Sudan’s justice minister orders to probe death of Nyala protesters
August 2, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s Justice minister formed a fact finding committee to investigate the killing of students who peacefully protested two days ago against the government in Nyala, capital of South Darfur.
University students and youth organised protests in different regions in Sudan after the implementation, last June, of an austerity plan scrapping subsidies of fuel and commodities, but the police avoided killing protesters.
The Minister of Justice Mohamed Bushara Dosa, on Thursday, appointed a five member committee to investigate the events of 31 July in Nyala. The panel is chaired by Sudan’s Attorney General Omer Ahmed Mohamed and includes four counsellors.
The ministerial decree ordered the committee to submit its findings within two weeks to the minister. Besides the investigation, the committee is tasked also with prosecuting the complaints and bringing the criminal action before the competent courts.
Amnesty International (AI) on Thursday called on the Sudanese security forces to stop shooting protesters with live ammunition.
The London based group said Nyala Public Hospital confirmed the wounds of the bodies admitted to the morgue “were consistent with those caused by 5.56mm and 7.62mm automatic rifles”.
“Any individual members of the security forces involved in the events that caused this bloodbath must be suspended immediately, “said Paule Rigaud, AI’s Africa program director.
On Wednesday, Sudanese vice-president Al-Haj Adam Youssef accused the supporters of rebel groups of “inciting their children to rally in Nyala and carry out acts of sabotage”.
Interior minister Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid yesterday formed three committees to investigate the killing of Nyal high school students. The first has to identify the reasons that led the police to firing live bullets.
The two other panels have to probe the reasons of the demonstrations and to assess the damages inflected to private and public properties.
(ST)