Carter Center “gravely concerned” at Khartoum crackdowns

December 17, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The elections monitoring body Carter Center said it is “gravely concerned” by the crackdowns on the protesters in Khartoum, saying the incidents “undermine political rights and fundamental freedoms.”

In incidents last week and this Monday, security forces detained and released of hundreds of street protesters, physically abused organizers, and fired tear gas on a rally at an opposition party headquarters. “The Center is gravely concerned by the recent action of the security forces in Khartoum to restrict legitimate activity related to the exercise of freedom of assembly, association and speech,” responded the election monitoring body.

In a statement just released about Sudan’s completed voter registration, the Center pointed to technical accomplishments of the voter registration process, but also considered the broader political context. It said “all political parties must take steps to improve the political environment if genuine elections are to be held.”

In drawing attention to the street protests of last week, the Center highlights a connection between the electoral process and the legislative, political battle being waged in Khartoum between the country’s two 2005 peace partners, SPLM and NCP. “For the broader electoral process to succeed, progress on technical preparations must be accompanied by steps to create a genuinely inclusive environment. With only a few months until the April 2010 polling, implementation of the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling on Abyei, demarcation of the North-South border, the enactment and implementation of reform legislation including the National Security Forces Act, implementation of the referenda and popular consultation preparatory processes, and progress on the Darfur peace process, all remain in need of attention and action,” warned the Center.

Voter registration took place in Sudan from November 1 to December 7. Sudan’s National Elections Commission (NEC) estimates that 71 percent of the eligible population of Northern Sudan registered to vote, and 98 percent of Southern Sudan’s.

Carter Center’s latest statement includes some pertinent technical details about the voter registration process. Among these, “state committees continue to face difficulties in receiving funds from the NEC in Khartoum.” Also, state elections committees in Darfur did not gain access to all displaced persons’ camps in Darfur, including the large camps Kass and Kalma.

In general, citizens lacking identity documents were able to substantiate their identity through the use of witnesses, traditional authorities or local administrative structures. Particularly in Khartoum and elsewhere in Northern Sudan, delegations of local popular committees were often present outside registration centers to provide proof of residency certificates. The Carter Center noted, “checks on the distribution of proof of residency documents appeared weak, and given the widespread view of the partisan nature of local popular committees, this created some perceptions of bias in the process of identifying registrants.”

Mobile voter registration teams, according to the Carter Center, did not always adequately alert communities about when and where they would conduct their activities. In addition, “many rural areas did not receive adequate civic information on voter registration.”

(ST)