‘Time to restore civil liberties in Sudan’: Darfur Bar

Politicians and jurists in Sudan have called for the release of political prisoners, the ending of ongoing trials against activists and politicians, and the restoration of freedoms in conformity with the human rights covenants ratified by the government.

“It is time to restore civil liberties in Sudan,” lawyer Mohamed Abdallah El Doma, chairman of the Darfur Bar Association, told Radio Dabanga.

He described the recent claim by the government that civil liberties in the country are ensured as ‘meaningless. In addition to the clampdown on the press and civil society activities, a large number of political detainees are being held in detention and prisons, without charge or after an unfair trial”.

The Darfur lawyer urged the Sudanese government to work on the abolition of laws that restrict liberties, the release of the political prisoners, and a halt to the ongoing trials of politicians and activists.

 “The Khartoum regime is protecting itself by suppressing others.”

According to Siddig Yousef, Chairman of the Political Relations Bureau of the Sudanese Communist Party, “the Khartoum regime is protecting itself by suppressing others, by bombing innocent people in conflict zones, and curbing freedom of expression and assembly.

“The lack of liberties in the country has never been that large. Politicians, activists, and pastors are subjected to unfair trials. Newspapers, even sports newspapers, and journalists are suffer from confiscation of print runs and court summonses on an almost weekly basis.”