Sudan’s PCP push for amnesty to 1989 coup participants
January 23, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The Islamic-leaning Popular Congress Party (PCP) is proposing an amnesty to those involved in the 1989 military coup led by Brigadier Omer Hassan al-Bashir that ousted the democratically elected government of Prime Minister al-Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Muhammad Badr al-Din, a leading PCP official, told {Sudan Tribune} that his party has drafted a proposal which it will present as part of the transitional justice workshop to press for “issuance of a legislative amnesty that covers all those accused of political issues, especially the June 30, 1989 coup case”.
“We have discussed the proposal with some political forces and we have seen approval from them. This aims to bring about a comprehensive political settlement to the emerging Sudanese crisis, similar to what was done to the leaders of [1958 General Ibrahim] Abboud coup and the [1969 Colonel Gaafar] Nimeiri coup”.
Ulterior motives? The PCP Secretary-General Ali al-Haj and the PCP Shura Council Secretary-General Ibrahim Muhammad al-Senussi were both charged in connection with the 1989 coup.
The PCP has long been critical of the 1989 coup trial saying it is based on legally dubious foundations and also accused prosecutors of political bias which is denying the defendants their right to due process.
Amnesty entrenching culture of impunity?
Noureddine Salah, a senior Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) official, argues that any such amnesty for this class of crimes should come only after establishing institutions capable of enforcing the law and achieving justice. Otherwise, this will only bolster the culture of impunity.
“It is not appropriate to characterize undermining the constitutional system as a political issue. This is certainly a full-fledged criminal offence that requires accountability” Salah told {Sudan Tribune}.
Did Abboud pardon pave the way for the putschists and adventurers?
Abdullah Rizk, a writer and political analyst, said that amnesty to leaders of the November 1958 coup led by Abboud encouraged wannabe coup plotters.
“Abboud was pardoned in 1964 in accordance with an initiative presented by the leader of the Islamic Charter Front, Hassan al-Turabi,” he said.
Rizk pointed out that all coup leaders including Abboud, Nimeiri & Bashir dealt very harshly with coup attempts during their rule and put to death their plotters.
Accountability:
“Based on these precedents we find that coup leaders themselves did not believe in amnesty,” Rizk said.
“The December 2018 revolution bore a growing hope to establish a new reality that eliminates impunity, and the principle of justice was one of the slogans of the revolution, hence the determination to pursue the leaders of the coup of June 30, 1989, and this necessitates enforcing the law in every field, including undermining the constitutional system” he added.
Odds of dismissing the 1989 coup
Legal experts say that article 211 of the Code of Criminal Procedure allows amnesty for the accused in the case of the 1989 coup plotters.
They also note that Article 58 of the same law grants the attorney general and chief justice the power to get the case dropped.
(ST)