The DVSO deplores the arrest and detention of large numbers of innocent civilians by the
warring parties in Sudan. Most of the victims are held incommunicado for prolonged periods in
custody of the security services under control of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) or those run by
the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The victims are incarcerated in poor detention
facilities where torture and ill treatment of prisoners are rampant as a means to coerce
detainees into confessions. Hundreds of detainees were summarily executed in these detention
facilities or died because of hunger and lack of medical care. Meanwhile, money extortion is
common practice for the release of detainees.
However, on some occasions, detainees are brought before quasi-military courts where they
were summarily sentenced for crimes that carry capital penalty or other severe punishments.
Most of the victims of these unfair trials are innocent civilians, including women and underage
children. They are typically accused of collaborating with the enemy, a term that refers to the
RSF, and often used solely to incriminate the victims based on their ethnic or regional affiliation.
The latest case of unfair trial and flawed court proceedings brought to DVSO attention is the
arrest and sentencing to death of Dr. Abdelmagid Bushra Khatir Ahmed Haroun, Director at
West Sinnar Sugar Factory and a member of the Umma National Party. Dr. Abdelmagid Bushra
(49 year-old) is the father of 5 children and was forced to leave his home with his family and live
as IDPs in Sinnar town since 8 June 2024. He was arrested by the security forces on 28 June
- Since then he was held under duress in custody of the military authorities until he was
sentenced to death by Sinnar Criminal Court on 31 December 2025. He was falsely accused of
collaborating with the RSF in a biased and flawed legal process that fell short of meeting the
national standards and international norms of fair trial as enshrined in Article 10 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and guaranteed by the Sudan Evidence Act of 1993.
The Court found Dr. Abdelmagid Bushra guilty under articles 26 and 51 of Sudan’s Criminal Code
of 1991, accusing him of “assisting the commission of criminal acts” and “waging war against
the state,” respectively. The Court’s records, multiple evidence and the defense submission
clearly showed that his only crime is that he was the last high-ranking employee to leave his
post when the RSF occupied West Sinnar Sugar Factory in early June 2024.
DVSO condemns all illegal acts directed to wards civilians in Sudan, particularly the arrest,
detention, unfair trials and harsh and unjust sentencing to which hundreds of people fall
victims. All people held in custody by the warring parties are entitled to a fair trial and public
hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, without discrimination on any ground as to
ethnic or regional origins.
We call on the military authority to annul the sentence of Dr. Abdelmagid Bushra Khatir Ahmed
Haroun and respect his rights. He should be accorded the opportunity to appear before an
independent and impartial tribunal in accordance with national and international standards of
fair trial.
