Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that human rights defender, Ms Nahla Bashir Adam, was arbitrarily arrested and detained on 15 December 2008. Nahla Bashir Adam is Deputy Director of the Youth for Children Association (YCA), a non-governmental non-profit organisation which was founded in 2003. The YCA works in South Kurdufan to promote the rights of children and awareness on issues such as education and health regarding children, especially those with disabilities and chronic diseases in Sudan.

Further Information

On 15 December 2008, Nahla Bashir Adam was arrested by Sudanese security forces in Ed Daein, where her aunt lives, without being notified of the reasons for her arrest. She was moved from Ed Daein to Hejlija and, since 18 December 2008, has been held in Omdurman Prison for Women, to the west of Khartoum.

She was initially accused of playing a part in the kidnapping of Chinese oil-field workers which led to them being murdered. Soon afterwards, she was accused during her interrogation of being the head of intelligence for the Justice and Equality Movement, a rebel group. However, she reportedly has no connections to this group and is in no way related to the kidnapping.

In detention, Nahla Bashir Adam has been subjected to torture and ill-treatment. She has been beaten in the face, prevented from using the bathroom, called racist names, and threatened with summary execution. She has also had machine guns aimed at her head and been forced to sleep on the ground without covers or a bed for several days. At 5 pm on 1 February 2009, Nahla Bashir Adam began a hunger strike. She ended the hunger strike two days later in response to concerns raised by friends about her health. She has not yet been given a trial and no specific indictment has been brought against her.

Front Line believes that the detention and ill-treatment of Nahla Bashir Adam may be related to her work in the defence of human rights. Front Line is seriously concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Nahla Bashir Adam while in detention, especially given her health conditions that led her to cease her hunger strike.