HUDO Centre Date: 26th December 2022 No. H.K/PS/56/022 PRESS STATEMENT ARREST OF MUKHTAR BY SAF IN TALODI, SUDAN On 15th December 2022, Mr. Mukhtar Ali Saleh was arrested by SAF soldiers from the Agricultural bank in Talodi. He was held incommunicado for two days at the military base before released. On 15th December 2022, Mr. Mukhtar Ali Saleh was arrested by two Sudan Armed Force (SAF) soldiers from Talodi Agricultural bank while he was there for banking issue. The two soldiers took him with their military vehicle to Talodi military base. The family, friends and lawyer were not allowed to visit him. Mr. Mukhtar spent two days incommunicado at the military base. According to his own confession, he was interrogated, intimidated and asked why he was in Talodi. Before releasing Mr. Mukhtar, the soldiers instructed him to report to the military base whenever he comes to Talodi. One of the Talodi activists told HUDO Centre that; ‘we believe Mr. Mukhtar was arrested because of his activism against the goldmine which is polluting the environment’. Mr. Mukhtar Ali Saleh (31 years old) is a resident of Kologi town. He is a social worker at a community based organization (CBO) called Madid. Madid works on peace-building, social communication and development. Mr. Mukhtar is active in opposing the use of toxic materials in goldmines. Talodi is the capital city of Talodi locality while Kologi is a capital city of Gadeir locality of South Kordufan State/ Nuba Mountains. Kologi is about 40 km east of Talodi. HUDO is very concerned about the situation of civilians in Sudan and calls upon:  SAF in Talodi to stop arrest civilians.  Sudan government to end the state of emergency in conflict areas which enables SAF to carry out arrests at will.  Sudan government to ensure that there is rule of law.  The SAF and authorities in South Kordufan State/ Nuba Mountains to investigate the circumstances around Mr. Mukhtar’s arrest by SAF Talodi and to make the findings public. End:For more information, please write to hudo2009@gmail.com