Convention (see Selmouni, cited above, § 87).
, cited in Communication No. 334/06 (2011), Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Interights v. Egypt,
para.168.
14 Communication 279/03 (2011), Sudan Human Right Organisation & Centre on Housing Rights and
Evictions (COHRE) v Sudan, para 156.
15 Section 68 (b) Criminal Procedure Code of Sudan, 1991.
16 Section 79 Criminal Procedure Code of Sudan: "A person arrested for inquiry, by the Police, may remain
in detention, for period not to exceeding twenty four hours for the purpose of inquiry; The Prosecution
Attorney, where the matter requires the same, may renew detention of the arrested person, for a period not
exceeding three days, for the purpose of inquiry; The Magistrate, under the report of the Prosecution
Attorney, may order detention of the arrested person, for purposes of inquiry, every week, for a period not
exceeding in total, two weeks, and he shall record the reasons on the Case Diary; The superior Magistrate,
in case of the arrested person, who is charged may order renewal of his detention, for purposes of inquiry
every week; provided that the period of detention shall not, in total, exceed six month, save upon the
approval of the competent Head of the Judicial Organ"
17 Communication No.153/96 (1999), Constitutional Rights Project v. Nigeria, para.18; Communications
Nos. 64/92, 68/92, and 78/92 (1995), Achuthan and Another (on behalf of Banda and Others) v Malawi,
para.9; Communication No. 206/97 (1999), Centre for Free Speech v Nigeria, para.18; Communication
No. 225/98 (2000), Huri-Laws v Nigeria, para.46
18 Communication 275/2003, Article 19 v. Eritrea, paragraphs 99, 100.
19 See Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Sudan, Sima Samar, UN
Doc. A/HRC/9/13, 2 September 2008, paras.27
× The Government responded to the events of 10 May by making numerous arrests. According to police
figures, in the Khartoum area 481 people were detained and then released again in the immediate
aftermath of the attack. Other sources have reported that several hundred civilians were arbitrarily arrested
and detained without charge in the aftermath of the attacks, in addition to combatants and some 90 alleged
child combatants. At the end of July, two and a half months after the attacks, some 500 were feared to still
be in NISS detention, their whereabouts unknown, and the authorities had provided no specific information
on those in detention to relatives or human rights workers. Other sources report even higher figures of
detainees remaining in custody in connection with the attack. Those held reportedly include human rights
activists, journalists, family members of the accused, and women. As the United Nations still does not have
access to places of detention in Khartoum, the exact number of detainees is impossible to verify. The large
majority of those detained appear to be of Darfurian origin and there is credible evidence that many of them
were arrested on grounds of their ethnicity.
et seq.
20 Concluding observations of the UN Human Rights Committee: Sudan, UN Doc.
CCPR/C/SDN/CO/3/CRP.1, 26 July 2007, para.16
× The Committee notes with concern reports suggesting that torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment are widespread in the State party, especially in prisons, and is concerned that such abuse is
carried out in particular by law-enforcement officers. Moreover, these law enforcement officers and their
accomplices reportedly very often go unpunished. The Committee regrets that there is no definition of
torture in Sudan's Criminal Code. (arts. 2, 6, and 7 of the Covenant) The State party should: (a) Guarantee
that all allegations of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment are investigated by an independent
body, and that the perpetrators of such acts are prosecuted and punished as appropriate and that victims
are granted effective reparation. (b) Improve the training of State agents in this regard, in order to ensure
that all persons who are arrested or held in custody are informed of their rights. (c) In its next report,
provide detailed information on complaints filed in connection with such acts, the number of persons
prosecuted and convicted, including members of national security forces, and the reparations paid to
victims. (d) Provide a legal definition of torture in its legislation, inaccordance with article 7 of the Covenant
.
21 Section 83 (3) of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1991: "An arrested person shall have the right to contact
his advocate, and the right to meet the Prosecution Attorney, or the Magistrate [...]."
22 Ibid. section 83 (1): "An arrested person shall be treated in such way, as may preserve the dignity of the
human being; he shall not be hurt physically, or mentally, and appropriate medical care shall be provided
thereto"
23 See Article 4
12