Rights Monitor: 83 Detainees at Port Sudan Prison Go on Hunger Strike

The Al-Jazeera Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that 83 detainees at the National Prison in Port Sudan have launched an open-ended hunger strike in protest against prolonged detention and delays in their trials. They are calling for urgent intervention to end the harsh humanitarian and legal conditions they face inside the prison.

The conditions of detainees in Sudan have faced repeated criticism from human rights organizations since the outbreak of the war between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, particularly over prolonged detention, prison conditions, and legal procedures. Rights groups have called for guarantees of fair trials and the protection of detainees’ rights.

In a statement, the rights observatory said that “the detainees submitted a memorandum to the relevant authorities outlining a number of demands.” It noted that all 83 detainees face charges under Articles 50 and 51 of Sudan’s 1991 Criminal Act.

The memorandum stated that “some detainees have spent nearly two years in prison without being brought to trial due to disruptions in judicial proceedings and the absence of several parties to the cases, including complainants, prosecution witnesses, and public prosecutors.”

It stressed that “continued prolonged detention has deprived the detainees of their right to a fair trial and turned pretrial detention, which is supposed to be a temporary measure, into long-term detention without judicial resolution.”

The memorandum also pointed to repeated postponements and lengthy intervals between hearings, which have further worsened the detainees’ conditions. It noted that a single judge is handling the cases of all 83 detainees.