Three members of the Darfuri Student Association and a woman HRD

Cases

Relevant SG report

From Country

Country Geolocation

Latitude: 12.862807

Longitude: 30.217636

From Region

UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report

Type of rights defended

Was the victim a civil servant, member of the security forces or of the judiciary?: No

Reported trigger of reprisal: in connection with the official visit to the country of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, from 13 to 24 May 2015; On 16 May 2015, the four individuals were meeting in a hotel lobby with a United Nations staff member, when they noticed that they were being monitored by several members of the National Intelligence and Security Services. Owing to their presence, the group felt unsafe and decided to cut the meeting short.

Engagement with UN body

Type of attempted engagement

Meeting with UN officials during country visit / with locally present UN officials

Reprisal information: On 16 May 2015, the four individuals were meeting in a hotel lobby with a United Nations staff member, when they noticed that they were being monitored by several members of the National Intelligence and Security Services. Owing to their presence, the group felt unsafe and decided to cut the meeting short. When they were leaving the hotel, the State agents threatened the two women and forcibly placed the two men in a pickup truck, after which they were taken to a police station and detained for about seven hours before being released after the Special Rapporteur, who had witnessed the events, had contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After the Special Rapporteur had left the country, the four individuals continued to be threatened by State agents. In one case, death threats were made and family members of the individual concerned were visited by State agents.

Types of reprisals suffered

Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?: No

Government response content: overnment responded that the above-mentioned incident had taken place for security reasons in order to protect the hotel and its guests, and had been carried out by tourism police (see A/HRC/33/32, SOM 2/2016). That was reiterated by the Government in its comments in reponse to the country visit report of the Special Rapporteur (see A/HRC/32/42/Add.4, paras. 5-6).

Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?: No

Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?: No

Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?: No