Human rights report details Darfur expatriate's 10-year Sudan sentence

Port Sudan, where a Darfur expatriate was arrested in March 2024, according to a human rights report. [Courtesy]

Sudan's human rights situation has deteriorated sharply since war erupted in April 2023, with the US State Department documenting torture, arbitrary detention and security laws weaponised against civilians.

It is within that context that the Darfur Victims Support Organisation has alleged the case of Omar Mohammed Omar Daris, 33, a trucking company manager who lived in Kuwait, who it claims was arrested at Port Sudan International Airport on March 15, 2024, immediately after landing, by six members of the Joint Security Cell.

The organisation, which says it based its findings on interviews with one of the victim's relatives and a review of statements related to the case, alleges Daris was blindfolded and taken to a security facility outside the airport.

It further alleges that Daris was subjected to physical and psychological torture, including beatings and insults, with interrogators allegedly focusing on his tribal origin after establishing he came from Ad Al-Fursan locality in South Darfur State. He was born on January 1, 1991, and belongs to the Beni Halba tribe.

According to the organisation, he was subsequently charged under Articles 50, 51 and 26 of the Sudanese Criminal Code of 1991, provisions covering crimes against the state and terrorism, and convicted by the Anti-Terrorism and Crimes Against the State Court. It alleges that social media posts in which he called for peace were treated as evidence of political opposition.

"The arrest, investigation and trial procedures were marred by legal and procedural violations described as serious," the organisation said in its report.

The organisation further alleges Daris was held in solitary confinement and forced to sign a confession before trial, raising what it describes as concerns about judicial independence and the integrity of proceedings, particularly given their timing after attacks on Port Sudan.

The organisation claims the case is not isolated, alleging that between 180 and 200 detainees from western Sudan are being held in Port Sudan National Prison under similar charges, with some allegedly facing sentences ranging from long-term imprisonment to execution.

The report also alleges a broader pattern of abuses in Darfur since the outbreak of conflict, including unlawful killings, forced displacement, arbitrary detention, sexual violence and attacks on communities based on ethnicity and tribal affiliation. It warns that ongoing impunity has created, in its characterisation, a climate of collective punishment, and calls for urgent international attention and accountability measures.

The Darfur Victims Support Organisation is calling for Daris's release or a fair retrial, an independent investigation into the torture allegations, access for human rights monitors and an end to what it describes as ethnic profiling in security prosecutions.