Sudanese police ban opposition rally
November 27, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese police has cancelled a permission it gave to the opposition Arab Ba’ath Socialist Party (ABSP) to organise a political rally next Friday in the suburb of Dar al-Salam al-Magharba, 10km east of the capital Khartoum.
The cancellation letter was handed over to the party on Wednesday stating the permission was revoked due security reasons.
Several ABSP members were supposed to address the rally including the member of its political committee, Mohamed Salih Abdo, the democratic teachers alliance representative, Abdel-Karim Jabari, the democratic women’s union representative, Suad Khairi, and the workers and artisans union representative, Mubarak Koko.
Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) also prevented the party from organising a symposium in the neighbourhood of Borri last Friday, attributing the refusal to unspecified security reasons.
Following the cancellation of the two events, the ABSP is currently awaiting authorities’ response to a third request it made to organize a political rally in the suburb of Ombadda in the twin city of Omdurman.
On 13 November, the opposition National Umma Party (NUP) said the local authorities in North Kordofan state capital, El-Obeid prevented a symposium organized by the party on the Paris Declaration.
To promote its call for a national dialogue, Sudanese government vowed to implement a number of confidence building measures including the release of political detainees and allowing political parties to carry out its activities.
However, opposition parties including the ABSP refuse to join the dialogue process asking the government to effectively create a conducive environment by ending the war, and releasing political prisoners and political freedoms.
(ST)