Student protests overshadow VP Taha’s visit to Juba

October 12, 2010 (JUBA) – Anti-riot police had to intervene on Monday as hundreds of university students marched through the streets of Juba, the autonomous state capital protesting what they described as violations of fundamental human rights by the Khartoum government.

The peaceful demonstration, which paralyzed business and public transport, was apparently sparked by last the arrests of students and youth, who held a pro-separation rally in Khartoum on Saturday, 9 October, advocating for southern Sudan’s independence in the next year’s referendum.

Those arrested, according to local media reports, had drafted a position paper addressed to members of the international community, which they intended to deliver to the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) headquarters in Khartoum.

John Madut, a Juba university student told Sudan Tribune, that students were “tired” of President Bashir and his party the National Congress Party (NCP).

“We are demonstrating so that those arrested in Khartoum can be released with immediate effect because we don’t even trust the justice systems in the north,” he said,

The protestors, who carried banners and tree branches, waved small flags belonging to the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the former rebels who have governed Sudan since a 2005 peace deal.

“We are tired of oppression and slavery. We need a change through a referendum”, one of the protestors’ banner read.

During the march the protestors presented a petition to the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly appealing to lawmakers to demand for immediate release of those allegedly still under detention in Khartoum.

The head of the SPLM Northern Sector Yassir Arman told Sudan Tribune that he held a meeting with some SPLM officials in the national government and parliament including Bol Lwal Wang, State Minister at the Ministry of Justice, who asked the attorney general to release the detained protesters.

Arman said that by Saturday evening “all the arrested were released except one”.

Yesterday’s demonstration, coincided with the unexpected arrival of Ali Osman Taha, Sudan’s Second Vice President to Juba. Taha, held a close-door meeting with Salva Kiir Mayardit, southern Sudan’s President and his deputy, Riek Machar Teny.

Details of the visit are not clear but a highly placed government official told Sudan Tribune yesterday that Taha’s visit could be a result of the failed Addis Ababa talks on Abyei referendum between the SPLM and their northern counterparts.

(ST)