In an important decision published on 13 February 2015, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) called on Sudan to effectively investigate and prosecute the security and intelligence officers allegedly responsible for the arbitrary arrest, torture and ill-treatment in 2008 of three prominent human rights defenders; to reopen and unfreeze the bank accounts of the Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED), a human rights organization shut down in connection with the case and to pay them compensation.
The Commission’s decision is a significant recognition of MM. Monim Elgak, Amir Suliman and Osman Hummaida fundamental rights and sends a powerful message against impunity and torture by government forces in Sudan. FIDH and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), have accompanied the three defenders throughout the six-year process and intervened on their behalf before the ACHPR, through the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.
The case was supported by the International of Jurists (ICJ), the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) and REDRESS. Along with these organisations, the Observatory will continue advocating to ensure that Sudan fully implements the Commission’s decision.