They cite the Resolution on the Right to Recourse and Fair Trial which provides that, it is not sufficient for
the persons who are arrested to be able to guess why they have been arrested but they must be told by
way of official notification.
84. It is also submitted that all three Complainants were not allowed access to a lawyer during their
interrogation. The Complainants maintain that all these constitute a violation of the right to a fair trial.
Alleged Violation of Article 9
85. The Complainants submit that at the time of their arrest, they were widely known in and outside Sudan
for their work on human rights in Sudan. The Complainants claim that they were arrested and interrogated
on account of their human rights work. They state that the purpose of their arrest, detention, interrogation
and subsequent torture and ill-treatment by NISS officers was to intimidate them and to hinder if not
altogether prevent them from fulfilling their work as human rights activists. The Complainants state that
measures taken by the NISS were aimed at preventing them from obtaining and disseminating information
about human rights in Sudan and this constituted an unjustified infringement of their right to freedom of
information and expression and amounted to a violation of Article 9 of the Charter.
Alleged Violation of Article 10
86. It is contended that in December 2008 and January 2009, Mr. Amir Suliman and the KCHRED, of which
he was a Director, were subjected to a campaign of harassment and intimidation, which manifestly violated
the Respondent State's obligations under Article 10 of the Charter. It is submitted that KCHRED also had
its bank accounts frozen in February 2009 and its licence revoked in early March 2009 by the Government
of Sudan. According to the Complainants, the closing of KCHRED and its bank accounts is clearly a
deliberate action by the Respondent State aimed at destabilizing the work of the Mr. Amir Suliman and his
organisation which was accused of cooperating with the ICC Prosecutor's Office, in breach of the right to
freedom of association as protected by Article 10 of the Charter.
Alleged violation of Article 12(1) (2)
87. The Complainants submit that they were arrested, tortured and detained on account of their human
rights work which was subsequently followed by a campaign of harassment and intimidation by the
authorities, eventually leading to the shutdown of KCHRED. It is submitted further that the open ended and
serious nature of the accusations of spying that had been levelled against them, and the real risk of being
rearrested at any moment, forced Mr. Osman Hummeida and Mr. Monim Elgak to flee the country in early
December 2008 and Mr. Amir Suliman to do so in early February 2009.
88. The Complainants point out that their continued human rights work including their outspoken criticism of
the government of Sudan, in combination with the complete impunity with which the authorities perpetrated
the violations against them, has prevented them from returning to Sudan for fear of further persecution by
state authorities, in particular the NISS. The Complainants cite the Commission's decision in John D. Ouko
v Kenya22 in which the Commission found a violation of Article 12 of the Charter where a human rights
defender was forced to flee the country on account of his human rights work.
Alleged violation of Article 15
89. It is submitted that Mr. Amir Suliman's right to work was directly interfered with by the Respondent State
following the closure of KCHRED which prevented the organization from carrying out any of the work from
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