New information
SDN 002 / 1209 / OBS 186.1
Release
Sudan
December 23, 2009
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), has received new information and requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in Sudan.
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the release of the three lawyers Ms. Butheina Omar Al Sadiq, Ms. Randa Yousif and Ms. Nafisa Al-Nur Hajar.
According to the information received, on December 8, 2009, at 6:30 pm, Ms. Butheina Omar Al Sadiq, Ms. Randa Yousif and Ms. Nafisa Al-Nur Hajar were released from custody by the National Intelligence Security Service of Sudan (NISS).
The Observatory recalls that Ms. Butheina Omar Al Sadiq, Ms. Randa Yousif and Ms. Nafisa Al-Nur Hajar were arrested on December 8, 2009 by NISS agents, who brought them to the NISS office in the Abu Adam area in Al Kalakla district, where they remained in custody without access to their lawyers until they were released at 6:30 pm (See background information). As of issuing this Urgent Appeal, no further information could be obtained about the possible existence of charges against them.
The Observatory welcomes the release of Ms. Butheina Omar Al Sadiq, Ms. Randa Yousif and Ms. Nafisa Al-Nur Hajar. Nevertheless, the Observatory deeply condemns their arbitrary arrest, which seem to merely aimed at sanctioning their human rights activities, and as such represents a violation of Article 39(1) of the Sudan Interim National Constitution, which provides that every “citizen shall have an unrestricted right to the freedom of expression, reception and dissemination of information” as well as it contravenes the provisions of the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, especially its Article 6 (b) and (c) which states that “everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, as provided for in human rights and other applicable international instruments, freely to publish, impart or disseminate to others views, information and knowledge on all human rights and fundamental freedoms; [and] to study, discuss, form and hold opinions on the observance, both in law and in practice, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and, through these and other appropriate means, to draw public attention to those matters”.
The Observatory further urges the European Commission Delegation as well as the European Union (EU) Member States embassies in Sudan, to call upon the Sudan authorities to comply with the relevant international norms and standards, in particular the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and take action, in line with the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.
On December 8, 2009, at the Al Kalakla Court complex in Khartoum, Ms. Butheina Omar Al Sadiq, Ms. Randa Yousif and Ms. Nafisa Al-Nur Hajar were arrested for posting on behalf of the Lawyers' Democratic Front fliers urging lawyers to renew their membership at the Bar Association and pay the related fees in order to be entitled to vote at the next Bar Association elections. The lawyers were arrested and interrogated by the police following an order issued by Judge Bashir Rahama. They were released at twelve without being charged, and immediately re-arrested outside the police station.
These lawyers were targeted for no other reason than posting information on the coming Bar Association elections, to be held in January 2010. The last elections at the Sudan Bar Association took place in January 2006 and saw the victory of the National Congress Party, amid allegations of rigging. The results of the election were challenged before the courts following allegations of corruption and fraud. The Constitutional Court accepted the referral, but no decision has been issued as to date. Ms. Butheina Omar Al Sadiq, Ms. Randa Yousif and Ms. Nafisa Al-Nur Haja’s arrests may therefore seen as aiming at obstructing the holding of fair, transparent and pluralist elections at the Bar Association in January 2010, thereby undermining the independence of the Bar Association.
Please write to the Sudan authorities urging them to:
Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Sudan in your respective countries.
Paris - Geneva, December 23, 2009
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:
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