Cautious welcome for lifting ban on press, travel

NAIROBI, August 12, 2003 (IRIN) — The rights organisation Amnesty International has welcomed a decision by the Sudanese government to lift press censorship and travel restrictions in the country, but said it would remain “sceptical” unless concrete steps were made towards implementing the directive.

Sudanese President Umar Hassan al-Bashir last week declared the lifting of press censorship and travel bans in the country and said his government was committed to granting fundamental freedoms as part of its efforts to unify the country.

Sudan’s deputy ambassador to Kenya, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, told IRIN that a committee bringing together all opposition leaders had been set up to work out details of the new policy.

“I hope this will open more dialogue and interaction between the government and the opposition,” Dirdeiry said.

Benedicte Goderiaux of Amnesty International told IRIN that although her organisation welcomed any steps taken in the direction of protecting human rights in Sudan, violations were still being committed by the security forces in many parts of the country.

In particular, Goderiaux said, the National Security Forces Act should be abolished to do away with arbitrary arrests, detention and harassment – particularly of journalists and peace activists.

“We welcome the move and hope it is a sincere step taken in human rights protection. But now, we want to see more concrete steps in this direction,” she said.

The lifting of press and travel restrictions is the latest in a string of gestures by the Khartoum government towards the apparent promotion of human rights and democracy.

It comes barely days after New York-based Human Rights Watch organisation complained about a renewed press crackdown in which the country’s largest English newspaper ‘Khartoum Monitor’ was closed down by the state security agency.

“We now hope people will be able to travel, especially the peace activists,” Goderiaux added. “But what about reopening the ‘Khartoum Monitor’ and the other newspapers which the government has closed down? What about releasing journalists who are still in detention?”