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Activist Detained by General Security, at Risk of Deportation, Torture and Death

Friday, 14 February, 2020

Mubarak Ibrahim, a Sudanese human rights activist, is under imminent threat of deportation to Sudan where he is at very high risk of detention, torture and death at the hands of the Sudanese authorities.

This would be Mubarak’s second deportation to Sudan from Lebanon. His first deportation in 2016 resulted in his enforced disappearance, torture and a death sentence imposed upon him due to his opposition to the regime. A second deportation would likely be fatal.

Mubarak was first arrested and tortured by the Sudanese government in 2003. He fled his country and came to Lebanon where he applied for refugee status in 2007. His application was rejected by UNHCR, along with several appeals, between 2008 and 2016.

Mubarak was first detained by the Lebanese General Security and deported to Sudan in 2016, despite having legal residency. The Sudanese intelligence detained him directly upon his arrival to the airport. The military intelligence tortured him on a daily basis for more than 7 months, during which his physical and mental health severely deteriorated.

He reported that in 2018, the military court sentenced him to death without due process. He was given a red prison uniform, a color singling out inmates on death row.

Mubarak tried to take his own life while in detention, and was transferred to intensive care. He fled a few days later under exceptional circumstances and reentered Lebanon in 2018 to reunite with his wife and two sons.

Anti-Racism Movement came to know Mubarak through his dedicated fight for the rights of African refugees and asylum seekers in Lebanon. Desperate to have his community’s demands heard, Mubarak attempted to burn himself alive on January 29, 2020, as an act of protest. ISF present at the scene detained him and later transferred him to General Security.

On Thursday 13 February, 2020, Mubarak reported that the Sudanese embassy approved his deportation, which puts his life in immediate danger.