A/HRC/39/71 17. Although the Government and the armed groups have not agreed on a permanent ceasefire, they continue to extend temporary cessations of hostilities. On 19 March 2018, President Bashir extended the Government’s unilateral ceasefire until 30 June 2018 while the Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minawi and the Justice and Equality Movement extended theirs until 6 August 2018. 18. Despite the prolonged period without a mutually agreed cessation of hostilities, no clashes were reported between the Government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) in Blue Nile and South Kordofan during the reporting period. IV. Main human rights challenges 19. In spite of assurances of cooperation and some commitments from the Sudanese authorities to take steps towards implementing the recommendations contained in the Independent Expert’s previous reports, 1 as well as a significant decline in military operations in the conflict-affected areas of Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan, the Sudan continues to face a number of human rights challenges. 20. Prior to his mission, the Independent Expert had received reports of restrictions on political rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of association and peaceful assembly, freedom of religion, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and degrading treatment, perpetrated by the Sudanese security forces. 21. In Darfur, the Independent Expert noted that the root causes of the conflict were still largely unaddressed. In addition, land occupation and violence targeting internally displaced persons, including sexual violence against displaced girls and women, continued to hinder their return to their areas of origin. Moreover, the existence of a state of emergency since 1997 continued to have negative implications for fundamental freedoms in the region. 22. 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. Nevertheless, the internal SPLM-N conflict in Blue Nile had generally ceased by October 2017. However, tension remained high as the two factions maintained different camps and showed no signs of reconciliation. A. Harassment of human rights defenders and curtailment of civil society actors 23. The Independent Expert received reports of incidents of harassment, arrests and prolonged detention targeting representatives of civil society organizations, without affording them or their families access to legal representation. For instance, most arrests and detentions occurred in Khartoum and Darfur in the framework of peaceful demonstrations that had taken place to protest against high inflation and austerity measures in the country’s 2018 budget. In this context, Salih Mahmoud, a prominent lawyer and Vice-Chair of the Darfur Bar Association, was arrested at his office on 1 February 2018 and detained incommunicado for several weeks. Of particular concern is the treatment of female activists during these arrests. Miass Safi was arrested together with three other activists at her home on 20 February. 24. The members of the group were released on 24 and 25 February, despite the fact that, according to their lawyers, the prosecutor had earlier refused to sign the documents needed to secure their release on bail. 25. These actions by the security agencies stifle free speech and the effective operations of civil society organizations in the Sudan and are contrary to the obligation of the Sudan to respect and protect the rights to freedom of assembly and expression as guaranteed under 1 See A/HRC/30/60, para. 74; A/HRC/33/65, para. 75; and A/HRC/36/63, para. 87. 5