‘Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces unconstitutional’: lawyer
“The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are unlawful and unconstitutional.” “According to the 2005 Interim Constitution of Sudan, a paramilitary fighting force such as the RSF, organised and commanded by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), is illegal”, lawyer Ali Mahmoud Hassanein, chairman of the National Front, confirmed to Radio Dabanga on Wednesday. He had submitted a letter concerning the subject to the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) earlier this week. “The existence of the RSF constitutes an abuse of the SAF. I wonder why the army keeps silent while they are accused by the Rapid Support militias of inefficiency.” “The SAF have been abused. They have to defend the nation and themselves. According to the Constitution, the NISS is only tasked with gathering information, and submit their reports to the competent authorities. The NISS has become a repressive totalitarian force.” Hassanein explained that the reason for creating an alternative force to the army is the Sudanese government’s distrust of the armed forces. Regarding rumours that the Sudanese security apparatus has filed charges against him, like the ones filed against Umma Party leader El Sadig El Mahdi and Sudanese Congress Party leader Ibrahim El Sheikh, the lawyer said that he “does not care”. He insisted that what he had stated in his letter to the SAF about the RSF “is 100 percent true”. El Mahdi was detained on 17 May on charges of “disrespecting the prestige of the state, discrediting the regular armed forces, inciting the international community against Sudan, spreading false news, causing unrest among the regular troops, breaching public peace, undermining the constitutional order, and calling for violently opposing public authority”. The NUP leader had accused the NISS commanded RSF of committing war crimes, recruiting non-Sudanese nationals, and operating beyond the scope of the regular armed troops. Ibrahim El Sheikh, president of the Sudanese Congress Party, was detained on 8 June on similar charges. File photo: SRF commander Brig. Mohamed Hamdan (Hemeti) surrounded by militia troops in Darfur Related:Umma Party and SPLM-N intensify cooperation in Sudan (12 June 2014)Sudanese army reformists scorn RSF militias (4 June 2014)‘RSF militias unconstitutional’: Sudan’s Umma Party (3 June 2014)
“The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are unlawful and unconstitutional.”
“According to the 2005 Interim Constitution of Sudan, a paramilitary fighting force such as the RSF, organised and commanded by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), is illegal”, lawyer Ali Mahmoud Hassanein, chairman of the National Front, confirmed to Radio Dabanga on Wednesday. He had submitted a letter concerning the subject to the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) earlier this week.
“The existence of the RSF constitutes an abuse of the SAF. I wonder why the army keeps silent while they are accused by the Rapid Support militias of inefficiency.”
“The SAF have been abused. They have to defend the nation and themselves. According to the Constitution, the NISS is only tasked with gathering information, and submit their reports to the competent authorities. The NISS has become a repressive totalitarian force.”
Hassanein explained that the reason for creating an alternative force to the army is the Sudanese government’s distrust of the armed forces.
Regarding rumours that the Sudanese security apparatus has filed charges against him, like the ones filed against Umma Party leader El Sadig El Mahdi and Sudanese Congress Party leader Ibrahim El Sheikh, the lawyer said that he “does not care”. He insisted that what he had stated in his letter to the SAF about the RSF “is 100 percent true”.
El Mahdi was detained on 17 May on charges of “disrespecting the prestige of the state, discrediting the regular armed forces, inciting the international community against Sudan, spreading false news, causing unrest among the regular troops, breaching public peace, undermining the constitutional order, and calling for violently opposing public authority”. The NUP leader had accused the NISS commanded RSF of committing war crimes, recruiting non-Sudanese nationals, and operating beyond the scope of the regular armed troops.
Ibrahim El Sheikh, president of the Sudanese Congress Party, was detained on 8 June on similar charges.
File photo: SRF commander Brig. Mohamed Hamdan (Hemeti) surrounded by militia troops in Darfur
Related:
Umma Party and SPLM-N intensify cooperation in Sudan (12 June 2014)
Sudanese army reformists scorn RSF militias (4 June 2014)
‘RSF militias unconstitutional’: Sudan’s Umma Party (3 June 2014)
and then