Thread by @BBCAfrica

THREAD

For the past 2 months, disturbing images have been coming out of Sudan.

Images like this.

Who are these hit squads? Where are they taking people? And what happens to the people they target?

#BBCAfricaEye investigates...

#SudanUprising #تسقط_بس #مدن_السودان_تنتفض

Since Dec 2018, Sudan has been rocked by protests against the 30-yr rule of Omar al Bashir.

Demonstrators began by protesting a hike in food and fuel prices.

Now, they’re calling for the overthrow of the regime.

The crackdown has been brutal.

Sudanese security forces have used live ammunition on demonstrators.

According to human rights groups, they have killed more than 50 of their own citizens.

But this is not just crowd control.

We have analysed dozens of videos that show something more disturbing: hit squads in white Toyota pickup trucks targeting individual protestors.

Some of these crews are in military uniform.

Others in plainclothes.

Many are wearing masks and carrying weapons - from automatic rifles to crude lengths of plastic pipe used to beat demonstrators.

These crews target one person.

On the streets.

Or at home.

The victims are beaten.

Dragged into the car.

And disappear.

So who are these masked, plainclothes agents?

Local activists describe them as low-ranking thugs in the pay of the Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services, or NISS.

This video is important because it corroborates that view.

We see soldiers in military fatigues, policemen in blue, & plainclothes agents all working together.

The video also shows 6 of the white pickup trucks & a building that is easily identified: Al Kalakla police station.

This evidence, in combination with the footage of these men in action, points towards the obvious conclusion: these masked, armed, plainclothes agents are part of the govt security services.

So where are they taking people?

We do not know where all the detainees end up, but many are brought to a secret detention centre here, just south of Asia Hospital.

How do we know this?

In Jan this photo was posted to Facebook. The post claims that the streets contains a secret detention centre.

The photo can be located precisely.

A second witness also told us about a detention centre close to Asia Hospital. When we asked him to show us exactly where, he sent us this screenshot.

He also took these photos, which show the white Toyota trucks parked outside the gate of the same house.

Local activists call these places “Ghost Houses” - because when detainees are tortured, you can hear the screams.

We have since spoken with 8 different witnesses who said they were held near Asia Hospital.

Some told us people were beaten so badly they could no longer walk, that people’s hands were broken as they tried to fend off the blows, and that the floor was covered in blood.

But this is not their final destination.

Detainees told us the Asia Hospital house is a holding facility where detainees are interrogated and sorted.

Many of those deemed a threat to the regime are taken to a larger detention centre here, just north of Shendi bus terminal.

We have no photos of this place.

Activists told us you can’t get anywhere near this block with a phone.

But we spoke to 5 people who said they’d been taken to a building near Shendi bus terminal.

We asked them if they knew exactly where they’d been held.

Using their phones, they marked up these screenshots.

One of these sources added a crucial detail: an arrow pointing to 'The Fridge'.

Former detainees say ‘The Fridge’ is a series of chilled holding cells in which the cold is used as an instrument of torture: an instrument that leaves no marks on the body.

We put these allegations to the Sudanese authorities. This is a summary of what they said:

On Jan 29 Sudan’s security chief, Salah Ghosh, ordered the release of all detainees held during the recent protests.

Some detainees have been released since then.

But many remain in detention:

And others are still being targeted

This video of the hit squads in action was filmed after Ghosh’s announcement.

Protesters are still on the streets of Khartoum, calling for freedom.

He was still holding it, even as he was hauled away.

You can watch the full #sudan_revolts investigation on @youtube here:

#BBCAfricaEye investigation led by @BenDoBrown @klaasvandijken @LHreports AbdulMoniem Suleiman @Yaolri @y_vdw @john_marquee @bertram_hill1 @attwoodch & @nahlaelnemr

It was produced, edited, and written by @SVanhooymissen @effisfor and @danielsilas

#NothingStaysHiddenForever