Eight civil society activists, all of them employees of the organization for Training and Human Development (TRACKs), were summoned by the prosecutor for crimes against the state on 22 May 2016.
This statement was originally published on freedomhouse.org on 26 May 2016.
Following Sudan’s detention of eight civil society activists from Training and Human Development (TRACKs), Freedom House issued the following statement:
“The Government of Sudan should stop the harassment on TRACKs and its staff,” said Vukasin Petrovic, director for Africa programs. “The government routinely restricts freedom of expression and assembly as it tries to silence the growing dissent in the country and hinder the work of civil society organizations. The government should respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of its citizens and adhere to its obligations under international human rights law.”
Background:
Eight civil society activists, all of them employees of the organization for Training and Human Development (TRACKs), were summoned by the prosecutor for crimes against the state on May 22, 2016. The activists were subsequently detained at the Office of the Prosecutor for State Security and are being held without charges. TRACKs, a Khartoum-based organization, has been raided twice during the last 14 months by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services, which has confiscated the passports of staff members. Criminal charges, including some which carry the death penalty, were brought against TRACKs Director Khalafalla Alafif Mukhtar and Adil Bakheit, a human rights defender and member of the Board of Directors for Sudanese Human Rights Monitor.
Sudan is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2016, Not Free in Freedom of the Press 2016, and Not Free in Freedom on the Net 2015.
