Abdelrahman Mohamed Al-Gasim

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

Individual's/organization's activity: "oral interventions before the Council on alleged human rights violations committed by the Sudanese authorities in the country. He was also a panellist in a side-event entitled “Sudan: impunity, repression and conflict on the rise"

Type of rights defended

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

Reported trigger of reprisal: It was alleged that Mr. Al-Gasim received threats from Sudanese officials while participating in the fifteenth session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, in September 2010. Mr. Al-Gasim lobbied for the extension of the mandate of the independent expert on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, and delivered a number of oral interventions before the Council on alleged human rights violations committed by the Sudanese authorities in the country.

Engagement with UN body

Type of attempted engagement

Reprisal information: It was alleged that Mr. Al-Gasim received threats from Sudanese officials while participating" Mr. Al-Gasim had been reportedly arrested by members of the National Intelligence and Security Services in Khartoum.

Types of reprisals suffered

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

Further case development: According to information received at the time of completion of the report, Mr. Al-Gasim was no longer in detention. And at the time of completion of the report, the Government of the Sudan had not replied to the communication.

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

Follow up information provided in SG report 0

The case of Abdelrahman Al-Gasim was included in my report of 2011 and related to reprisals following his participation in the fif teenth session of the Human Rights Council in September 2010 (A/HRC/18/19, paras. 70-73).According to information received,Mr. Al-Gasim was arrested in late October 2010 andspent one monthincommunicado. He wasreportedlyheldat the premises of the National Intelligence and Security Services from 3 November 2010 to24 December 2010 and then transferred to Kober prison,where he was held for 50 days before being released on 21 January 2011. He was subsequently banned from leaving the country.
In June 2011, Mr. Al-Gasim and six other human rights defenders were charged with, inter alia, conspiracy against the State and espionage, crimes which are punishable bydeath or life imprisonment. One of the accusations levelled against Mr. Al-Gasim was ofreporting to the International Criminal Court. On 4 December 2011, the charges against Mr. Al-Gasim and three other defendants were dismissed. Nonetheless, Mr. Al-Gasim has reportedly continued to face harassment, his legal office has been kept under surveillance by the security services and he has lost clients and income.At the time of the completion of the presentreport, the Government hadnot responded to the communication sent by several special procedures on 23 November 2010(A/HRC/16/44/Add.1, paras. 2131-2133).