KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan is still awaiting justice after months of ousting President Omar al-Bashir's regime, a human rights lawyer said on Tuesday.
Mohamed Osman, a lawyer based in Germany, said in an article published in the Washington Post that the international community would not shy away from what was happening in Sudan, and would support efforts to achieve justice and hold accountable those responsible for human rights violations.
The writer said that he met - during the protest of the Sudanese protesters in front of the headquarters of the Sudanese army in Khartoum - a university graduate in a tent for the people of Darfur, and stated that each of the protesters in that tent has a story with the regime of Bashir, and that the new officials to listen to those stories. "They have to see that justice has been done." But months after the sit-in, the issue of justice in Sudan remains.
The first tasks Hamdouk
Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk's first assignment was to meet with the families of the martyrs of the sit-in, and a month later Hamdouk formed a committee to investigate the violence that accompanied the break-up of the sit-in on June 3, which was stipulated in the power-sharing agreement.
However, the families of victims and human rights organizations have “rightly” raised concerns about the delays in the establishment of the commission of inquiry, limited jurisdiction and independence, and the inexperience of its members, particularly in cases of sexual violence.
It is not yet clear whether the committee will have the expertise, legal powers and independence required to perform its tasks in accordance with basic international standards.
Osman says the transitional government in Sudan faces many challenges. The power-sharing agreement does not require the dissolution of power structures inherited from the former era, and the same institutions of the army and national security agencies that were instruments of repression in Bashir's hands.
| " The writer calls on the international community to adopt human rights standards in its dealings with Sudan's new rulers and seize any opportunity to remind the government - and its military component in particular - of the issues at stake. " |
Many people nowadays point out that Humaidati is the de facto ruler of Sudan, although he is accused of a long list of abuses. According to Mohamed Osman's article, his forces have committed "atrocious" crimes in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, including looting citizens' property and raping women and girls during "Brutal" counterinsurgency operations in those areas.
The role of my goodness
Osman adds that Humaidati succeeded in avoiding accountability by placing himself and his forces at the heart of local, regional and international forces. His forces are fighting in Yemen alongside the Saudis and Emiratis, and he sought to appease the Gulf states.
He also continued to claim that his forces are fighting irregular migration under the EU's immigration management program. If that claim is true, EU funding will go to "aggressor" forces.
The transitional government has so far made no tangible progress on the issue of breaking up the sit-in, while the international community - particularly the states that support Sudan - has remained silent and must put its weight behind justice and hold those responsible to account for violations that the writer considers the cornerstone of the desired transition.
The writer calls on the international community to adopt human rights standards in its dealings with the new rulers of Sudan and seize any opportunity to remind the government - and the military component in particular - the issues at stake.
If the transitional government wants to keep its promises, it should reconsider the mandate of the commission of inquiry, ensure its independence, listen to family concerns and seek international and regional expertise.
Without it, Sudan's new leaders will let old wounds pyomize, which Sudan and its international partners should not allow, according to lawyer Mohamed Osman.