A/HRC/33/65 33. On 30 November 2015, the three minors, who were held in custody together with adults, were released by the Khartoum Criminal Court on the condition that they pledged to attend the trial. On 9 December, the Court released two of the individuals owing to insufficient evidence. The remaining 22 adults were released on bail on 14 December 2015. 34. On 13 December 2015, Pastor Telahoon Nogosi Kassa Rata, leader of a Christian student movement and head of the mission office of the Khartoum North Evangelical Church, was arrested by the National Intelligence and Security Service. He was reportedly questioned several times in relation to a Christian foreigner with whom he allegedly met in Ethiopia and in the Sudan. On 18 December, the National Intelligence and Security Service arrested two pastors of the Sudan Church of Christ, Pastor Kuwa Shamal, head of the mission working group in his municipality and Pastor Hassan Abduraheem Kodi Taour. Pastor Shamal was released on 21 December. However, according to information received, Pastor Taour remained in custody and had been denied access to his family and a lawyer. 35. The Independent Expert raised these concerns with the relevant Sudanese authorities, who informed him that two other pastors were also detained, bringing the total to four pastors held by the National Intelligence and Security Service. The security officers added that the cases had been transferred to the judicial authorities, who had charged the pastors concerned with criminal offences. 36. At the time of writing the report, the Independent Expert had yet to receive confirmation regarding the trial of the pastors. The Independent Expert calls upon the Sudanese authorities to ensure that the right to a fair trial and due process was guaranteed to the pastors concerned. He emphasized that the Government had an obligation to uphold the right to freedom of religion and belief as guaranteed in the Constitution of the Sudan and in article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Sudan was a party. E. Situation of student activists in Khartoum 37. On 26 October 2015, nine Darfuri students who had participated in a peaceful sit-in in Khartoum were arrested by the police and charged with participating in a riot, causing disturbance of public peace and public nuisance. They were released on bail after three days of detention. On 14 November 2015, eight students from the Holy Quran University in Omdurman, including four Darfuri students, were arrested by the National Intelligence and Security Service in Omdurman for participating in a peaceful sit-in at the Holy Quran University on 25 and 26 October. The students were protesting against the university’s decision to suspend the exemption from paying tuition fees for new Darfuri students. The police and security officers dispersed the sit-in using tear gas and riot batons; some of the protestors sustained injuries. 38. In another case, five student activists from the University of Khartoum were detained without charge after being arrested by the National Intelligence and Security Service on 13 April 2016 at Khartoum Dental Hospital. The students had accompanied an injured friend to the hospital. During his visit to the Sudan in April 2016, the Independent Expert raised the matter of the five students who remained in detention with the Sudanese authorities. He was informed that the case had to be handed over to the relevant judicial authorities for prosecution. He later noted and welcomed the decision of the Sudanese authorities to release the students on 19 and 21 June 2016. 39. The National Intelligence and Security Service also arrested 27 students, including 5 female students, who were involved in protests at the University of Khartoum. The students began protesting on 11 April, following reports that the Government was planning 8