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.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
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Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.