APRIL 26, 2005
Posted: May 17, 2005
Brad Clift, freelance
IMPRISONED
Sudanese security forces detained Clift while he was taking photographs at an internally displaced persons camp outside Nyala, capital of Darfur’s southern state. Clift works for The Hartford Courant but was in Sudan as a freelancer traveling with the relief group, Hartford Catholic Worker, which was distributing food at camps around Nyala.
Authorities accused Clift of working without the proper permit, but charges were never filed against him. Clift was released from custody May 10. His passport and equipment, which had been confiscated during his detention, were returned.
While in custody, Clift was held under house arrest at the U.S. Agency for International Development office.
Since the conflict in Darfur broke out in early 2003, tens of thousands of people from western Sudan have been killed by government-supported militias, and up to two million displaced from their homes. Sudanese authorities have tried to suppress reports of atrocities there by obstructing the work of foreign journalists who cover the region, according to CPJ research.