United Nations warns about the future of Sudan in view of the paralysis of the political transition process

8 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, has sounded the alarm this Saturday about the future situation in Sudan in the face of the latest failures by the military authorities and civilian forces to materialize once and for all the expected agreement transition to civilian rule after two postponements in less than a week.

The Sudanese military leader, Abdelfatá al Burhan, and the number two in the country and head of the powerful paramilitary group of the Rapid Action Forces (FAR), Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, alias ‘Hemedti’, still do not agree on the unification process of the Armed Forces and the incorporation into the ranks of the FAR. For this reason, an agreement that should have been signed on April 1 ended up being postponed first until last Thursday and, later, without a scheduled date for its execution.

In the midst of this situation, Turk has insisted on all Sudanese forces to put aside “their personal interests and the positions in which they have entrenched” to defend the “common interest of the population.”

In a statement published this Saturday, the High Commissioner insists that the country is “at a decisive crossroads” and calls for “all possible efforts to put the transition process back on track” and thus culminate a violent process begun after the overthrow in 2019 of the dictator Omar al Bashir, sullied by numerous episodes of military repression last year against the civilian population.

In this sense, Turk insists to the current military authorities that Human Rights must be a “central” part of the so-called Framework Political Agreement that is still pending signature, and that it must include issues of “accountability and transitional justice.”

In addition, Turk has also asked the many civilian groups that have rejected this agreement — understanding that it does not explicitly exclude the military from a future government — to join the process to facilitate its resolution.

“I have witnessed firsthand the fervent and impressive determination of the people of Sudan, particularly the youth and women, to uphold Human Rights and towards an inclusive, civilian-led government characterized by accountability,” has made it known

For this reason, the High Commissioner urges the authorities “to guarantee that the rights of individuals to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fully respected” and hopes that “the security forces receive clear instructions to respond to the demonstrations in accordance with the laws and norms of Human Rights”.

“We must not see a repetition of the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force,” he has warned in relation to the repression of 2022 and which, according to civil organizations, resulted in more than a hundred deaths among the protesters.