PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
Sudanese journalist found after being abducted, tortured
New York, US (PANA) - A critical Sudanese freelance journalist was found on the side of a road in the capital city of Khartoum Friday after being reported missing 29 Oct., the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) said in a statement made available to PANA Wednesday.
Somaya Ibrahim Ismail Hundosa had been tortured and her head shaved while she was held captive, the reports said.
Hundosa was found in a remote area of the capital. Her family said that she had been subjected to "physical torture and beating with whips" and that she had been told her head was shaved because "it looked like the hair of Arabs while she belonged to the slaves in Darfur."
The journalist is now recovering at home with her family.
Hundosa's family members told the local media that she was abducted near her home in Khartoum and taken to an unknown location.
Later that day, her sister received a phone call with Hundosa's voice in the background, begging to be allowed to speak with her sister.
The following day, Hundosa's nephew received an anonymous text saying the journalist had been detained by agents from the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS).
Hundosa later told her family she believed her captors were indeed NISS agents. The NISS has not publicly confirmed or denied any involvement in the attack.
Hundosa's captors showed her articles she had written and accused her of opposing and disrespecting the regime of President Omar al-Bashir.
Hundosa had covered human rights violations in the western Darfur region and the Nuba Mountains in the South Kordafan region, subjects that are deemed off-limits for journalists
reporting on Sudan.
"Authorities must immediately and credibly investigate this horrifying attack on Somaya Ibrahim Isamail Hundosa and bring the perpetrators to justice, no matter who they are," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "This attack shows the dangers that journalists in Sudan continue to face if they dare criticize the government."
In June and July, CPJ documented a series of journalist detentions, newspaper confiscations, raids by security forces, and the blocking of critical websites to silence coverage of protests that began in mid-June in Khartoum in which citizens demonstrated against austerity measures.
-0- PANA SEG 7Nov2012
Somaya Ibrahim Ismail Hundosa had been tortured and her head shaved while she was held captive, the reports said.
Hundosa was found in a remote area of the capital. Her family said that she had been subjected to "physical torture and beating with whips" and that she had been told her head was shaved because "it looked like the hair of Arabs while she belonged to the slaves in Darfur."
The journalist is now recovering at home with her family.
Hundosa's family members told the local media that she was abducted near her home in Khartoum and taken to an unknown location.
Later that day, her sister received a phone call with Hundosa's voice in the background, begging to be allowed to speak with her sister.
The following day, Hundosa's nephew received an anonymous text saying the journalist had been detained by agents from the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS).
Hundosa later told her family she believed her captors were indeed NISS agents. The NISS has not publicly confirmed or denied any involvement in the attack.
Hundosa's captors showed her articles she had written and accused her of opposing and disrespecting the regime of President Omar al-Bashir.
Hundosa had covered human rights violations in the western Darfur region and the Nuba Mountains in the South Kordafan region, subjects that are deemed off-limits for journalists
reporting on Sudan.
"Authorities must immediately and credibly investigate this horrifying attack on Somaya Ibrahim Isamail Hundosa and bring the perpetrators to justice, no matter who they are," said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney. "This attack shows the dangers that journalists in Sudan continue to face if they dare criticize the government."
In June and July, CPJ documented a series of journalist detentions, newspaper confiscations, raids by security forces, and the blocking of critical websites to silence coverage of protests that began in mid-June in Khartoum in which citizens demonstrated against austerity measures.
-0- PANA SEG 7Nov2012
