A/HRC/42/63 received. Those arrested and detained included opposition leaders, political activists, civil society activists, journalists, university professors and students, and professionals such as doctors, lawyers and engineers. 44. Reports also included allegations of instances of torture, ill-treatment and other human rights abuse in detention by Sudanese authorities during the period under review. Formal charges were not filed against most of the detainees, according to civil society sources, and access for families and lawyers to visit those detained was routinely denied. Information received suggested that at least 100 women were among those detained between December and 11 April. 1. Protest organizers 45. Opposition leaders engaged in organizing the protests were frequently arrested or detained. On 22 December, 14 opposition leaders from the National Consensus Forces, a coalition of opposition parties, were arrested during a meeting at the headquarters of the Baath Party in Omdurman. On 28 December, the head of the Sudanese Congress Party and a senior leader of the Communist Party, among other opposition leaders, were arrested. The head of the Sudanese Congress Party in Northern Kordofan and eight other party members were sentenced at the end of December 2018 to six months’ imprisonment under the state of emergency decree. The deputy Chair of the National Umma Party was arrested on 30 January for a few hours and reportedly interrogated by the Director of the National Intelligence and Security Services. Two leaders from the Sudanese Professionals Association were reportedly arrested in Khartoum by the National Intelligence and Security Services on 4 and 11 January, respectively. 2. Professionals, journalists and students 46. Dozens of medical professionals were reportedly arrested and detained during the period from December to February. About 20 professors from Khartoum University were arrested in the capital for a few hours on 6 January, allegedly for their participation in a peaceful sit-in protest. At least 15 engineers were arrested on 23 January during a sit-in in front of the Sudanese Engineers Syndicate in Khartoum. In a statement issued on 17 March, the Sudanese Journalists Network reported that more than 90 journalists had been arrested since the protests began in December. 13 Allegedly, members of the riot police dispersed protesting students and raided public spaces and buildings at the University of Khartoum on 8 March, arresting an unknown number of students. 3. Torture and inhuman treatment 47. The Independent Expert received reports of the deaths of at least six people inside the detention facilities of the National Intelligence and Security Services between December and February. This included two cases in Southern Kordofan, two cases in Khartoum, one case in Al-Gedaref, and one case in Kassala. The case in Kassala, according to credible reports, concerned a schoolteacher named Ahmed al-Khair, who allegedly died under torture in the detention facilities of the National Intelligence and Security Services in the town of Khashm al-Qirbah on 2 February. He was reportedly arrested a few days prior for participation in protests. The National Intelligence and Security Services issued a statement denying responsibility for the death. The state Attorney General in the city of Kassala, under the direct supervision of the investigative panel established by the country’s Attorney General, initiated an investigation into the case and reported the outcomes in a press conference on 7 February, concluding that the victim had been subjected to severe torture that had resulted in his death. The National Intelligence and Security Services was requested to make the security officers who were involved in this incident available to the prosecution, but did not do so. 13 10 Available at www.facebook.com/857752900918065/posts/2612431242116880?sfns=mo.