PHR Action Center

Sudan Doctors Arrested: Demand Their Release In early June, six leading Sudanese doctors were arrested by the Sudanese Government's National Security and Intelligence Services (NISS) and detained without charge for their membership in the Doctors' Strike Committee, which has called for improvements in salaries and working conditions. The violence against members of the Doctors' Strike Committee is escalating. On June 21, committee member Dr. Hisham Abdulgani was reportedly arrested while leaving Khartoum hospital after meeting with several consultants and government officials who had invited him to discuss a peaceful resolution to the dispute. The next day, June 22, NISS agents reportedly entered the house of another Committee leader, Dr. WalaEldin Ibrahim, and his wife, mother and children were questioned as to his whereabouts. At least seven doctors are in prison, and are at risk of abuse or torture. Other doctors and their families continue to be threatened. The Sudanese medical system is in crisis. The Doctors' Strike Committee is negotiating with the Sudanese Government for their colleagues' release. Your voice can make a difference. Take action today. This petition goes to the Sudanese Embassy in Washington DC and the Permanent Mission of Sudan to the UN in New York, as well as to Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir and Sudanese NISS Director Mohamed Atta Al-Moula Abbas. Sample Letter for Campaign Subject: Support the Doctors of Sudan Dear [ Decision Maker ] , Sudan's physicians deserve support from the Government of Sudan -- not broken promises and abuse. The arrest of several prominent physicians this June is a stain on Sudan's already tenuous health and human rights record. I call on the Sudanese government to release Dr. Alhadi Bahkeit, Dr. Ahmed Alabwabi, Dr. Ashraf Hammad, Dr. Mahmoud Khairallah, Dr. Abdelaziz Ali Jame, Dr. Ahmed Abdullah KhalafAllah and Dr. Hisham Abdulgani immediately and unconditionally, as well as making sure they receive any needed medical care. I also urge the Government to peacefully resolve talks with the Doctors' Strike Committee so that physicians can return to work and the health of all Sudanese can be promoted and protected. Signed by:

Campaign Launched: June 22, 2010

Background Information

Updated below

In 2003, doctors came together to demand better working conditions from the Government of Sudan. After a brief strike, the government accepted a 12-point agreement with the physician activists, which included a salary increase.

Seven years later, that agreement has yet to be implemented. Doctors formed a new Doctors' Strike Committee in early 2010, and held a series of strikes that ended when the government agreed to implement the agreement in April 2010. However, Sudan's Ministry of Health then withdrew the agreement in mid-May, and the Doctors' Committee called a meeting for June 2, to decide next steps. Before the meeting could be held, several doctors were arrested, one severely beaten.

On June 2, doctors and medical students from the University of Khartoum organized a protest to demand the release of their colleagues. Officers of the NISS attacked the peaceful protesters, badly injuring several of them. During the first week of June, more doctors were arrested, and other members of the Doctors' Strike Committee were forced into hiding. There are reports that some of the doctors have been severely beaten.

Today, the doctors remain on strike until their colleagues are released, and medical students have been assigned to cover hospital duties across Sudan. At least seven doctors are in prison, and are at risk of abuse or torture. Other doctors and their families continue to be threatened.

The Sudanese medical system is in crisis. The Doctors' Strike Committee is negotiating with the Sudanese Government for their colleagues' release. The doctors who are known to be in jail at this time are: Dr. Alhadi Bahkeit, Dr. Ahmed Alabwabi, Dr. Ashraf Hammad, Dr. Mahmoud Khairallah, Dr. Abdelaziz Ali Jame, Dr. Ahmed Abdullah KhalafAllah, and Dr. Hisham Abdulgani.

June 23, 2010: Jehanne Henry, Sudan researcher for Human Rights Watch, has said that the arrests [of the doctors] were part of a general clampdown on the opposition following President al Bashir's recent victory in elections that were neither free nor fair.
 
“The targeting of doctors is clearly related to the government’s post-elections crack-down. Once the National Congress Party declared victory in April, it went on to further restrict civil liberties by arresting political opposition leaders, journalists and human rights activists and preventing their freedom of movement.”
 
She said the doctors were now being targeted “because they, too, present a threat to the ruling party,” adding: “This pattern of oppression yet again confirms the elections did nothing to promote the democratic transformation envisioned in Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.”

PHR has learned that Dr. Hisham Abdulgani, who was arrested leaving the Khartoum hospital meeting aimed at resolving the doctors' dispute, has subsequently been freed. The other doctors remain in custody.