A/HRC/6/19 page 64 unclear whether the case was still being investigated by SLA/MM authorities. On 11 July 2007, an SLA representative informed UN staff that the family of the deceased and SLA/MM officials were negotiating an agreement, which would most likely lead to the family receiving compensation, and the case was no longer under investigation. Another three cases of ill-treatment by SLA/MM were documented during a UN visit to the detention facility in Dar al Salaam, the SLA/MM central sector headquarters in North Darfur, on 14 August 2007. Out of the nine civilians detained in the facility, five were interviewed: two soldiers from a non-signatory rebel faction detained for over ten days; a civilian detained since November 2006, accused of theft of animals; and two cattle herders detained for over 40 days for allegedly stealing a vehicle. All detainees reported very poor detention conditions, lack of sufficient food, and of being prevented from leaving the cell to visit a washroom. One interviewee reported that he had not been allowed to take a shower since his detention on 5 August 2007, and that he was forced to urinate inside the cell because the guards rarely allowed them out. All interviewees alleged having been ill-treated upon arrest during their detention in SLA/MM facilities. Three of them, in two separate incidents (one on 5 August and the other on 27 June), were ill-treated in another detention facility in Wada’ah, before their transfer to Dar al Salaam, reportedly as a result of orders by the same SLA/MM Area Commander. In two of the reported cases, there was a stated intention of extracting confessions from the detainees. From the accounts provided, the methods used during the ill-treatment were similar. Victims reported having been tied by their feet and hands and hung from the ceiling facing the ground, and being knocked around. Other techniques involved beatings with sticks and whipping, and being splashed with cold water at night. The two rebel faction soldiers reported having been shackled since their arrest on 5 August 2007, although they were rarely allowed outside the cell. Cases involving Darfurians in Khartoum (i) Recent arrest and torture of student supporters of SLA/Abdul Wahid In a more recent incident documented by UN agencies, bodies and programmes operational in Darfur, several students were detained and reportedly tortured by officials of the NISS after they participated in a demonstration by a student organization affiliated with the Abdel Wahid al Nour branch of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA/AW), one of the non-signatories to the Darfur Peace Agreement. They were held for ten days and reportedly tortured during the initial two days of detention. They were released on bail on 29 September 2007, pending trial on charges of public order offences. At the time of writing, the students had again been arrested by the NISS and their whereabouts were unknown at the time of the writing of the present report. More than 100 supporters of Abdel Wahid reportedly participated in a demonstration in central Khartoum on 20 September 2007, three days after activities had taken place in over 30 countries on the occasion of the “Global Day for Darfur”. Protesters in Khartoum called for an end to the killings in Darfur, the disarmament of government-armed militias, and for the provision of security to allow IDPs to return to their homes, in the context of the forthcoming start of peace negotiations in Libya. The march was dispersed by police using tear gas, resulting in minor injuries to some protesters. Some eight students were arrested by NISS officials in different parts of Khartoum after they had left the demonstration, suggesting that they had been