Sudanese authorities released six political prisoners early yesterday, an Agence France Presse photographer reported, after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir vowed to free all political detainees.
The six men walked free to tearful relatives waiting outside Kober Prison in Khartoum North.
Most of them are believed to have been held for more than two months in connection with a conference in Uganda in January, which led to a charter for toppling al-Bashir’s 24-year regime using both armed and peaceful means.
Farouk Abu Issa, who heads the opposition alliance of more than 20 parties, could not be immediately reached for comment.
The US-based Human Rights Watch had called in February for the detained opposition party members to be charged or freed.
Mashood Adebayo Baderin, the UN’s independent expert on human rights in Sudan, also expressed concern about the “detention of political opposition figures and other individuals” by the national security service.
In a speech opening a new session of parliament on Monday, al-Bashir said all political prisoners would be freed as the government seeks a broad political dialogue, a move welcomed by the opposition as tensions ease with South Sudan.
“We confirm we will continue our communication with all political and social powers without excluding anyone, including those who are armed, for a national dialogue which will bring a solution to all the issues,” the president said.
However, opposition members are waiting to see whether prisoners belonging to the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) will be among those set free.
The SPLM-N has been fighting government forces for almost two years in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states and had been demanding a prisoner release, according to the political opposition.
Farouk Mohammed Ibrahim, of the Sudanese Organization for Defense of Rights and Freedoms, said there are “a large number” of detainees in South Kordofan and Blue Nile. These include 118 SPLM-N prisoners whose cases are being handled by his organization in southern Blue Nile alone.
Ibrahim yesterday said that it was not yet clear whether those 118 would be included in the release.
SPLM-N chairman Malik Agar declined to comment on al-Bashir’s announcement, saying he was “not sure which political prisoners he is referring to.”
A diplomatic source late on Monday called Bashir’s statements positive, but said it is too early to know where they are leading.
“We should wait until we see clear results,” said the source, asking for anonymity. “Action is what counts here in Sudan.”
Al-Bashir’s speech elaborated on an offer made last week by Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Taha, who reached out to the SPLM-N and opposition political parties, whom he invited to join a constitutional dialogue.
Sudan needs a new constitution to replace the 2005 document based on a peace agreement that ended a 23-year civil war.
Eleven people, including a former minister, were arrested in Serbia on Friday over a train station disaster in which 16 people died. The concrete canopy of the newly renovated station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on Nov. 1, 2024 in a disaster widely blamed on corruption and poor oversight. It sparked a wave of student-led protests and led to the resignation of then-Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic and the fall of his government. The public prosecutor’s office in Novi Sad opened an investigation into the accident and deaths. In February, the public prosecutor’s office for organized crime opened another probe into
RISING RACISM: A Japanese group called on China to assure safety in the country, while the Chinese embassy in Tokyo urged action against a ‘surge in xenophobia’ A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo. The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries. It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents. Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese
RESTRUCTURE: Myanmar’s military has ended emergency rule and announced plans for elections in December, but critics said the move aims to entrench junta control Myanmar’s military government announced on Thursday that it was ending the state of emergency declared after it seized power in 2021 and would restructure administrative bodies to prepare for the new election at the end of the year. However, the polls planned for an unspecified date in December face serious obstacles, including a civil war raging over most of the country and pledges by opponents of the military rule to derail the election because they believe it can be neither free nor fair. Under the restructuring, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is giving up two posts, but would stay at the
YELLOW SHIRTS: Many protesters were associated with pro-royalist groups that had previously supported the ouster of Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin, in 2006 Protesters rallied on Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced more than 260,000. Gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country’s army, which has always retained substantial power in the Southeast Asian country. Police said there were about 2,000 protesters by mid-afternoon, although
RSS