Urgent call to release five Sudanese artists imprisoned on baseless charges

(29 September 2020) African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) calls on the Sudanese judiciary to quash the sentence and release five artists imprisoned on charges under articles 69 (disturbing of public peace) and 77 (public nuisance) of Sudanese Panel code 1991. Authorities should put in place measures to ensure vague provisions in the Criminal Act are not used to violate basic human rights.  The Sudanese authorities must also fasten legal and institutional reform to ensure an open space that respects freedom of expression, association and assembly.

On September 18, 2020, the central criminal court of Khartoum presided over by Justice Omer Abdul Majid convicted and sentenced five youth artists including one female to two months imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 Sudanese pounds (90 US Dollars) for violating articles 67 and 77 of Sudanese Panel code 1991. The artists from Feed Art Group (FAG) and Colour Sudan were arrested on August 10, 2020 from the Civic Lab house located in Alzuhoor neighborhood of Khartoum during rehearsals by a group of Sudanese police officers.

Their arrest followed a complaint by a neighbor who accused the artists of making noise. According to a reliable source, the neighbor with another man entered the rehearsal room for the Feed Art Group and another art group called Colour Sudan and rudely told the artists to stop rehearsing. He left the room and then proceeded to the police station where he reported the artist of making noise. The police arrested the artists and filed two cases for each art group. The artists were first charged with violating the COVID-19 curfew announced by the High Sudanese Committee for Health Emergency aimed at limiting the movement of people from 6 PM to 6 AM. This charge was dropped by court after the artists produced proof of written permission by the authorities.  After that, the police added charges of “disturbing public peace” and “public nuisance” under Articles 67 and 77 of Sudanese Panel code 1991 after the artists chanted the revolution slogans of “freedom, peace and justice” inside the police cells. The artists have appealed the sentence.

This case shows the weakness in Sudan’s laws and the criminal justice system as vague provisions that give wide discretionary powers for authorities to restrict basic rights and freedoms are still being used by the police. This practice was used during the public order regime of the former President, Omar al Bashir where police used vague charges against youth activists, artists, and opposition members to crackdown on exercise of rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. Courts have also continued to hold politically motivated unfair trials and passed harsh sentences on baseless charges like they did in the al Bashir regime. Relying heavily on the testimonies of the police officers exposes the flaws in the Sudanese Criminal Procedure and the Evidence Act. There is therefore an urgent need for reform within the Sudanese police force, prosecution and the judiciary to ensure human rights are not abused.

The four male artists were transferred to Omdurman male prison whist the female artist was transferred to Omdurman women’s prison. Their details are as follows:

• Duaa Tariq, a 27-year-old female artist and human rights defender. She is the co-founder and director of colour Sudan. A group that works to promote civil and political rights in Sudan through art and theatre performances.
• Hishem Mohamed Haj Omer Known as Hajooj Koka (m) 44 years old. Hajooj is a human rights defender who has been working with Sudanese Youth for change since 2010 through his art work. He has advocated for political change and democracy. He raised issues of human rights violations against civilians in both Blue Nile and South Kordofan areas in Sudan after the breakout of the war between Khartoum and SPLM- N. He is also an award-winning film maker and directed a film called Beats of the Antonov in 2013. In 2019, he was arbitrarily arrested while documenting violations against peaceful protestors by the joint security forces and the police during the revolution. Prior to this, he has been subjected to arbitrary arrests by the Security Services between 2014 and 2018.
• Abdul Rahman Mohamed Hamdan, male, 27 years old
• Ayman Khalfalla Mohamed Ahmed, male, 25 years old
• Ahmed Al-Sadiq Ahmed Hamad, male, 18 years old

ACJPS calls on Sudanese authorities to

• Immediately drop charges and release the artists.
• Instruct law enforcement officials to end arbitrary restrictions and intensify efforts on reforms that will guarantee rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

Contact:Mossaad Mohamed Ali, Executive Director, African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies. (English, Arabic, Swedish): +46727712782, mossaad.ali@acjps.org

.