A/HRC/42/63 65. Sources reported that a group of national newspapers had been banned several times from the end of December, including Al-Jarida, Al-Midan, Akhbar al-Youm, Al-Baath and Al-Tayyar. The ban on most newspapers was lifted on 17 March, but remained in force against Al-Tayyar. 66. The editor-in-chief of Al-Tayyar, Osman Mirghani, was arrested on the evening of 22 February after criticizing on the Sky News Arabia television channel the state of emergency declared that day by President al-Bashir. A group of special procedures of the Human Rights Council issued an urgent appeal on 28 March expressing concern about his continued detention. The Government responded the next day, providing clarifications on the case and reporting his release.16 67. Civil society groups reported that the Transitional Military Council had closed down the Khartoum offices of Al-Jazeera on 30 May and had withdrawn its licence without providing justification. Al-Jazeera journalists had also been banned from reporting in the country with immediate effect. 68. The Transitional Military Council imposed a countrywide shutdown of the Internet on 10 June, following the joint security operations of 3 June on the mass sit-in in Khartoum. The Transitional Military Council spokesperson was quoted as saying at a press conference, held in Khartoum on 11 June, that social media constituted a threat to national security in the Sudan. He provided no indication of when it would be restored. The Internet shutdown has severely restricted the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly in the Sudan, and has also hampered the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Civil society groups reported that on 23 June, the Khartoum general court ordered the Zain telecommunications company to restore Internet services, based on its favourable consideration of a suit brought by Abdel-Alheem Hassan, a Sudanese lawyer. Credible reports indicated that Internet services had been completely restored on 9 July. 69. The Sudanese Journalists Network said in a statement on 17 June that Abdelrahman El-Amin, editor-in-chief of the El-Sayha newspaper, a Sudanese outlet, had been dismissed from his job after criticizing the Rapid Support Forces. The Sudanese Journalists Network pointed to “mass dismissal processes” at official media institutions, in particular the Sudan TV network, where the director had been dismissed and television producers had been barred from entering the newsrooms. The group also reported that journalist Ammar Mohamed Adam had been detained in Khartoum by members of the Rapid Support Forces, who had questioned him before handing him over to the political department of the National Intelligence and Security Services. 17 The group mentioned that the National Intelligence and Security Services office in White Nile State had also summoned Rashid Oshi, an Al-Tayyar correspondent in Kosti. 70. The Sudanese Journalists Network warned on 17 June of the imminent collapse of a number of press institutions due to the failure of publishers to pay their journalists. The AlRai al-Aam, Alwan and Masadir newspapers halted printing from the end of May, while their staff members received no information about their jobs. 71. Sources also reported that security forces led by the Rapid Support Forces stormed the premises of the Sudanese Professionals Association in Khartoum on the evening of 29 June, preventing a press conference ahead of rallies that were planned by the Forces for Freedom and Change for 30 June. E. Women’s rights 72. Against a backdrop of long-standing deprivation of rights and an economic crisis, many Sudanese women joined the protests and called for human rights improvements and a change in government. 16 17 See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TmSearch/Results. Available from www.facebook.com/243633812656082/posts/891285534557570?sfns=mo. 13