Under Emergency Law, Grave Violations in Port Sudan by the Police Force

SHRO-CAIRO

Press Release

On January the 29th, the Sudan Police Force brutalized a group of the Beja Congress supporters who had been peacefully demonstrating with other demonstrators in the streets of Port Sudan. Preliminary reports mentioned the extra-judicial killing of 3 citizens by police firearms and the serious injury of many others, including children.

Judged by the attitude of the police towards the demonstrators, including the rapid suppression of the peaceful assembly by immediate, direct, and maximum use of firearms, the unlawful actions of the police recalled the fire-squads the government troops previously exercised to suppress the public in many cities of the country as well as the bombing of villages in war zones.

The Organization believes that the reported brutality of the Sudan Police was made possible by the continuous state of emergency, which the president and his national council recently renewed, and the direct orders by the ministry of interior, the commissioner of police, and the chief police officers in the city of Port Sudan who allowed the massacre of Port Sudan demonstrators in gross violation of international law and the Sudan criminal procedure.

SHRO-Cairo asks the government to:

– End the State of Emergency which continues to legalize authority abuses by the government forces against the fundamental freedoms and human rights of people;

– Allow uninterrupted exercise of the right to peaceful assembly, demonstration, and the other public freedoms indiscriminately to all citizens or political groups;

– Conduct an immediate judicial investigation by a legally-competent committee, including membership of the Bar Association, to investigate the involvement of the ministry of interior and the police force headquarters in Khartoum and Port Sudan in the massacres of the peaceful demonstrators in the city of Port Sudan. The committee should take full consideration of all legal claims by the victimized citizens or their legal or political representatives.

– Release to the Press and the international community results of the findings.

– Deal with the wrong-doers by the Independent Judiciary in accordance with the law, regardless of any religious, political, or administrative status.