Sudan’s President Al Bashir bows to opposition pressure, orders release of detainees

On Tuesday President Omar Al Bashir issued a public order to release all political detainees in the country in response to appeals from National Dialogue parties.

Hamid Ali Nour, the deputy head of the Sudan Call alliance said the decision was part of a deal with the parties participating in the government.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Nour described the detainees as “hostages of the regime in order to improve the conduct of their parties, according to the director of the security apparatus”.

He said that all the political, civil and military components of the forces of Sudan Call have agreed to change the regime by nonviolent peaceful means so as to achieve full democratic transformation and comprehensive peace in the country.

NUP

The major opposition National Umma Party (NUP) welcomed the decision issued by President Omar Al Bashir to release all political prisoners.

Dr Mohamed El Mahdi Hasan, the head of the political bureau of the NUP, said in an interview with Radio Dabanga, Al Bashir’s decision has corrected a serious mistake in which the government had arrested citizens while exercising their constitutional right.

He explained that the detainees had been arrested because of the peaceful demonstrations in protest against the economic and living conditions after notification of the authorities concerned, explaining that the slogans of demonstrations had been clear and that the demonstrators had not assaulted anyone.

He called on the government to continue to correct the serious mistakes committed against the citizens.

Hasan launched a sharp criticism on the parties participating in the government and considered their approval to re-nominate Al Bashir in the elections of 2020 as meaningless bidding.

He said that they had been falsely attested to the improvement of the situation, despite its known worsening and described their behaviour as clearly scandalous.

He explained that the nomination of Al Bashir has not found a consensus even within the National Congress Party, as a large number of the leaders of the party are considering the nomination as a violation of the Constitution.

He praised the position of the Democratic Unionist Party for refraining to support the re-nomination of Al Bashir and described the parties supporting him as created by the National Congress.

Hamid Ali Nour, the deputy head of the alliance of Sudan Call, described Al Bashir’s re-nomination as a deal between the National Congress and the parties participant in the government.

He said that Al Bashir cannot give up the seat of government because he is wanted by the International Criminal Court and knows perfectly well that the warrant goes beyond him to include his ruling junta of what he called murderers and perpetrators of crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

He said the Sudanese people would not accept Al Bashir’s re-election.

He described his re-election as a violation of the constitution and only about protecting himself and his group from accountability.

He said “The will of the people is stronger than the will of governments and repressive apparatuses”.

He accused the government of trafficking in human beings and condemned sending the Sudanese soldiers to fight in Yemen, where three senior Sudanese officers and dozens of soldiers were killed and wounded during a battle last week.