Day: November 9, 2021

The Governor of Warrap State, Gen. Aleu Ayieny Aleu, over the weekend fired the Kuajok town Mayor and his deputy and swapped state minister of education with the minister of parliamentary affairs.

The gubernatorial decree that was read Saturday on the state-owned Kuajok 99.0 FM saw Ater Kuei redeployed from the state education ministry to the ministry of parliamentary affairs and the former parliamentary affairs minister, Kuot Deng Kuot, given the education docket.

Another decree on Sunday relieved Gabriel Madut Ayok as Kuajok town mayor and appointed Ayok Chol Ayok in his place. The same decree dismissed Joseph Madut who was the Kuajok town deputy mayor for administration and appointed Deng Bak Noon in his place.

Asked about his dismissal, former Mayor Madut said it was normal procedure although his detractors were excited by it.

“I am okay because I know that in any system there are always changes which are part of progress and I considered it as a normal change in the government even though others talked ill statement to me,” Madut said. “I cannot mention those who are against me because it is still a rumor and hearsay plus rumors are not part of my responsibility and personality.”

He added, “Though there is disruption, I welcome the decision taken by General Aleu Ayieny, the governor of Warrap State. What I did not complete is the strategic plan for 2021-2023 but it will be taken from where I stopped by the new mayor because it is already planned and is on the table.”

Meanwhile, Riing Deng Ading, the Warrap State information minister and spokesperson, said nothing triggered the sacking of the former mayor and his deputy but that the governor is constitutionally mandated to make changes and appointments.

“The town mayor and his deputy were relieved on Sunday and these are just normal changes as governor is the head of state,” Minister Deng explained. “He can relieve and appoint people as a normal routine. The governor has a right to make changes in the municipality. There were no changes in the counties only that there was the swap of two ministers, the one from parliamentary affairs was taken to ministry of education and vice-versa.”

Source: Radio Tamazuj

A court in Khartoum North (Bahri) has ordered Sudan’s main internet and telecoms providers to restore internet access and end the blockade that has shut down most data traffic in the country since the military coup led by Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan seized power on October 25.

Ruling on a lawsuit brought on behalf of the Sudanese Consumer Protection Society this morning, the judge ordered MTN, Zain, and Sudani, the country’s major providers, to restore services immediately. The ongoing internet shut down and disruptions to telecommunications have lasted 16 days. Critics and activists caution that the blackout is being used as a smokescreen to hide atrocities committed by the army and paramilitary forces in support of the military coup.

At a press conference at the offices of the Consumer Protection Society following the ruling today, lawyer Abdelazim Hasan, who raised the complaint on the society’s behalf said that he and a group of lawyers will work on issuing criminal cases and arrest warrants against the directors of the companies on Wednesday if the internet is not restored. He called on the Sudanese public to join a lawsuit demanding compensation for the internet outage.

Journalists confirmed that internet service was restored to the director of the Sudanese Consumer Protection Association, Yasir Mirghani, and seven other numbers

Mirghani pointed out that in their pleadings, the companies said that the blackout began when armed military personnel entered the control rooms and ordered the internet to be cut off. He condemned this as “unacceptable behaviour” and stressed that the society will demand accountability.

As reported by Radio Dabanga last week, the Sudanese Journalists Association for Human Rights (JAHR) called on the authorities in Sudan to restore full and uncompromised internet services, as it is one of the means that underpins the public’s the right to know the truth and the right to information.

Human rights defender Ali Ajab told Radio Dabanga that “cutting off the internet aims to hide the crimes of the Sudan Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces,” and that if the internet service is restored, “the world will witness the extent of the atrocities committed by these forces against peaceful and defenceless demonstrators”.

Source: Radio Dabanga

Sudanese security authorities should immediately release people arbitrarily detained since the military takeover on October 25, 2021, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said earlier today in a press statement.

“Security authorities should also cease further arbitrary arrests and stop using unnecessary, including lethal, force in response to peaceful protests,” the release read.

According to the two human rights bodies, from the early hours of October 25, security agents in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, detained at least 30 civilian political leaders, including six cabinet members. On the same day the army also detained Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, and two days later placed him under house arrest. Permission from the military is required for anyone to meet with him while he is under house arrest.

“Over the last two weeks the military has resorted to its well-trodden and brutal tactics, undermining small but important progress on rights and freedoms that Sudanese from all walks of life have fought for,” said Mohamed Osman, Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The military should immediately free all those arbitrarily detained over the last two weeks and end all illegal detentions, including enforced disappearances, by the military.”

The statement said that in addition to arbitrary arrests, Sudanese security used heavy-handed measures to repress peaceful protests against the military takeover.

“Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have documented unwarranted use of lethal force by security authorities in their efforts to counter the many protests that erupted in Khartoum. At least 14 people have been killed by live ammunition in Khartoum since October 25 according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors,” the statement read.

The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), a Sudanese human rights group, reported that security authorities detained more than 30 people including ministers, advisers to the prime minister, and journalists, between October 25 and 27.

“Since October 25, internet and telecommunications have been repeatedly disrupted, limiting people’s access to timely and accurate information, infringing on people’s ability to express political views, and restricting reporting on rights issues, including about detentions, especially outside Khartoum,” the rights bodies said.

Among those arbitrarily arrested is Cabinet Affairs Minister Khalid Omar Youssef, who was detained by a group of security agents in front of his family in a dawn raid on his house on October 25, family members said.

According to the rights bodies, under international law, when anyone is detained by state forces and their detention is either not acknowledged or the person’s whereabouts is concealed, placing them outside the protection of the law, this is an enforced disappearance. Enforced disappearances are forbidden in all circumstances.

Despite regional and international calls on the military to halt the crackdown, abuses continue. On November 7, security forces, including police and the military, violently dispersed a sit-in called by the teachers’ association in northern Khartoum. According to one lawyer following the cases, about 100 teachers and other protesters were taken to the military central command’s garrison in Khartoum. Some were released the next day, but others remain in detention without access to a lawyer and have yet to be officially charged with any offense.

“The Sudanese people have the rights to peaceful protest, to liberty and security, fair trial, and many more that the military cannot undermine,” said Sarah Jackson, deputy regional director for East Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes at Amnesty International. “Violations of rights by the military should be met with a joint, coordinated, and strong regional and international response.”

Source: Radio Tamazuj