Introduction

My name is Louis Istvan Szondy, I am a British and Australian citizen. I was born on 8th March 
1963 in London from a Hungarian father and British/Australian mother.  I am a specialist in 
radio communications, specifically adapted to remote areas.

First Visits to Sudan

My first visit to Sudan was in January 1993 for three weeks. I enjoyed my stay and decided to 
return and work there. 
In August 1993 I returned to Khartoum and found employment with an English language 
newspaper and magazine.

First Abduction

One evening in late October '93 I was detained and held incommunicado, without being charged of 
any offence, for two weeks.
I was abducted at gunpoint from the house where I was staying in a village near Khartoum. 
About eight members of the security police (shurta amnya) led by someone I later knew to be 
Captain Salah, came.  He said he was looking for “anything and everything”  and started 
searching.  All my belongings were then put in a Toyota pick-up and I was taken with them to 
their headquarters in Khartoum.  No force was used but they were armed and I was not given a 
choice.  They showed me a piece of paper written in Arabic which they said was a warrant but I 
later discovered that my abductors had signed it themselves rather than having it signed by the 
required judicial authority.

Detention

I was taken to the police security building, in Khartoum III.  I was allowed to move around the 
compound although I was always accompanied by an armed guard.  I was questioned and told 
that I was helping them with their inquiries.  
On the fourth day I still had not been allowed to communicate with anyone by telephone.  
Seeing a chance of escape while the guard was occupied, I managed to climb over a wall.  My 
freedom was short-lived as I had lost my way and was caught walking round the streets late 
afternoon the same day.

Held in 'Ghost House'

I was told by the commander that I was being released and would be taken home.  I was in fact 
driven to the General Security Headquarters, also in Khartoum, and placed in a cell.  That 
evening I was blindfolded and put in a car with darkened windows.  A gun was pressed into my 
side and I was ordered to sit with my head between my legs.  I was terrified, since the two men 
in civilian clothes who took me seemed wild and out of control, as if drugged.  They drove at 
high speed and I did not know what they were going to do with me.
They took me to an unknown location where I was placed in a cell in what was not a recognised 
prison facility.  Although I did not know where I was at the time, I was later able to locate the 
place due to its aerial on a mast, and the direction of Mecca from the prayers.  It was in fact 
very close to the British Embassy in Khartoum and was one of the secret detention centres 
known as “ghost houses” because they do not officially exist.

Torture and Mock Execution

I was placed in a cell, one of several around a courtyard.  A guard kept asking me the same 
questions and had an aggressive manner.  He became angry when after a while I refused to 
answer.  I was then subjected to various forms of torture and ill-treatment both physical and 
psychological.  I was deprived of sleep for two or three days.  A bright neon light was constantly 
on and if I went to sleep, the guard would come and ask me questions and throw cold water 
over me.  At last I was taken and lined up against a wall and a mock execution was carried out.  
Kalashnikovs were aimed at me and the guards pretended to pull the trigger. They were 
taunting me and I was finding it difficult to function because of sleep deprivation.
From there I was taken to an office where many of my belongings were piled on the floor.  A 
man sat behind a desk but did not say anything.  I said I did not know why they were doing this 
to me and asked what I could do to help.  I received no reply.  After a while I was taken back to 
my cell.  Later this was repeated with a different individual.  They did not seem sane.
I was then placed in a larger room with about twenty others.  By that time I was weak, having 
become ill from my previous treatment.  The other detainees, concerned about my health, 
asked for a doctor but I was denied medical treatment.  After a few days I was moved to 
another room with about thirty other detainees where I remained in cramped conditions on the 
floor for several more days.   Some detainees had been kept there for several years.

Release

Thirteen days after I had first been detained I was taken back to the General Security 
Headquarters where I was informed I would be released and that my belongings would be 
returned to me the next day.  In fact it took several weeks and about one third of my 
possessions (all the valuable items) were never returned.  The reason for my detention was 
never made clear to me and I was not charged or brought before any court.  I had not been 
allowed to see or even communicate with my family, consulate or lawyer during the entire 
period.

Complaint

Subsequently I complained about my treatment to Government officials.  They seemed grateful 
that I had not contacted foreign bodies about my unlawful detention and maltreatment.  They 
promised action but nothing happened.  I was privately advised to drop demands for redress if I 
wished to avoid further problems and remain in Sudan.

Work and Return to Britain

As I had no return ticket and no money, I continued to live in Sudan and began to work with the 
External Information Council, in the Ministry of Culture and Information, where I was employed 
by Abu Bakr Shingieti.  I worked for about six months until I left because I was not getting paid 
and because I realised that I was being asked to simply recycle inaccurate and misleading 
information.
As a result of this situation, in approximately February 1995, I had no choice but to leave 
Sudan, having obtained assistance with the flight.
In June 1995, I set up a limited company in the field of radio communications, Unitel (UK) 
Limited, registered in England and Wales.  I had seen the opportunity to set up my own 
business in Sudan as there was a marked lack of expertise in the radio communications field.  
Moreover, I had made many friends there and was planning to marry a Sudanese girl, so I 
decided in spite the difficulties I had experienced, to "give it a go" once more in Sudan.

Return to Sudan 

I returned in about January 1996 and went about the necessary steps for registering a 
company for radio communications equipment and services in the Sudan, requiring approval 
by the Sudanese Security Bureau. Once this last hurdle had been passed, the legal 
registration of the company took place in October 1996.  I was then finally able to set up an 
office for Unitel in Khartoum and registered in Sudan according to Sudanese law.  The 
company registration number was C/10654.  The business started to get orders from aid 
organisations and both Sudanese and foreign commercial companies, and began to be 
profitable.  I recruited staff and finally formed an honest and professional team.

Government Client

In about August 1997 I was also approached by a Government department, the Sudanese 
Federal Government Bureau, headed by Dr Ali Al-Hajj, which had heard about my work and 
wanted me to work for them as a consultant, checking and recommending improvements to 
their radio, data communication and computer systems, both hardware and software.  Since 
they indicated that they were unable to pay me adequately for this work, they suggested they 
could help me to get a license for some walkie talkies to facilitate our installations and repair 
works.  They also volunteered to help me and use their influence if I ever received any problems 
from anyone acting outside the law.  This  included Sudanese Security, notorious for being 
dangerously out of control, with members settling personal scores for friends or against cash on 
a regular basis.  On this understanding I started to work for them around Sudan, though we 
had no written agreement.  When finally I did need their help, they were nowhere to be seen.

Second Kidnap

On 17th December 1997 I left for a holiday to visit my mother in France. On 2nd February 
1998 I returned to Sudan via London and went directly from the airport to my office.  I found out 
that security officers had been calling there for the previous ten days, awaiting my return from 
Europe.  Almost immediately after my arrival, four plain clothes men armed with Kalashnikovs, 
claiming to be security officers arrived and said I had to go with them.   They had no 
documentation.  After my previous experience in 1993 and with the subsequent severe health 
problems I had suffered, I did not want to go without informing anyone.  
They refused to allow me to make a telephone call to the communications office at the Federal 
Government Bureau (our only Government client, see above) or to call a friend who could 
contact the British Embassy.  They pushed me into the back of a truck at gunpoint, and told 
our terrified secretary Ganet to go home. 
I was taken to some buildings adjacent to the International Islamic Women's Union in 
Khartoum where I was forced to stand with my face against a wall and my hands behind my 
back in the sun for at least an hour before being put in a cell.
The conditions were extremely bad.  The cell was approx. 2 x 1.5 metres square with a tiled 
floor.  There were no mattresses or other furniture and it was very dirty.   Although I was not 
physically abused, the guards used to come into the cell and beat my cell-mate, a young black 
teenager, without any reason.  The largest of the guards carried out the beating.  A tall black 
man in the neighbouring cell was severely beaten in attempts to get him to talk.  They broke his 
fingers demanding him to hold the bars whilst they did so.  He was then beaten severely by as 
many as six guards in shifts, throughout the day and night, for the next few days whilst I was 
his neighbour.  I later learnt from one of the guards that this man had been found with a gun in 
the house of the first vice-president Zubeir Mohamed Saleh's house.  Two weeks later, Mr 
Zubeir was killed with many others in an aircraft crash.

Business Destroyed

I was not informed of any charges against me but was questioned about my business and I co-
operated fully.   Nevertheless I was threatened with violence.   On the third day I was taken 
back to my office to find some licenses which they wanted to see. The office had been ripped 
apart and left bare except for papers.  Everything I had built up had been destroyed.  When I 
asked to telephone the British Embassy I was threatened and again prevented from doing so.  I 
was then taken back to the cells next to the Women's Union in the center of Khartoum. 

Threats and Intimidation

One day the leader of the men who had arrested me came to the cell and asked for the 
password to my Psion computer.  When I refused to tell him, fearing a set-up, he became 
extremely angry.   I was marched to the office of “the boss” who told me it would be very bad for 
me if I did not give them the code.  I suggested that this would be possible only if the contents 
were backed up on Dr Ali Haj’s computer as I feared they would corrupt the data and use it 
against me.  They rejected this so I did not give them the code. The guard who took me back to 
the cell again threatened me with violence and gave me two hours to comply, otherwise terrible 
things would be done to me.  At the end of the two hours, I was taken out of the cell expecting 
the worst.  In fact I was driven to the security wing of Kober Prison where I was held until the 
24th, where conditions were far better.  I was however still prevented from having any 
communication direct or indirect with the outside world and had still not been charged with any 
offence or accused of anything. I was never questioned again.

Business Practice

I had always been very careful to act within the law in Sudan and had not allowed my staff to 
become involved in any corrupt practices as many others did, making this an immediate 
sackable offence.  I therefore believe that my kidnappers were frustrated because they were 
unable to find anything that could serve as evidence of illegal activities.

My Mother Intervenes

My mother had become aware that something was terribly wrong.  My phone and fax were cut 
off, so she phoned some of our clients to ask them to check at the office to see what had 
happened.  They found two Sudanese in civilian clothes at the door, who assured them that 
there were no problems and that I had gone away on business.  She continued each day to 
phone for news but was told each time that I had gone to a different destination.  She 
eventually received information that I had been detained and she immediately called the 
Australian Embassy in Cairo and the British Embassy in Khartoum who intervened with the 
Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to enquire about my whereabouts.
It transpired that the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not even been informed of my 
detention, which is required in the event of the detention of any foreigner.  This clearly indicates 
the unaccountability of my kidnappers and the so-called Security Forces in general to the 
Government of Sudan.
It also indicates the personal nature of the kidnap and the power of the individual(s) who 
organised it.  The Sudanese Government have so far been unwilling or unable to do anything 
about it, despite the seriousness of the crimes committed against me and the negative 
repercussions which result from this, and have chosen to ignore the issue.

Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Intervenes

As a result of the intervention of the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which only became 
aware of my detention on being informed by the British Embassy, the so-called Security must 
have been under great pressure to either charge or release me.
On  24th February '98 I was taken to the General Security Headquarters  This was within days of 
the intervention of the British Embassy.  First I was taken to an office, photographed and asked 
to sign a form in Arabic, which I could not understand.  I was told it said I agreed not to talk 
about what had happened to me in detention or to do anything against the Government.  It 
seemed to be a standard form.  I was then taken back to the cells adjacent to the Islamic 
Women's Union and placed in the smallest and filthiest dirt-floor cell with another teenager.  
There was barely room for us both to lie down.  This was the same cell previously occupied by 
the alleged would-be assassin of Zubeir Mohamed Saleh, now no longer there.  I was then 
informed that I was to be deported and that my company assets would be confiscated.  I was 
told that my personal possessions would be returned to me, although this has not in fact 
occurred.  

Illegal Deportation

On 25th February '98,  I was  taken to a room where a tall dark man spoke to me in English and a 
cameraman videoed me for several minutes.  The man told me I was to leave and never return, 
and wanted me to say I understood this.  I did not, and asked why.  He said it was “a message 
from the top”, repeating  this each time I asked for the reasons for my detention and 
deportation. He seemed anxious to have a videoed record of my agreement to all the wrongs 
that had been done to me, my deportation and commitment never to return, presumably for the 
benefit of the person(s) behind my ordeal.  Finally he became extremely angry at my 
persistence and shouted "you have carried out activities which would normally get 
imprisonment for 50 years!"  I demanded to know what these activities were, at which he 
became even angrier refusing to answer my question, shouting yet again "this is a message 
from the top."  	He then ordered me outside, where I was videoed for a further five minutes 
from all angles before being placed back in the cell.
That night I was taken directly to the airport and put on a plane to Cairo with little more than the 
clothes I was wearing and a few personal items.  On arrival I contacted the Australian embassy 
who arranged for me to be flown back to London the following day.

Reasons for Detention and Deportation

Although I was questioned several times and a statement was taken from me, I was never 
informed of the reason for my detention and I was told only that I had carried out "illegal 
activities" the nature of which were never specified.   I was never charged with any offence nor 
brought before a court, nor was I permitted any contact with a lawyer, family or the British 
Embassy representing Australian interests in the Sudan, despite repeated requests.  During 
my detention the office of my business had been raided and stripped bare and no property, 
whether business or personal, has been returned to me.
In the months that followed, the British Foreign Office demanded an explanation from the 
Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs as to the reasons for my detention and deportation.  They 
were told  that I was "believed to be operating an illegal communication station."  The very 
nature of our business was the sale, repair and installation of communications equipment.  The 
licenses confirming the right to carry out this business had been clearly visible on the walls of 
the office when I had been taken away on 2nd February '98. 
Secondly, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs alleged that I had been already deported in 
1995.  This was another amazing assertion given that the very license for my company to be 
registered in Sudan had first to be approved by State Security who know full well who is on a 
list of persona non grata, as does the Sudanese Embassy in London, and I had never been 
refused a visa to Sudan.
Moreover, to this date these allegations have still never been put to me, so were presumably for 
the sole benefit of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to try and justify the barbaric 
and shameful activities of the Sudanese State Security. 


Recognition and Responsibility

I still retain a vivid memory of the faces of the individuals who were involved in my detention.  I 
could easily identify them should the Sudanese Government wish to hold them responsible.  As 
they are employees of the State Security Services, the Government of Sudan must assume 
responsibility for the actions of its Security Forces and for the compensation and redress to its 
victims.

Current Situation 

I am still suffering severe psychological effects from my experiences in Sudan. I find it difficult to 
sleep and often wake shouting and in shock.  I am quick to become angry and suffer nervous 
attacks.  Bright lights, being driven in vehicles, unexpected visits to my door trigger panic 
attacks.  I find it difficult to talk about my experience and still cannot use a normal computer 
with a monitor due to the ill effects of the screen light.
I had already received an offer for a film to be made about my life in Sudan after my first 
kidnapping.  I may now seriously consider this offer as I think it would serve to highlight many 
important things about Sudanese culture, mentality, contradictions between religious belief and 
practice, politics, the suffering of the honest people of Sudan and the tragic situation of 
thousands of prisoners, many of them innocent, who were in the wrong place at the wrong 
time, or who upset some "wrong" person.

Silence of Shame

I have written to the Sudanese authorities on numerous occasions, including the President, Lt. 
General Bashir, requesting an explanation for these actions against me, since responsibility for 
the actions of security rests with them.  (Please see copy of my latest letter to President 
Bashir). I have asked for redress for the injustices committed and the violations of my basic 
human rights and freedoms, as well as compensation for the torture, wrongful imprisonment, 
illegal deportation and loss of home, business, theft of belongings and assets.
I have received no response whatsoever thus far, one year later.  For this reason I have now 
decided to publicise my case and correspondence on the Internet and in the media.

Suggestions Please

Any support, in the form of advice, or sending faxes or e-mails, or passing this link on to others 
would be much appreciated.
I think that my experience can be used to warn others and to help those without a voice who 
are still suffering and who I left behind.  Any suggestions, comments and advice are more than 
welcome.  

With all best wishes,

Louis I. Szondy
Unitel, Monomark House
27, Old Gloucester Street
London, WC1N 3XX
tel: +44 (0)705 064 3021
fax: +44 (0)705 064 3022
e-mail: szondy@tesco.net