UN expert calls on international authorities to intervene in Sudan

Adama Dieng, the UN independent human rights expert on Sudan, is on his final day of visiting Sudan as part of the first official UN mission since the October 25 military coup last year. Dieng has met with Sudan’s various government and civil representatives to consolidate a UN intervention to establish better human rights practices. The visit was delayed originally by two months, due to the Sudanese government’s refusal to meet with the independent expert.

Abdelbagi Jibril, a Sudanese human rights defender, stressed the significance of the work being conducted by Dieng.

In an interview with the Sudan Today programme on Radio Dabanga, Jibril said that the visit will have an “impact on the future situation of human rights in Sudan”, pointing to Dieng's experience and his position in the UN. He went on to add that the timing of the visit is being done in the run-up to next week’s UN human rights council meeting, where Dieng will present his report on Sudan.

At the Republican Palace on Wednesday, Adama Dieng met with Dr Salma Abdeljabbar, a member and spokesperson for the Sovereignty Council, to discuss the decision issued by the Council to form an inquiry on the events that followed the military coup of October 25. It was reported that they both stressed the need to guarantee the right to a fair trial. Abdeljabbar maintained in her discussion with Dieng that the recent detentions were “the result of arrest warrants and criminal evidence without government inference”. She also added that in the case of the recently accused, there has not been a “denial of access to legal aid and proceedings have been carried out fairly”.

The Sudanese Professional Association met with the independent human rights expert and encouraged him to visit prisons and all places of detention to ensure the physical safety of detainees, to ensure that they are not subjected to torture or any forms of degradation.

During Dieng’s meeting with the association, they reviewed human rights violations in various fields since the October 25 coup, stressing the need to lift the state of emergency and release all political prisoners, human rights defenders, activists, members of Resistance Committees, political parties, and trade unionists.

In a statement following the expert's meeting, the group also stressed the need to address the international community and the Security Council on the increasing human rights violations committed in Sudan, which may pose a threat to the region’s international security.

Dieng called for the assignment of a high-level mission to visit Sudan as soon as possible, with a mandate to visit all detention facilities, as well as to bring all perpetrators of serious human rights violations to justice. He reminded the Sudanese authorities of their obligations under international human rights laws.

He also called on the relevant regional governments to refrain from interfering in Sudan's internal affairs.