Shamael Alnoor
Shamael Al-Noor is a journalist working with Al-Tayyar newspaper in Sudan. Al-Tayyar is an independent Sudanese daily newspaper that was founded in 2012. Shamael Al-Noor regularly writes for Al-Tayyar where she criticises extremism and promotes human rights. She has worked on the promotion of minority rights in Sudan and has exposed abuses committed by IS. Shamel Al-Noor has written about her experience living in a State ruled by Sharia and how the application of Islamic law has meant that more time is spent promoting Islamic virtue rather than giving due attention to basic rights and issues related to health, education and people’s living expenses.She recently published a column challenging the teachings of IS, which caused several Sudanese extremists, including government-backed journalists and religious figures, to publicly respond in a campaign of articles against her.
Human rights defenders are vulnerable to arbitrary arrest and detention by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). The 2010 National Security Act grants the NISS extensive powers to arrest and detain people up to four and a half months without judicial review, and with complete impunity when the detention is arbitrary. Human rights defenders have been held incommunicado, without access to legal representation, and family visits have been refused without reasons. Detained HRDs have been often held in NISS cells that fall outside the jurisdiction of prisons laws and regulations, where they have also suffered ill-treatment and torture.
