Rights group urges Khartoum to implement peace deal

By Opheera McDoom
KHARTOUM (Reuters) – Sudan’s government must end policies of arbitrary arrests and censorship and fully implement a north-south peace agreement before national elections set for April 2010, a Human Rights Watch report said.
The report said international attention had focused mainly on atrocities in the Darfur insurgency and violence in south Sudan. But political repression in Khartoum would also have a big effect on the vote.
“International attention should now also focus on the significance of the stifling of political freedom and the free flow of information in the heartlands of northern Sudan and its impact on the whole of Sudan,” the New York-based group said.
It listed examples of security forces violating the new constitution agreed after the 2005 peace accord including censoring the press, stopping opposition rallies and harassing rights activists.
The former rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) took a junior role in central government following the peace agreement signed with the northern National Congress Party. But the NCP still dominates decision making, creating distrust within the coalition.
Parliament opened its final session on Monday before next year’s elections with the two sides still at loggerheads over laws including reforms to the security forces and legislation for a referendum on souther secession due in 2011.
Human Rights Watch urged the government to stick to the letter of the peace agreement.
“Sudan is at a crossroads. It can either make good on its promises or allow the situation to deteriorate further with its repressive practices.”
Ibrahim Ghandour, a senior NCP official, told Reuters any restrictions were a problem of the past.
“Press censorship has been lifted and parties…now they can hold their rallies without asking for full permission, just with notification,” he said.
The north-south war between 1983 and 2005, was fought over issues of religion, ethnicity, ideology and oil and claimed 2 million lives, destabilising many of Sudan’s neighbours.