Since a military coup on October 25 last year and the imposition of a nationwide state of emergency afterward, there have been arbitrary arrests of protesters across Sudan. In recent weeks, that campaign has ramped up as dozens of activists have disappeared only to turn up in state custody. In Soba alone, at least 105 people are being held without due process, prompting most of them to go on hunger strike. The power grab ended a fragile democratic transition that began months after popular protests unseated Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. Now, as demonstrators return to the streets to demand civilian rule, their calls have been answered with brutal repression. Security forces have abducted protesters and politicians from their homes, offices, and even hospitals— as well as killed 81 people. In most cases, state authorities officially deny the arrests or slam trumped-up charges against detainees.
Noon Kashkosh, a member of the Democratic Coalition for Lawyers which is providing legal assistance to families of the detained, told Al Jazeera that security forces are trying to discourage protests by pressing outlandish charges against young demonstrators. But the wave of detentions has fueled the resolve of protesters to stay on the streets rather than back down.
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