SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Radio Dabanga - 'UN Human Rights Council should continue to monitor Sudan

16/7/2020: Radio Dabanga - 'UN Human Rights Council should continue to monitor Sudan

 Radio Dabanga report that the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) call on the UN Human Rights Council to maintain a form of monitoring and reporting on Sudan.

 FIDH and ACJPS expressed concern about ongoing attacks against civilians, IDPs and refugees in Darfur and other conflict areas, calling for “meaningful reform of the security sector, with the full participation of political actors and civil society, under the monitoring of and the assistance by the concerned regional and international bodies, – which should, among other things, clarify the Rapid Support Forces’ official status and fully integrate them into the Sudanese Armed Forces.“

 FIDH and ACJPS also called for Sudan’s transitional authorities to make a priority of women’s rights, including access to quality education and meaningful participation in decision-making processes.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Nierteti sit-in lifted, other protest vigils continue in Sudan

16/7/2020: Radio Dabanga - Nierteti sit-in lifted, other protest vigils continue in Sudan

 Radio Dabanga report that while the sit-in in Niertiti in Central Darfur has been lifted after a number of local officials were dismissed and a joint security force will secure the agricultural season, sit-ins calling for security, justice, and improved services are still ongoing in several parts of Sudan.

 Following the positive response by the government on the sit-in of Nierteti in Central Darfur, similar vigils were launched in Kutum and Kabkabiya in North Darfur, Ed Daein, Bahr El Arab and Yassin in East Darfur, Misterei in West Darfur, and other parts of Sudan.

 Minister of Information Faisal Mohammed Saleh reportedly welcomed the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) proposal to convert Sudanese sit-ins into grassroots conferences, “to broadly and formally discuss the issues in a broad manner”, saying the Cabinet will support the DBA in developing the proposal.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: ACJPS - Urgent call to the Transitional government to investigate the killing of 12 peaceful protesters and injury of 14 others in Kotoum city

16/7/2020: African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies - North Darfur: Urgent call to the Transitional government to investigate the killing of 12 peaceful protesters and injury of 14 others in Kotoum city

 The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) call for the Sudanese government to urgently investigate the killing and wounding of protesters in Fata Borno near Kutum in North Darfur.

 ACJPS call for the urgent establishment of an independent and impartial commission, alongside:

•  Prompt and effective security measures to ensure that civilians in Darfur are protected from arbitrary attacks by armed militias.

• Ensuring that right to peaceful protests by civilians is respected.

• Reforming the police force to play the role of providing protection to civilians.

• Urgently disarming civilians and all armed groups/militias.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies - The urgency to unravel the torture and inhuman treatments system one year after the Transition

16/7/2020: African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies - The urgency to unravel the torture and inhuman treatments system one year after the Transition

 In a lengthy briefing, the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) identify a range of anti-torture law reforms for Sudan’s transitional government to prioritise.

 Among ACJPS’s recommendations include:

·      Ratifying key international human rights treaty bodies especially the Convention Against Torture (CAT).

·      Amending the Evidence Act to repeal provisions permitting judges to admit confessions obtained through torture

·      Repealing provisions granting immunity from prosecution for human rights violations committed by state security officials.

·      Establishing a transitional justice mechanism to guarantee torture victimd full access to justice, reparation, rehabilitation and reconciliation.

·      Ensuring that investigation committees established to investigate human rights violations are Independent and Impartial and operate transparently.

·      Abolish National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) detention centres and NISS-controlled sections of prisons, improving conditions of detention and ensuring access to lawyers and doctors for detained individuals.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Human Rights Watch - Sudan’s Law Reforms a Positive First Step

16/7/2020: Human Rights Watch - Sudan’s Law Reforms a Positive First Step

 Despite welcoming legal reforms that “if implemented and used properly, should improve human rights in [Sudan],” Human Rights Watch (HRW) argue that Sudanese authorities still need to tackle a raft of “problematic” laws.

 HRW call for Sudan to repeal the crime of adultery, end corporal punishment, and reform personal status laws that discriminate against women and girls.

 Noting that Sudan’s new laws ban the “infliction of torture”, forced confessions and human rights violations, HRW call for Sudan to also ratify key international treaties like the conventions against torture and on elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

 HRW conclude that such steps “would help create a legal system that upholds the basic rights and freedoms enshrined in Sudan’s constitutional declaration.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Guardian - 'Thank you, our glorious revolution': activists react as Sudan ditches Islamist laws

16/7/2020: Guardian - 'Thank you, our glorious revolution': activists react as Sudan ditches Islamist laws, by Kaamil Ahmed

Kaamil Ahmed’s feature piece on Sudan’s legal reforms – including the “decriminalisation of apostasy,” banning of female genital mutilation (FGM) and ending the requirement for women to get travel permits – identifies further steps to be taken for laws to be implemented.

 Ola Diab, editor of 500 Words, noted that implementation is a “challenge” citing social resistance to reforms such as the FGM ban. Diab added that many other laws needed to change, including those that have seen rape victims charged with adultery and women in mixed-sex settings accused of prostitution.

 Charlie Loudon, anti-torture charity Redress’s international legal adviser, called for the government to continue making domestic law and policy reforms until systematic torture is eradicated from Sudan and justice and reparations are fully realised for victims.

 Loudon suggested amendments to the internal policies of state security agencies, adding training would be “crucial.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan's opposition rejects judicial immunity for military rulers

16/7/19: Reuters - Sudan's opposition rejects judicial immunity for military rulers, by Nadine Awadalla

 Reuters reports that the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) is opposed to granting military rulers “absolute” immunity against possible prosecution for violence against protesters.

 Ismail Al Taj, an SPA leader,  said the Declaration of Freedom and Change coalition unanimously agreed that immunity for the military for the June 3 massacres would be restricted procedurally.

 Al Taj added that protesters were still demanding an independent investigation into the bloodshed, which stalled efforts to reach a deal between the DFC and the military council.