Sudan’s electoral board welcomes 50 EU observers to monitor polls

March 9, 2010 (KHARTOUM) – The National Elections Commission (NEC) chief Abel Alier met today with Veronique De Keyser, the head of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Sudan.

The NEC deputy Abdallah Ahmed Abdallah said that the meeting tackled joint cooperation between the two sides and that De Keyser and her delegation listened to a detailed briefing on the preparation for the elections and the phases completed so far.

Abdallah said that the EU EOM chief observer will stay in Sudan till next Friday and will return to join her team in the last stages of the elections.

On Thursday the EU EOM will officially launch the mission during a press conference in the Sudanese capital.

Last month, the EU announced that the 130-strong mission will be the largest in the history of the European bloc.

The elections are taking place as part of a 2005 agreement between the Muslim north and largely Christian and animist south that ended a 22-year civil war.

The Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) also allowed the creation of a semi-autonomous government for the south and paved the way for a referendum on southern independence scheduled for January 2011.

The first multi-party presidential, regional and legislative elections in the country since 1986 will take place from April 11-18.

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that the EU EOM should consider the impact of ongoing human rights abuses and insecurity on the elections process.

“EU observers should look at entire human rights situation and how it is affecting the elections environment,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “They need to look at the overall picture to do the job right”.

Opposition threatened to boycott the elections accusing the electoral commission and the government of working to curtail campaigning and breaching the election law in favor of the NCP.

Furthermore, the letter highlighted the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) outstanding warrant against Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir for war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.

“Al-Bashir is a wanted man who needs to answer to charges of heinous crimes at the ICC,” Gagnon said. “EU silence on this issue risks tacitly endorsing Khartoum’s total obstruction of justice for atrocities against Darfuris.”

Analysts say that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) desperately seeking the elections to legitimize the rule of Bashir in face of the warrant.

(ST)