ICER learned from a credible source that on the evening of March 10, 2012, 15 Eritrean refugee -all female have been arbitrarily   arrested and taken to the notorious UMDURMAN PRISON, in KHARTOUM ,SUDAN. Up to the time this Alert is issued, they have not been charged and therefore unlikely to be brought to court no time soon.

ICER is concerned that Sudanese prison officials will rape the women as has been the practice for years now. As recently as last month a young Eritrean girl who was randomly picked up by the police in the streets of Khartoum was raped while her hands tied up by rope in iron bar. The poor victim is in traumatized state and the fear is that she might lose her mental faculty is worrying many close to her. To the Sudanese prison officials and border guards the rape of an Eritrean woman especially of Christian persuasion is regarded as fare game.

ICER has appealed to the Sudanese authorities to respect the UN Convention on the treatment of refugees and release the girls in care of the UNHCR. We are also appealing to all concerned to do likewise.