HRW says 'abuse' undermining free Sudan election

KHARTOUM (AFP) – Human Rights Watch on Sunday accused the Sudanese authorities of carrying alleged abuses ahead of a general election due in April and called on them to ensure “free and credible” polls.
“Violations of civil and political rights by Sudanese security forces throughout the country are seriously undermining prospects for free, fair, and credible elections in April 2010,” HRW said in a report.
“The Khartoum government is still using its security forces to harass and abuse those who speak out against the ruling National Congress Party,” said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director for the New York-based rights watchdog.
“That is no environment for holding free, fair, and transparent elections,” she was quoted as saying in the report.
HRW also criticised the authorities in southern Sudan, where it said “soldiers and police arbitrarily arrested, detained, and mistreated members of political parties opposed to the southern ruling Sudan People?s Liberation Movement (SPLM)”, a former rebel group.
The mostly Muslim north and largely Christian south signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement on January 9, 2005 to end a 22-year civil war that was fuelled by religious, political and economic differences and cost two million lives.
The CPA provides for a presidential and parliamentary election in April — the first polls in Sudan in 24 years — as well as a referendum on independence for the oil-rich south in 2011.
The SPLM and the ruling National Congress Party of Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir were party to the CPA agreement.
“With less than three months to elections and with campaigning season starting in February, a robust international observer presence is needed now,” Gagnon said.
“Careful monitoring is even more pressing considering that Bashir is wanted for war crimes,” she added.
The International Criminal Court issued in March 2009 a warrant for Beshir’s arrest on five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes committed in the western region of Darfur.
The Carter Centre set up by former US president Jimmy Carter is the only group of international monitors allowed so far to monitor the vote in Sudan.
HRW said “international donors and stakeholders should urgently deploy observers in time to effectively monitor pre-elections conditions” and also called on the UN mission in Sudan to “increase its presence and patrolling in volatile areas.”