Kadugli..The return of Ghost Houses

Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, is experiencing a nightmare reminiscent of the years of terror and bloodshed in the (1990s), when the city was transformed into an open arena for assassinations and violations against innocent civilians, claiming the lives of more than a thousand civilians in the area of Khor Al-‘Afan.

Today, lawyers, politicians, and human rights activists warn of dangerous signs of a return to the same bloody era. According to one lawyer, Kadugli has become “an ever-expanding prison where the machine of oppression operates outside the law.”

Activists, according to “Edraak” electronic newspaper, reported an increase in unlawful arrests of politicians as well as members of Resistance Committees and Emergency Rooms by various agencies intertwined with Military Intelligence, Security Service, and the Popular Security Service affiliated with the Islamic Movement, which has resumed its organized activity within the city.

The Ghost Houses

Naturally, Concern is growing as witnesses and legal sources reveal that residential homes in the Third Class neighborhood and east of the popular market have been transformed into “Ghost Houses,” where detainees are held and subjected to various forms of inhumane torture. One resident reported hearing the screams of detainees at night, confirming that the house, currently used as a secret torture location, was previously a center utilized by the Islamic Movement.

The Ashes of Salvation (Inqaz)

Political sources indicate that “Kafi al-Tayyar” militia —one of the tools utilized by the former regime in its war against the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement— has resumed its activities in a detention center north of the city, where civilians are being held in appalling conditions, reminiscent of the dark practices of the Salvation (Inqaz) era.

As for the National Intelligence and Security Service, according to lawyers’ statements, the former is active in the neighborhoods of Almuathafeen and the market, in cooperation with elements that managed to infiltrate the ranks of the revolutionaries. The name of one of the aforementioned collaborators, spying on the Resistance Committees has been revealed, reflecting a complex espionage network stifling civil space in the city.

Reviving “Tafseeh”: The Specter of Extrajudicial Killings

Furthermore, in a much more dangerous note, the practice of arresting civilians by the Military Intelligence based on their tribal identities was reported, a practice described as racial profiling that reproduces ethnic-based violence. The family of detainee Suleiman Janqawi warned the public of his enforced disappearance, amidst fears of liquidation, a recurrence of what was locally known as “Tafseeh” —a word that means death in absentia, burial without a grave or justice.

The recent developments taking place in Kadugli aren’t merely limited to being a security breach, but they constitute a complete collapse of the rule of law and a return to the patterns of systematic abuse that Sudanese people experienced during their most difficult moments of modern history.