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.



Israel Kills 40 Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 9, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 9, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israel Kills 40 Palestinians in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 9, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of an Israeli strike on the Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City, on July 9, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

At least 40 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, hospital officials said Wednesday.

Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis said the dead included 17 women and 10 children. It said one strike killed 10 people from the same family, including three children.

The Israeli military did not comment on specific strikes, but said it had struck more than 100 targets across Gaza over the past day, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, missile launchers and tunnels.

The war started after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Most of the hostages have been released in earlier ceasefires.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.