On the morning of June 23, Amal El Zein, member of the political bureau of the Sudanese Communist Party, was arrested by Sudanese military intelligence.
According to Fathi Elfadl, member of the Political Bureau of the Sudanese Communist Party, “she was taken to an undisclosed location, and neither her family nor her fellow lawyers have been allowed to visit her or check on her well-being.”
El Zein requires continuous medication from her conditions of diabetes and hypertension.
“We demand the immediate release of Comrade Amal El Zein and insist that her family and fellow lawyers be allowed to visit her to ensure her well-being. Additionally, she must be permitted to see a doctor and receive the necessary medications and treatments,” added Elfadl. “We hold military intelligence and the current authorities fully responsible for any danger that threatens Comrade Amal El Zein.”
The International People’s Assembly has also joined in the global call to free Amal El Zein.
Since the civil war broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on April 15, 2023, the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) has faced numerous attacks. On May 25, 2023, just over a month after the fighting broke out, the RSF occupied the office of the SCP in Khartoum. At the time, Elfadl had told Peoples Dispatch, “The occupation of our party office is a part of the ongoing attempts by the RSF and the SAF to silence the voice of the democratic forces that opposed this catastrophic war.”
On January 19, 2024, Haitham Dafallah, the editor of the party newspaper Al-Maydan, was kidnapped by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The SCP was one of the key organizations leading Sudan’s pro-democracy movement which began in December 2018 with protests against the increase of the price of bread. This movement continued after toppling the then dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 and continued to push for full democratic reforms and a civilian government. While starvation, disease, and war threaten millions of Sudanese people, the SCP continues to fight for socialism and a better world.
