• Text size  | | |
• Email this document
• Printable version

Sudan: Treatment of members and suspected supporters of the Martyrs' Families League or Ramadan Martyrs' Family League) and whether this group is or was active in Saudi Arabia (2002-2004)

Current information on the Ramadan Martyrs' Family League, including the treatment of its members and suspected supporters and its activities in Saudi Arabia could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate within time constraints.

However, describing the league's main objectives and circumstances in which it has been founded, the Sudan Update Website stated the following:

On 24 April 1990, during Ramadan, the government executed 28 army officers and more than 200 non-commissioned officers suspected of involvement in an attempted coup d'etat. They were reportedly machine-gunned and buried in a mass grave. The wives and families of the officers formed a Martyrs' Families' League, and began to campaign actively against the regime. Their goals were to work together with all democratic forces in Sudan to overthrow the NIF [National Islamic Front] government; to bring to public trial all accomplices in the torture and extrajudicial execution of the officers and soldiers; to locate the secret graves of the martyrs; for the wills of the martyrs to be shown to the families, and for the men's belongings to be returned to their families

Every month, the Ramadan Martyrs' Families' League met to commemorate the death of their loved ones. These family gatherings were frequently broken up by the security forces. Although no-one was actually killed, many women and children were terrorised with guns, arrested, beaten, insulted and detained for many days (n.d.).

Corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

The Ramadan Martyrs' Family League has been established in four countries, including Egypt, United Kingdom (Sudan Update n.d.; SHRO 10 Apr. 2003), Sudan and the United States (ibid.). Information on the presence of this league in Saudi Arabia could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Sudan Human Rights Organization – Cairo Branch (SHRO – Cairo). 10 April 2003. "SHRO-Cairo Received This Statement from the Ramadan Martyrs' Family League." <http://www.shro-cairo.org/pressreleases/april03/ramadan.htm> [Accessed 23 Aug. 2004]

Sudan Update. n.d. "Women in Sudan: The Ramadan Martyrs' Families." <http://www.sudanupdate.org/REPORTS/WOMEN/WOMEN.HTM> [Accessed 23 Aug. 2004]

Additional Sources Consulted

Publications: Africa Confidential, Africa Research Bulletin, Horn of Africa Bulletin, Jeune Afrique/L'Intelligent, Keesing's Record of World Events, Mondes rebelles, Resource Centre country file.

Websites, including: Allafrica, Amnesty International, BBC Africa, Dialog, European Country of Orgin Information Network (Ecoi.net), FIDH, Human Righs Watch (HRW), ReliefWeb, Sudan Tribune, UNHCR, US Department of State.