Sudan’s NCP warns against opposition calls for UN inquiry into protest killings

October 18, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – An official in the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) warned opposition parties that that they could be prosecuted if they move forward with petitioning the United Nations to establish an investigation committee into the crackdown on protestors during recent demonstrations that erupted in the country.

Activists, opposition figures and Amnesty International (AI) claim that hundreds of people were killed by security forces in the riots that broke out late last month following the government’s decision to cut fuel subsidies.

But Sudanese authorities assert that between 60-70 people perished during the unrest and denied firing live ammunition at protestors.

The chairperson of the opposition coalition group known as the National Consensus Forces (NCF) Farouk Abu Essa disclosed that he sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon urging him to push the relevant UN bodies to intervene to halt Khartoum’s onslaught of peaceful protestors.

Abu Essa noted that Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in connection with the Darfur conflict, triggered conflict in Blue Nile and South Kordofan border states.

The pro-government Sudanese Media Center (SMC) website quoted NCP leading figure Qutbi al-Mahdi as saying that this letter shows the unpatriotic side of the opposition and its links to external powers.

Al-Mahdi emphasized that the opposition cannot stand on its feet without foreign backing.

He added that opposition figures could be tried on charges of inciting sabotage operations.

In a related issue, opposition sources told Sudan Tribune that the NCF are holding talks with the rebel Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) in order to seek an agreement that eliminates points of disagreement that existed before on issues such as the relation between the religion and the state.

(ST)