CAIRO: Menem Suliman Atron, Director of the Sudan Center for Contemporary Studies and Development (SCC) in Cairo, Egypt, was arrested yesterday afternoon, when he reported to the National Security Police for an interview. The arrest is primarily in response to the advocacy of the organization on behalf of refugees in Cairo. He was reportedly taken to Qanatar Prison yesterday, but his current whereabouts are unknown. The Darfuris became refugees in recent years, due to genocidal attacks on their region by the Omar Bashir government of Sudan. Bashir has been indicted for war crimes in Darfur by the International Criminal Court. Members of the Sudan Center provided testimony to the ICC about their experiences of the Bashir government's attacks on their people, as well as their persecution, imprisonment, and torture in Sudan for opposing actions by Bashir's government. On 30 December 2011, Kamal Hassan Aly, Ambassador from Sudan to Egypt, requested that the Egyptian National Security to arrest 30 members of the Sudan Center be arrested and deported to Sudan for “defaming the Arab Nation” by their advocacy work, according to a report broadcast on the Sudan Nile Center for News. A 10 January 2012 article in Sudan Online, an online news service, reported that leaders from the Sudan Center (SCC), including Menem Suliman Atron, Bashir Siluman, and Abdalla Hanzal were slated for deportation from Egypt by the Egyptian National Security. Refugees believe the current Egyptian government is closely allied with the Bashir government and intends to deport them for their continued advocacy for the rights of refugees in Cairo and their criticism of the Egyptian government's treatment of refugees. Although Egypt is a signatory to international refugee conventions, it refuses to allow refugees to work in Egypt, often denies them residency, imprisons them without due process, and harasses their community leaders. The international community is asked to advocate for the release of Menem and the protection of all refugees in Egypt, as the right to nonrefoulement (not to be returned to the country where they were persecuted), is the primary right of refugees under international law. Further arrests of other members of the Sudan Center are feared. Your advocacy can help prevent the further violation of their rights.
