Police Unit

The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has corroborated multiple eyewitness accounts and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) reports alleging that the Government of Sudan’s (GoS) Central Reserve Police (CRP) unit engaged in the unlawful abduction, detention, and extrajudicial killing of civilians in Kadugli, South Kordofan, Sudan.

The Satellite Sentinel Project’s (SSP) identification on 14 July 2011 of a cluster of white bundles in Kadugli as consistent with human remains wrapped in white plastic tarps or body bags was controversial at the time. Although publicly questioned by a US government official, it has now been established by SSP through the collection of additional imagery and eyewitness reports.

Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has identified three new apparent mass grave sites in and around Kadugli in South Kordofan, Sudan based on an analysis of DigitalGlobe satellite imagery and multiple eyewitness accounts. The three alleged mass grave sites identified in this report are separate from and in addition to the three apparent mass graves south of the Tilo School in Kadugli shown in SSP’s 14 July 2011 report.

The Ahaliya University in Omdurman saw clashes between police and students who were staging an anti-government rally on January 30.  One student protester, Mohammed Abdulrahman, reportedly sustained fatal injuries inflicted by riot police.  His death was announced by fellow students on the social networking site, Facebook, and was confirmed by Yasir Arman, the top SPLM official in the north; however, Sudanese police have not confirmed any deaths resulting from the protests.

Over the course of three days of clashes between armed Misseriya and southern policemen in the Maker Abior area, as many as 76 people were reported dead. While casualty figures are disputed, according to SPLA officials, 26 policemen and 50 Misseriya were killed in the clashes.  At the same time, Misseriya leaders have accused the SPLA of deploying not police, but soldiers, in the area--as many as 1,000 troops according to one account.

Hundreds of armed riot police used batons and teargas to break up students and other young Sudanese protesters calling for the resignation of leaders of the Sudanese government.  Witnesses reported that police beat and arrested an unconfirmed number of students in an effort to contain demonstrations to universities in the capital city.  Anti-government protesters organized in part through the use of social networking sites, including Facebook, which plays host to groups called "The Spark" and "Youth for Change", which has attracted over 15,000 members.

An unknown number of students engaging in anti-government protests in Kassala were reportedly beaten back by riot police.  Kassala was one of several locations across the country, including Khartoum, El-Obeid and Omdurman, that saw similar demonstrations inspired by the recent popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.  (McDoom, Opheera. "Sudanese Student Dies After Protest - Activists." Reuters 31 Jan. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/31/uk-sudan-protests-idUKTRE70U21...)

Approximately 500 protesters staged an anti-government demonstration in the market area of El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state.  Witnesses reported that riot police used tear gas to disperse the group, who appear to have been inspired by the popular revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.  "Sudan Police Clash With Protesters." Al Jazeera. 30 Jan. 2011.  Retrieved from http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/01/2011130131451294670.html