSS confirmed to Rashida Shams al-Din’s relative that she was being held in NSS custody at an undisclosed location. Rashida Shams al-Din family was able to pass on clothes and personal items to her indirectly, but she remains detained incommunicado without access to her relatives or a lawyer. She is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

Twenty-eight-year old Rashida Shams al-Din lives in the Al-Shajara area of Khartoum and is a law student at the Open University of Sudan. She is a member of Girifna, a youth movement which has been involved in demonstrations criticizing the government, particularly in recent weeks.