Sudan’s SCP rejects constitutional amendments
January 10, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) denounced constitutional amendments approved by the parliament last week saying it will turn the country into a police state.
The first bill allows the president to appoint governors who will no longer be elected through universal suffrage. The second transforms the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) into regular force to legitimize the creation of its militia the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Finally the third reform is the inclusion of Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) in the constitution.
Suleiman Hamid, a leading SCP figure said at a press conference on Saturday that the amendments granted NISS powers beyond its basic task of gathering intelligence including detention, torture, confiscation and suppression of peaceful protests.
“NISS became a striking force which has troops and equipments comparable to those of the Sudanese army. It attacks any popular actions and bans any [political] activity even inside political parties headquarters”, he added.
Hamid denounced NISS’s continued crackdown on the SCP mouthpiece al-Midan, saying they resort to confiscation whenever the newspaper proclaimed the truth and exposed regime’s practices.
He expected that the NISS will continue its crackdown on al-Midan, stressing that they are resolved to continue publishing it without backing away from the SCP’s ideological and political stances.
Recently, NISS has suspended al-Midan several times which is the only remaining political party’s mouthpiece.
Hamid further warned that crackdown on al-Midan is the first step towards putting more restrictions on other newspapers and political parties, expecting that NISS will suspend all newspapers which support people’s issues.
Meanwhile, Kamal Karrar, al-Midan’s managing editor said NISS’s action against the newspaper is not new, saying they defeated NISS in all previous battles.
He described al-Midan as the “voice of the people”, emphasizing it would not bow for the NISS’s actions.
Karrar revealed that legal action has been taken against NISS over the continued confiscation of al-Midan issues, saying that additional escalatory measures will be announced in a timely manner to resist the security crackdown.
He pointed out that there are no obvious reasons for suspending the newspaper, noting the move was linked to the SCP’s stances towards political issues.
Karrar also stressed that al-Midan continuous rejection of the pre-publication censorship as well as non-compliance with NISS’s directives are among the reasons for suspension of the newspaper.
He added that they handed over several memos to the National Council for Press and Publications’ (NCPP) on the repeated suspensions of al-Midan but have not received any answer, stressing they will submit further memos to confirm their position.
Sudanese journalists and newspapers work under tight daily censorship controls exercised by the NISS.
Journalists say that confiscation and suspension of newspapers is a commonly used practice by the local authorities to overburden the newspapers with financial losses alongside other non-financial pressures.
Media organizations in Sudan say that security imposes strict controls, routinely ordering them not to report on certain subjects. Otherwise NISS agents proceed with seizing copies of the newspaper and suspending its work.
(ST)