Communication 577/15: Hassan lshag Ahmed (Represented by African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies & Ors.) v Republic of The Sudan Summary of the Complaint: l. The Complaint was received by the Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (the Secretariat) on 13 October 2015. It is filed by the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, the Media Legal Defence Initiative and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (altogether the legal representatives), on behalf of Mr. Hassan Ishag Ahmed (the Complainant), against the Republic of The Sudan1 (the Respondent State). 2. The Complainant, who is a 31 year-old Sudanese journalist, avers that he currently lives in exile in Nairobi, Kenya following his arbitrary arrest and detention by the Sudanese authorities. He avers that he worked as a journalist for Al Gareedn newspaper in Khartoum at the time of his arrest on 10 June 2014, and that he wrote articles on political developments in the Respondent State, as well as articles on the human rights situation in the country, citing as examples, his articles on the experiences of students in the Darfur region, and on the state of press freedom in the country. 3. He submits that on 07 June 2014, he had been assigned by Al Gareeda newspaper to cover a symposium that was to be held by the opposition party, the Sudanese Congress Party (the SCP), in al-Nuhood city, West Kordofan State, Sudan; and that, whilst attending the symposium, he was hosted by the President of the SCP, Mr Ibrahim El-Shiekh, at his home in al-Nuhood. He alleges that during the symposium, Mr. El-Shiekh spoke critically of what he believed to be abuses committed by the Rapid Support Forces, the government-aligned militia deployed in conflict areas of the Sudan including Darfur. 4. He claims that following the event, and on 08 June 2014, joint forces of the National Intelligence and Security Services (the NISS) and the police arrested Mr El-Sheikh at his home, and that he (the Complainant) then published the arrest on social media platforms, including Facebook and WhatsApp, and shared news of the arrest with his newspaper. He submits that Mr El-Sheikh was subsequently charged with six crimes, including Article 50 (undermining the constitutional system) and Article 62 (inciting feelings of unrest among disciplined forces and abetment of disturbing disorder), under the Criminal Act of Sudan (1991); and was detained at al-Nuhood prison. 1 The Republic of The Sudan ratified the African Charter on Human and Peo 1986.