Sudan: The use of criminal law to target critics must stop
THE OBSERVATORY - STATEMENT
Paris-Geneva, September 24, 2021 – Within four days,
three outspoken human rights defenders have been targeted by the authorities
in retaliation for their online and offline criticism of State institutions
and for their calls for accountability for past human rights violations, the
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OMCT-FIDH)
denounced today. The Sudanese authorities must put an end to the use of the
criminal law to silence journalists and human rights defenders, and provide
an enabling environment for freedom of expression.
On September 15, 2021, journalist and woman human rights defender
Aisha Al-Majidi was arbitrarily arrested upon her arrival at the
Department of Cybercrimes of the Sudanese police in Khartoum, on the basis
of a summons issued by the Cybercrime Prosecutor of Sudan. The summons
followed the filing of two separate cases against her on the charge of
"defamation" (article 159 of the Sudanese Criminal Code) by the
Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Committee for the Removal of Empowerment.
Aisha Al-Majidi was released on September 16, 2021. The case is pending
before the Prosecutor and can be referred to court at any time.
The judicial harassment against Aisha Al-Majidi is related to two messages
the defender posted on her social media in early September 2021 in which she
called for the dissolution of the RSF and the use of its infrastructure to
build new hospitals, childcare homes and orphanages in Sudan. Aisha
Al-Majidi also expressed her views on the role the Committee for the Removal
of Empowerment is having in the ongoing Sudanese transition to
democracy.
The Observatory recalls that the RSF was established by the Al-Bashir
regime in 2013 to fight rebel armed groups in Sudan, and designated a
regular military force under the transitional constitutional charter of
Sudan. International human rights organisations have accused the RSF of
comitting crimes against humanity during the war in Darfur. Moreover, this
military force carried multiple unlawful detentions of civilians throughout
2020 and had a leading role in the June 2019 Khartoum massacre, where more
than 100 people were killed.
Just four days before the arrest of Aisha Al-Majidi, on September 11,
2021, two young civil rights activists Musab Zakaria and
Suleiman Jamal were arbitrarily arrested by members of the
RSF while they were protesting against the Vice-President of the Sovereign
Council and the Commander in Chief of the RSF in front of a mosque in the
neighbourhood of Umbada, in the city of Ombdurman. Both activists were
peacefully demanding justice and accountability for crimes committed by the
RSF against civilians. Musab Zakaria and Suleiman Jamal were transferred to
an unknown location and later brought to the Al-Rashideen police station in
Omburdman, where a criminal case was filed against them on charges of
"disturbance of public peace" and "public nuisance"
(articles 68 and 77 of the Sudanese Criminal Code). No witnesses or
complainants were present when the case was filed. In the evening of
September 11, Musab Zakaria and Suleiman Jamal were transferred to the
Khartoum North police station in the city of Khartoum. They were released on
bail on September 12, 2021, only after a police officer appeared as a
complainant and thus the investigations were completed.
The Observatory expresses its concern over the judicial harassment of Aisha
Al-Majidi, Musab Zakaria and Suleiman Jamal, which seems to be used to
target their legitimate human rights activities.
The Observatory is further
concerned about the use of the Criminal Code and the Cybercrimes Act to
target human rights defenders and online critics in Sudan, including women
rights defenders
Khadeeja Aldewaihiand
Waad Bahjat, and calls on the
authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure their right to freedom
of expression is duly respected and protected.
The Observatory urges the authorities in Sudan to put an immediate end to
all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Aisha
Al-Majidi, Musab Zakaria and Suleiman Jamalas well as all human rights
defenders in the country.
The Observatory further urges the authorities to
take all necessary measures to guarantee the right to freedom expression
online and offline in the country, in accordance with articles 56 and 57 of
the 2019 Constitutional Declaration of Sudan and the relevant international
and regional human rights standards, in particular Article 19 of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 9 of the
African Charter on Human and People’s Rights.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.