From 2018-2020, investigative journalist, Fateh Al-Rahman Al-Hamdani went undercover in 23 different Sudanese Islamic educational institutions, known as khalwas. He witnessed and filmed physical and emotional abuse carried out by the religious men, or sheikhs, in charge of the schools. In 2020, Hamdani released a documentary for BBC News Arabic with video evidence of children from the age of five being shackled, beaten and starved of food and water. He also spoke to some children who accused the sheikhs of sexual abuse, however, they did not appear in the documentary. Hamdani began his research to find evidence for the widespread abuse in Sudanese khalwas in order to expose the sheikhs and their abuse of power. His aim was to create a platform for the vulnerable children who had to endure this abuse.
Investigación BBC | Levanté la mirada y vi que tenían grilletes : las escuelas islámicas en las que encadenan a los niños
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Así son las escuelas islámicas en las que encadenan a los niños
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By Fateh Al-Rahman Al-Hamdani
Published 2 days ago
When I meet Ahmed, he is shackled in a room all alone. There are marks on his body from the beatings he has been given. He doesn’t know how old he is, but he’s probably about 10.
The school I find him in is one of 23 Islamic educational institutions in Sudan, known as khalwas, that I filmed in undercover over a two-year period, starting in early 2018.
I witnessed and filmed many children, some just five years old, being severely beaten, routinely shackled, and imprisoned without food and water by the sheikhs, or religious men, in charge of the schools. Some of the children who did not appear in our documentary told me they had been raped or experienced other forms of sexual abuse.