Employees dismissed, suspended, relocated, and warned for participating in strike

Hundreds of employees of the Sudanese  government, commercial banks, and oil companies have been arbitrarily dismissed, suspended, relocated and warned for participating in the campaign of civil disobedience and general strike earlier this week.

The Democratic Lawyers Alliance (DLA), that is part of the Alliance for Freedom and Change (AFC), called for the immediate return of those dismissed and for all administrative actions against people who participated in the general strike to be rescinded.

According to the DLA, participating in a general strike or civil disobedience action is a constitutional right, as stipulated in the Sudanese Interim Constitution of 2005. The Alliance has formed a committee to deal with complaints from employees and workers who have been affected by punitive measures.

Violation

Lawyer Sati El Haj told Radio Dabanga that the arbitrary measures taken by some governmental agencies and private companies against their staff members are “an explicit violation of the rights of workers and employees”.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), the driving force behind the uprising, has warned against any punitive measures, threats, intimidation or violence against “citizens who exercised their right to participate in a civil disobedience action”.

It vowed to expose such practices and stated that it considered the dismissals and punitive measures no less serious than violent dispersals of sit-ins and demonstrations by bullets and tear gas. It threatened to take all necessary steps to protect citizens and employees and ensure their security, physical, and professional safety.

Protest rallies

On Thursday, people in Khartoum and a number of state capitals carried out protest rallies, called for by the Alliance for Freedom and Change. The medical staff in North Darfur carried out a protest vigil in front of El Fasher Teaching Hospital.

The staff of Newtec Advisory Group in Khartoum also carried out a vigil in which the protesters held banners calling for an immediate handover of power to civilians.

Reports about bank employees being penalised came out earlier this week.