Sudanese Communist Party furious at top official’s arrest, ‘torture’

The Sudanese Communist Party reacted furiously on Wednesday at the detention of their Political Secretary in Khartoum, Masood Mohamed Hassan, by agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS)

The party said in a statement that “Hassan is subject to all kinds of torture including deprivation of food, water, and going to bathroom”.

The statement said that “Hassan’s arrest represents a retreat from the margin of freedoms and a return to the first block of abuses… It emphasises the government’s lack of seriousness in the National Dialogue.”

The Communist Party has demanded “the immediate release of the secretary, a halt to attacks on fundamental freedoms, and a stop to summoning honourable people to the security offices”

National Dialogue

The recommendations of the National Dialogue include the restriction of the powers of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) to the collection and analysis of information. However several actors have accused the Khartoum government of dragging its feet, or even countermanding this recommendation.

As Radio Dabanga reported yesterday, Sudan’s Popular Congress Party (PCP) has threatened to withdraw from the National Dialogue unless the powers of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) are curbed, and recommendations on fundamental freedoms implemented.