Arrest of Abdelbaki Nour Daem, Member of the SWTUF Executive Bureau

The series of arrests of trade unionists of the Sudanese Workers’ Trade Union Federation (SWTUF) by the transitional government of Sudan, does not seem to be ending.

Following the arrest of Sister Hala Qamar Ennour, President of the Workers’ Union of the National Audit Office, who refused to hand over to individuals designated by the Dismantlement Commission, last January, Brother Abdelbaki Nour Daem, a member of the Executive Board of the Sudanese Workers’ Trade Union Federation, was arrested. The brother in question is responsible for Economic Studies and Statistics at the Secretariat of the SWTUF. On his way back from Khartoum after a medical consultation, he was intercepted by security services who took him to prison for no reason.

The Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU) strongly condemns this repressive act, which is contrary to international labour laws and conventions and calls for his immediate release. The organisation also reiterates its call for the Sudanese government to stop the persecution and arrest of trade unionists and to re-establish the Sudanese Workers’ Trade Union Federation (SWTUF), dissolved following an administrative decision, in the entirety of its rights and to respect international labour conventions, including those relating to freedom of association and the right to organise.