Khartoum — Detainees including 15 minors and six women were released after being beaten and assaulted after protest marches in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum yesterday, according to follow-ups by Sudan's Emergency Lawyers, who lament that detainees are being subjected to drug testing that violates the law and their rights.

The lawyers' follow-ups also indicate that 17 other activists were also detained with the same method of arbitrary detention from separate places, some of them far from the sites of the marches.

Emergency Lawyers said in a statement yesterday that "what is really disturbing is that these people are now subjected to a drugs test", which they stressed "is completely contrary to the law". The lawyers say that those detained were not in possession of drugs and were not found in any suspicious situation that necessitates this procedure or would give authorities common cause. They pointed to the fact that any referral for examination must be made by the prosecution.

The Emergency Lawyers said in the statement: "This procedure is purely criminal, it violates the rights of the detained, and it is against the principle of assumption of the accused's innocence, and completely contrary to the law. It degrades dignity and has a profound psychological impact."

Rumours were circulating among residents of Khartoum that many young protesters are using drugs, in particular 'ice' (crystal meth), as they seem not to feel hunger or fatigue during the demonstrations, but there has been no evidence to corroborate this.