A/HRC/6/19 page 61 Information orally submitted to the group of experts on 15 November 2007 The Government stated that the Ministry of Justice had issued a directive that there should be prosecutors who remain on duty after normal working hours (08:00-14:00). Prosecutors have been appointed to work in various geographical zones and to work on shifts in order to ensure 24 hour availability in regard to determination of the lawful status of detention. At any time, human rights officers can contact prosecutors directly instead of having to refer themselves first to the police. The Government indicated that in early November 2007, the Constitutional Court of Sudan had rendered a judgement upholding the constitutional right to litigate which pertained to the question of immunities from prosecution. The main development was that the Court decided that it was the judiciary and not other branches of government that was authorized to lift immunities from prosecution for police officers. Moreover, there was a special prosecutor who was responsible for supervising the lawfulness of detention in regard to all individuals detained under national security laws. Information Received from Other Sources on Recommendation 1.4.1 Protection against summary executions, arbitrary detention, disappearances and torture In each of the Darfur States, civilians have reportedly been arbitrarily arrested, subjected to ill treatment, denied access to legal counsel, held without being informed of the reasons for their arrest, and detained for extended periods of time without appearing before a judicial authority. Targeted individuals have included community activists who work in the field of human rights; Sudanese who work for international organizations or who have been perceived as cooperating too much with the international community; individuals from the predominant ethnicities of various rebel groups; and Sudanese who have been perceived to hold opposition political views of the political opposition. Arrests by Government security forces also took place in the aftermath of clashes between warring parties. In South Darfur, for example, following the attacks in the Katila area in May 2007, UN staff documented the arrest by PDF soldiers of at least 24 people, who were accused of supporting and being affiliated with an opposition rebel faction. Some of the detainees were transported to the NISS facility in Eddal Fursan, west of Nyala, while others were held at the military intelligence facility. Detainees interviewed described accounts of severe ill-treatment, including of strangling with ropes for extending periods of time. When presented with these allegations, on 11 June 2007, the Director of NISS in Nyala confirmed that the arrests had taken place, but denied the occurrence of ill-treatment. In another incident, which took place after the fighting in Guldo in West Darfur (reported above), two Fur male villagers who were fleeing the fighting were caught by Sudan Armed Forces in Shaw Fogo village, located between Guldo and Nertiti town, on 14 August 2007. The two detainees, one of whom was a 14 year old boy, were detained at the military intelligence detention facility in Zalingei. During interrogation, reportedly, military intelligence officers forced them to “confess” that they were rebels and to provide information on rebel movements in Jebel Marra. UN personnel attempted to visit the detainees on 18 August 2007, but were denied access. On 19 August 2007, the case was raised with the prosecutor in Zalingei. The prosecutor