Authorities accused of torture

Amnesty International has accused Sudanese authorities of torturing a British journalist and his translator who were seized in war-torn Darfur while investigating suspected chemical attacks by government forces. Phil Cox, working for Channel 4 TV and his Darfuri translator, Daoud Hari, were abducted in December when they were commissioned by the channel to probe reports by Amnesty that Sudanese security forces had used chemical weapons against civilians in the mountainous Jebel Marra district. Cox was released in February, but AI has now noted that he and Hari had been tortured ‘simply for doing their job’. AI official Muthoni Wanyeki said ‘they were beaten, subjected to electric shocks, deliberately deprived of oxygen and subjected to mock executions’. AI has urged the international community to demand the release of all detainees held without charge by the Sudanese authorities.