Sudanese Protesters Released after Weeks-long Detention

Protesters hold flags and chant slogans as they march against the Sudanese military's seizure of power and ousting of the civilian government, in the streets of the capital Khartoum, Sudan October 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin/File Photo
Protesters hold flags and chant slogans as they march against the Sudanese military's seizure of power and ousting of the civilian government, in the streets of the capital Khartoum, Sudan October 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin/File Photo
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Sudanese Protesters Released after Weeks-long Detention

Protesters hold flags and chant slogans as they march against the Sudanese military's seizure of power and ousting of the civilian government, in the streets of the capital Khartoum, Sudan October 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin/File Photo
Protesters hold flags and chant slogans as they march against the Sudanese military's seizure of power and ousting of the civilian government, in the streets of the capital Khartoum, Sudan October 30, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin/File Photo

Sudan has released 115 of some 135 anti-coup protesters who had been held for weeks, a UN official said on Thursday, following pressure from lawyers, families and the international community.

The detainees are part of a protest movement against an Oct. 25 coup that has persisted despite security crackdowns killing 82 and wound more than 2,000, according to medics.

Their detention came following the reinstatement of powers to the country's powerful intelligence service in late December, which had been a key tool under former President Omar al-Bashir.

"There's no investigations or anything, they just take people and throw them into jail for no cause," said Shahinaz Jamal, an activist at a protest in front of a UN building, this week.

Adama Dieng, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights' designated expert for Sudan, called for the immediate release of all the other protesters.

"I raised concern at the extension of law enforcement powers to the general security forces during the state of emergency and the temporary immunity from prosecution granted to these forces," Reuters quoted him as saying.

Lawyers say the detainees include protesters, members of neighborhood resistance committees, union members and politicians, some arrested during protests and others taken from their homes and other locations.

Still imprisoned are top former officials under the civilian-military power-sharing arrangement prior to the coup, held on corruption charges, as well as protesters accused of killing a police brigadier-general.

Lawyer Inaam Atieg, part of the Emergency Lawyers activist group, said the detained protesters had been denied access to lawyers, doctors and their families and that although they were detained under a state of emergency, correct procedures were not followed.



Gaza Rescuers Say 72 Killed by Israeli Fire

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Gaza Rescuers Say 72 Killed by Israeli Fire

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on June 19, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 72 people in the Palestinian territory on Thursday, including 21 who had gathered to receive aid in central and southern Gaza.

Updating an earlier figure, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP the death toll had risen to 72, "due to the ongoing Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip since dawn today -- 21 of them were waiting for aid.”

The Israeli army told AFP that troops had fired "warning shots" at "suspects" approaching them in the Netzarim area where the civil defense agency said 15 people were killed waiting for aid, but that it was "not aware of any injured individuals.”