The government of Sudan has announced its readiness to establish a Human Rights Commission.
The country’s Prime Minister, Abdallah Hamdok, who made this known, said the commission will consist of 18 members.
According to the prime minister, the most important task of the commission will be to involve civil society members who are active in the field of human rights in public workshops.
Hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have lost their lives since the Darfur conflict stated in February 2003.
It is also understood that systematic human rights abuses have occurred, including killing, torture, rape, looting and destruction of property by all parties involved in the conflict.
Amnesty International had reported that journalists are regularly arrested and detained for carrying out their work and the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) often controls the press through strict pre-print censorship.
It was gathered that journalists can be prosecuted for their work under several broad and imprecise provisions of Sudanese law.
‘The commission must also ensure that women, youth, people with special needs, displaced people, refugees, and civil society as a whole are represented when the commission prepares periodic reports on the human rights situation in Sudan’, he said.
‘The Sudanese Human Rights Commission will coordinate reports and responses provided by Sudan to international and regional mechanisms in the field of human rights.
‘It will also discuss its reports with these mechanisms and follow up on their observations and recommendations, in cooperation with Sudan’s legislative and judicial authorities’.
Source: Dabanga Sudan
Photo source: Abdallah Hamdok