A/HRC/39/71 55. The Independent Expert also visited Shallah Federal Prison in North Darfur and had the privilege of speaking to men and women detained on the basis of the emergency laws. They had not been presented in or appeared before a court for several months. The Independent Expert therefore calls upon the Sudanese authorities to repeal the emergency laws in Darfur and to review the cases of all 117 men and women currently detained in Shallah Federal Prison in relation to the emergency laws, with the aim of ensuring compliance with due process and fair trial standards. Should it be found that these cases are not compliant, the Independent Expert appeals for the immediate release of these individuals. 56. During his interaction with the detainees, the Independent Expert was made aware of the situation of 56 of them who had been sentenced to death. This group includes a woman whose appeal for a presidential pardon was recently rejected. These individuals are at risk of being executed at any time. They need protection, and international attention must be directed to addressing this issue as a matter of urgency. The Independent Expert would encourage the Government to halt the execution of these individuals and to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. 57. The Independent Expert has noted the need for support in this area to help government authorities in extending the rule of law and State authority to remote areas so as to build public confidence in the rule of law and law enforcement institutions, reduce intercommunal conflict, enhance accountability and create conditions conducive to durable solutions and voluntary return of displaced populations. Interventions in this area would target the capacity of the State authority, as well as community-based conflict management and reconciliation mechanisms, to mediate and address resource-based and local conflicts. In addition, capacity would also be invested to strengthen legislation and policies on land and resource management. 2. Blue Nile and South Kordofan 58. In Blue Nile, displaced communities fought along ethnic lines following a split within the leadership of the armed opposition group SPLM-N in July 2017. On 17 February 2018, the two SPLM-N factions fought in the areas of Tunfona, Marmaton, Goz Bagar, Aljamamat and Alfug. People were displaced again and fled to areas south, with reports coming in of new displacements of civilians in the region. An assessment mission led by humanitarian actors reported up to 500 civilians displaced. The situation was described as dire with houses burned, property looted and little to no access to food, water, shelter and health services. 59. Urgent efforts are needed to bring a permanent end to this conflict and to ensure that humanitarian assistance has safe access to all areas. The conflict has already had a longterm effect in the area and the population fear the possibility of a resumption of conflict. While both sides to the conflict express their intention not to resume fighting, there have been no mutually agreed cessations of hostility. 60. In South Kordofan, despite the prolonged period without a mutually agreed cessation of hostilities between the Government and SPLM-N, relative calm is observed in the region. 61. In South Kordofan, the Independent Expert was informed that an inter-agency assessment mission had been conducted in 18 hard-to-reach communities in Al Abassiya locality between 4 and 8 February 2018. According to information received, some 34,896 people in need were identified, including internally displaced persons, returnees and vulnerable populations in the host communities. An estimated 60 per cent of these people are women and children. 62. The Independent Expert notes that this was the first time in seven years that some communities had been reached by humanitarian aid organizations since the conflict recurred in 2011. Dire needs were identified, including lack of nutrition treatments and health facilities available to medical staff in 16 communities, unsafe quality and inadequate quantity of water in all 18 communities and about 90 per cent of the community members practising open defecation. 10