AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

In February, NISS officials and students
affiliated to the ruling National Congress Party
violently disrupted a public seminar
organized by a political opposition party at
the University of El Geneina. A number of
students were seriously injured, and one,
Salah al Din Qamar Ibrahim, died as a result
of his injuries.
On 19 April, Abubakar Hassan Mohamed
Taha, an 18-year-old student at the University
of Kordofan, was shot in the head by NISS
agents in Al Obied, capital of North Kordofan
state. The students had been marching
peacefully when heavily armed NISS agents
intercepted them, reportedly shooting into the
crowd, in an attempt to prevent them from
taking part in student union elections.
Another 27 students were injured, five of
them seriously. The killing of Abubakar
Hassan Mohamed Taha provoked nationwide
student protests. 10
On 27 April, 20-year-old Mohamad Al
Sadiq Yoyo, a second-year student at the
Omdurman Al Ahlia University in Khartoum
state, was shot dead by NISS agents.
On 8 May, police forces in Kosti city in
White Nile state violently dispersed a
peaceful sit-in organized by the Faculty of
Engineering Students’ Association of the
University of Al-Imam Al-Mahdi. The police
reportedly used tear gas and batons, injuring
about seven students, four of them seriously.
1. Sudan: Amnesty International public statement at the 33rd session of
the UN Human Rights Council (AFR 54/4875/2016)
2. Sudan: Scorched earth, poisoned air – Sudanese government forces
ravage Jebel Marra, Darfur (AFR 54/4877/2016)
3. Sudan: Five years and counting – Intensified aerial bombardment,
ground offensive and humanitarian crisis in South Kordofan state
(AFR 54/4913/2016)
4. Sudan: Ten civil society activists harassed by NISS (AFR
54/3634/2016)
5. Sudan: Further information – three human rights defenders still
detained (AFR 54/4267/2016)
6. Sudan: Drop all charges and release activists detained for exercising
their rights (News story, 29 August)
7. Sudan blocks civil society participation in UN-led human rights
review (AFR 54/4310/2016)
8. Sudan: Student activists detained without charge (AFR
54/3861/2016)
9. Sudan: Eight arrested, whereabouts unknown (AFR 54/4617/2016)
10. Sudan: Government must investigate brutal killing of 18-year-old
university student by intelligence agents (News story, 20 April)
SWAZILAND
Kingdom of Swaziland
Head of state: King Mswati III
Head of government: Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini
Legislation continued to be used to repress
dissent. The High Court ruled that security
legislation violated the rights to freedom of
expression, of association and of assembly,
which were protected under the
Constitution. The findings of an inquest into
a death in police custody were not
disclosed. There was insufficient protection
against torture and other ill-treatment.
Legislation gave the police wide-ranging
powers to use lethal force, contrary to
international human rights law and
standards.
BACKGROUND
Two thirds of the population continued to live
below the poverty line. In October, the
Afrobarometer research network reported
that around half the population said they
often went without food and water, and over a
third said that medical care was inadequate.
LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS
In May, the King appointed seven senior
lawyers to act as Supreme Court judges. The
appointments were made in contravention of
Article 153 of the Constitution, which
stipulates that judges be appointed in an
open, transparent and competitive process.
As a result, the Law Society of Swaziland
boycotted the November Supreme Court
session and demanded the appointment of
permanent judges in line with the
Constitution.
In September, the High Court ruled that
sections of the 1938 Sedition and Subversive
Activities Act (SSA) and the 2008
Suppression of Terrorism Act (STA) were
invalid as they infringed on constitutionally
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