A/HRC/18/40 over arrests and detention and the current legal framework under which the NSS operates, which does not fully encompass human rights principles and respect for the rule of law. The 2005 Interim National Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and freedom from arbitrary arrests and detention. In addition, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement explicitly states that the national security mandate “shall be advisory and focused on information gathering and analysis”. 25. On a positive note, more than 2,000 detainees convicted of minor crimes were released from the Khartoum State penitentiary in August 2010 to avoid overcrowding, pursuant to the recommendations made by the Human Rights Committee of the National Assembly. The Committee visited the prisons and concluded that the overcrowding was due to a large presence of prisoners convicted of minor crimes, including alcohol brewing. Most offenders were from the South and had been unfairly subjected to the application of sharia law, even though they were not Muslim. IV. Transitional areas A. Abyei 26. The future status of Abyei remains the greatest challenge to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. In accordance with the Agreement, the small oil-rich territory of Abyei straddling the North-South border was scheduled to hold a referendum on the same date as the referendum on South Sudan. Owing to disputes over voter eligibility and the composition of the Abyei Referendum Commission, the Commission was never formed and the vote was never held. The Agreement stipulates that voting rights should be given to the Ngok Dinka and other “Sudanese residing in the area”. The Government in the North demanded that members of the Misseriya nomadic tribe, who spend up to six months of the year in Abyei, should be considered residents. During his second visit, the independent expert met with leaders of the Misseriya community in Khartoum regarding 10