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| By Ruth Sinai | "Haaretz", March 06, 2007 |
Three Sudanese refugees suing state over alleged mistreatment
Three Sudanese civilians apprehended by security forces after crossing into Israel from Egypt were kept handcuffed for 24 hours and forced to relieve themselves in front of their guards. The three refugees, who fled the genocide in their native Darfur, are now suing the state for NIS 420,000 over their incarceration. They accuse the state of denying them their right to a hearing for several days, and of keeping them in poor conditions in a closed military facility where they could not even shower. "As refugees fleeing the horrors of the war in Sudan, the complainants knocked on the door of the State of Israel, desperately begging for shelter," reads the suit, written by lawyers from the Tel Aviv University law faculty human rights program. "Instead of being given shelter and safety, they were handcuffed upon their arrest without receiving one moment of physical freedom." The suit maintains that the treatment of the three refugees is especially disconcerting in light of the fact that they did not resist arrest, and actually surrendered to security forces. "They were clearly not smugglers, because they had nothing on them but the clothes they were wearing," adds attorney Hisham Shbayta. One of the complainants is a 27-year-old Sudanese civilian who was severely tortured by his government for allegedly raising funds for the people of Darfur. He entered Israel in 2005 after escaping to Egypt along with his friend, another complainant in the case. The third complainant, 37, fled his homeland after his wife and son were killed in an attack on their village. The complainants were later transferred to Ma'asiyahu Prison. Several months ago they were released to Kibbutz Eilot.
