A/HRC/7/22 page 8 on 2 December, following a decision by the Minister for Justice that there was insufficient evidence to bring him to trial. The majority of the other detainees were former military and police officers. 24. During the pretrial investigations, there were numerous violations of the Sudanese Criminal Procedure Code, such as prolonged detention without charge. Appeals by lawyers to either charge or release the detainees were dismissed by the judiciary. In addition, most defendants alleged that torture and ill-treatment were used to extract confession from them while they were held incommunicado by NISS. Lack of access to legal representation and contact with family members were reported in most of the cases. Several requests by the UNMIS Human Rights Office made to the Advisory Council for Human Rights to have access to the detainees were not granted, and concerns raised with the Advisory Council about human rights violations remained without response. 25. Prior to the start of the peace talks on Darfur in Sirte, Libya, a wave of arbitrary arrests and detentions of Darfurian supporters of the Abdel Wahid Al Nur branch of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA/AW) by NISS began in and around Khartoum. The majority of those arrested were students at Khartoum universities. From 20 September to 4 December, a total of 30 presumed SLA/AW supporters were arrested, sometimes repeatedly, and held incommunicado for different periods of time. Many were reportedly tortured or ill-treated. 26. The construction of two major hydroelectric dams by the Government in the Kajbar and Merowe regions, in Northern State, are being opposed by local communities and tensions with the Government have been rising. Communities have been denied adequate representation and some were forced to relocate. Security forces have used excessive force in suppressing protests, most recently when four civilians were killed during the policing of a protest march in April 2007 (see A/62/354). 27. On and around 27 August 2007, a wave of arrests were made in the province of Northern State, a province north of Khartoum. The arrests targeted members of the Mahas community, a Nubian tribe, who actively oppose the planned hydroelectric dam near the village of Kajbar. Six people, who were detained for one or two days and released on bail, now face criminal prosecutions on charges related to protest activities. 28. Three activists of the Kajbar Dam Popular Committee were detained by police from 28 to 30 August and released on bail pending the outcome of an investigation on charges of conspiracy and public order offences (articles 21, 77 and 69 of the Criminal Act). If found guilty, they could face a prison sentence of up to a year. Three others injured by security forces during a community protest against the dam on 13 June 2007 are now under investigation for “disturbance of public peace” and causing injury (articles 69 and 142 of the Criminal Act), based on complaints brought by police officers. According to lawyers, no forensic reports or other evidence support the claim that the policemen sustained injuries during the demonstration, during which four people were shot dead by security forces. 29. Between 27 August and 20 September, seven other Kajbar activists were held for different periods of time in NISS detention facilities in Northern State. They were not given access to lawyers or allowed to communicate with their families. The men were reportedly told that they