New information:
The Observatory has been informed by the Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT) about the criminal proceedings against Mr. Mossaad Mohamed Ali, lawyer and Coordinator of the Amel Centre for Treatment and Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture in Nyala, Ms. Rasha Souraj, Ms. Ebtisam Alsemani and Ms. Najat DafaAlla, all three volunteer lawyers at the Amel Centre.
According to the information received, on July 27, 2006, Mr. Mossaad Mohamed Ali, Ms. Rasha Souraj and Ms. Ebtisam Alsemani received a letter from the National Security Bureau (NSB) notifying them that the Attorney General in Nyala had filed a case against them for �offences against the State�. The letter accused the defendants of sending false reports and disclosing information of military nature. The letter further warned the three lawyers that the case had been passed to the police and that they were likely to face arrests upon completion of the police investigation.
On July 29, 2006, Mr. Ali, Ms. Souraj and Ms. Alsemani received an official order from the Attorney General�s office directing them to attend an interrogation at the Attorney General�s Office on July 30, 2006, along with their colleague Ms. Najat DafaAlla, on offences under Part 5 (Offences against the State and Undermining the Constitutional Order) of the 1991 Sudanese Penal Code. On receiving the orders, the defendants submitted on the same day a formal request to the Attorney General to defer the interrogation until July 31, 2006, to allow the lawyers time to prepare a defence. The request was accepted.
On July 31, 2006, the defendants attended the office of the Attorney General as agreed. When they arrived, the security officers asked Mr. Ali and Ms. DafaAlla to come back on August 1, 2006. Ms. Alsemani and Ms. Souraj, who are currently in Khartoum, will be interrogated upon their return to Nyala on August 12, 2006.
On August 1, 2006, Mr. Ali and Ms. DafaAlla reported to the security offices where they were separated, interrogated by a police officer for approximately 30 to 35 minutes on the events in Otash camp, and accused of spreading false information and of being a threat to public security. It is indeed believed that the defendants are being investigated for their work in defending the rights of five people from the Otash internally displaced camp, who were detained after they had participated in a demonstration against the Darfur Peace Agreement, on May 30 and May 31, 2006. Indeed, after being informed about these arrests, the defendants had submitted a public application on June 3, 2006 to the �Security Committee�[1] requesting information on the detainees and their whereabouts. The letter also urged the Committee to release the detainees in the absence of valid charges or if valid charges exist, for them to be charged.
Before their release, Mr. Ali and Ms. DafaAlla were informed by the police officer that the police service will evaluate the facts and will refer the case to the Attorney General to bring the case to the courts.
Background information:
On May 15, 2006, at 09.30 am, officers from the NSB in Nyala, Southern Darfur, summoned for questioning Mr. Mossaad Mohamed Ali. Mr. Ali was then detained for thirteen hours in a cell in the NSB offices in Nyala, before being released at 10 pm. During the period of his detention, he was neither questioned nor charged with an offence.
On May 16, 2006, in the early morning, Mr. Ali was again summoned to the security offices, where he remained in detention up to May 20, 2006, when he was released. Mr. Ali was denied access to his family and to legal counsel. Security officers also denied the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) access to Mr. Ali. No reason was given for the summoning and the subsequent arrest and incommunicado detention of Mr. Ali.
Action requested:
Please write to the authorities of Sudan urging them to:
i. guarantee under all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Mossaad Mohamed Ali, Ms. Rasha Souraj, Ms. Ebtisam Alsemani and Ms. Najat DafaAlla;
ii. put an end to any act of harassment, including judicial harassment, against Mr. Mossaad Mohamed Ali, Ms. Rasha Souraj, Ms. Ebtisam Alsemani, Najat DafaAlla and all human rights defenders in Sudan;
iii. conform with the provisions of the Declaration on Humans Rights Defenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, in particular article 1, which states that �everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels�, and article 12.2, which provides that �the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration�;
iv. more generally, ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Sudan in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses:
· His Excellency Lieutenant General Omar Hassan al-Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan, Presidential Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: +249 183 783 223
· Mr. Al Zubeir Beshir Taha, Minister of Interior, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 779383
· Mr. Mustafa Lam Akol Ajawin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan, fax : + 249 183 779 383
· Dr. Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha, Rapporteur, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum (Sudan), Fax No.: + 249 183 77 08 83
· His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit, First Vice-President, People�s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 771025
· His Excellency Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, Vice-President, People�s Palace, PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 771025
· Dr. Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha, Advisory Council for Human Rights, PO Box 302, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 77088
· Mr. Ali Mohamed Osman Yassin, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Ministry of Justice, Khartoum, Sudan, Fax: + 249 183 788 941
· His Excellence Ambassador Mr. Mohamed Elhassan Ahmed Elhaj, Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue Blanc 47, 1202 Geneva, PO Box 335, 1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 731 26 56, Email: mission.sudan@bluewin.ch; mission.sudan@ties.itu.int.
· Ambassador Mr. Ali Yousif Ahmed, Embassy of the Republic of Sudan in Brussels, 1 avenue F.D. Roosevelt, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Fax: + 32 2 648 34 99, Email: sudanbx@yahoo.com
Please also write to diplomatic representations of the Republic of Sudan in your respective countries.
***
Geneva - Paris, August 9, 2006
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory, a FIDH and OMCT venture, is dedicated to the protection of Human Rights Defenders and aims to offer them concrete support in their time of need. The Observatory was the winner of the 1998 Human Rights Prize of the French Republic.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 20 11 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
[1] The Security Committee is headed by the Governor of the Southern Darfur State (Wali) and made up of representatives from the Attorney General�s office, the NSB, the police forces and the armed forces.