Kobar Prison ( ar, سجن كوبر), formerly known as Cooper prison, is one of the oldest prisons in Sudan, dating back to 1903. It was built by the administration of the former

Anglo-Egyptian Sudan Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( ar, السودان الإنجليزي المصري ') was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day ...

(1899-1956) and was named '''Kobar''' in Arabic after the British official Cooper, who was in charge of the prison’s early administration. Since its establishment, it has been Sudan's most notorious prison. It consists of six sections, and it was infamous for being the detention center for thousands of prisoners of conscience and politicians. In 2019, former President Omar al-Bashir was taken to this prison after having been overthrown in a coup d'etat.

Description

The prison was built with bricks and is guarded by high concrete walls and can hold hundreds of prisoners in its small and overcrowded cells. Its surface area is about five thousand square meters and was designed like prisons in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

of the early 19th century. There is a special wing for political prisoners that has been used for the

imprisonment Imprisonment is the restraint of a person's liberty, for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is "false imprisonment". Imprisonment does not necessari ...

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...

of former politicians or other well-known Sudanese personalities. During the government of Omar al-Bashir, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) was in charge of the prison's administration. It is located in the city of

Khartoum North Khartoum North or Khartoum Bahri ( ar, الخرطوم بحري, al-Kharṭūm Baḥrī) is a city in Khartoum State, lying to the north of Khartoum city, the capital of Sudan. It is located on the north bank of the Blue Nile and the east bank o ...

in the Kobar neighborhood, near the

Blue Nile The Blue Nile (; ) is a river originating at Lake Tana in Ethiopia. It travels for approximately through Ethiopia and Sudan. Along with the White Nile, it is one of the two major tributaries of the Nile and supplies about 85.6% of the water ...

and next to the Signal Corps.

Notable inmates

* Omar al-Bashir (2019–present), deposed

President of Sudan This article lists the heads of state of Sudan since the country's independence in 1956. History of the office Since independence was proclaimed on 1 January 1956, six individuals (and three multi-member sovereignty councils) have served as ...

Amin Mekki Medani Amin Mekki Medani (2 February 1939 – 31 August 2018) (Arabic: د. ٱمين مكي مدني) was a Sudanese lawyer, diplomat, human rights and political activist. He was the president of the Confederation of Sudanese Civil Society, Vice Pres ...

, politician and human rights activist (2014–2015) *

Farouk Abu Issa Farouk Abu Issa ( ar, فاروق أبو عيسى; 12 August 1933 – 12 April 2020) was a Sudanese politician and the Chairman of the National Consensus Forces. Abu Issa attended Hantoub Secondary School and was involved in activism from a youn ...

, former chairman of the

National Consensus Forces The National Consensus Forces (NCF, ''Ij’maa'') is a coalition of political parties in Sudan that opposed the rule of the National Congress Party, and was initially formed to stand against the NCP in the 2010 Sudanese elections. Farouk Abu I ...

(2014) * Usamah Mohamad, blogger, and

citizen journalist Citizen journalism, also known as collaborative media, participatory journalism, democratic journalism, guerrilla journalism or street journalism, is based upon public citizens "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, a ...

(2012) * Hassan Al-Turabi, former religious and political leader (2009) * Ibrahim el-Salahi, painter and former government official (1976) *

Abdel Khaliq Mahjub Abdel Khaliq Mahjub ( ar, عبد الخالق محجوب) (23 September 1927 – 28 July 1971) was a Sudanese communist politician. Mahjub was born in Omdurman. He served as the General Secretary of the Sudanese Communist Party until his death ...

, former Secretary General of the

Sudanese Communist Party The Sudanese Communist Party (abbr. SCP; ar, الحزب الشيوعي السوداني, Al-Hizb al-Shuyui al-Sudani) is a communist party in Sudan. Founded in 1946, it was a major force in Sudanese politics in the early post-independence ye ...

(1971) *

Sadiq al-Mahdi Sadiq al-Mahdi ( ar, الصادق المهدي, aṣ-Ṣādiq al-Mahdī; 25 December 193526 November 2020), also known as Sadiq as-Siddiq, was a Sudanese political and religious figure who was Prime Minister of Sudan from 1966 to 1967 and again ...

, former prime minister and politician (1970)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobar Prison Khartoum North Prisons in Sudan Architecture in Sudan 1903 establishments in Sudan