On the 10th of
December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted and proclaimed
the Universal Declaration of human Rights. The Declaration recognized
the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all members
of the human family as the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace
in the world.
Since its national
independence on January the 1st, 1956, Sudan rectified the Declaration.
Succeeding constitutions of the country incorporated several fundamental
freedoms and human rights with respect to the right to life, liberty
and security of person, the right to vote, the right to religious beliefs,
etc.
The Sudanese constitution,
nonetheless, has not fully adopted the Declaration and the other human
rights conventions that are equally required to insure the enjoyment
of human rights and fundamental freedoms to all citizens without discrimination.
The Sudan is still lingering behind with respect to the full insurance
of the right to religious beliefs, the right to self-determination,
women’s rights, and the realization of the right to free expression,
independent trade unions, independent judiciary, etc.
Despite all claims
by the existing June military leaders, the constitution is largely based
on the 2 decrees that were issued in the same date of the coup. Other
decrees were subsequently issued up to the 13th decree on the national
elections of March 1996.
As expected, the
Constitutional Decree No. 1 repealed the Transitional Constitution of
1985, which had been further enforced by the democratic government of
the Sudan (1986-1989). Article 1 of the decree stated that the national
salvation revolution is an expression of the political legitimacy and
the constitutionality that represent the peoples’ will in the Republic
of the Sudan. This to our minds is an unprecedented falsification of
the peoples’ will.
There is no doubt
that the constitutional decrees contradicted the fundamental principles
of human rights in text and spirit. Article 21-3 of the Universal Declaration
reads: “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority
of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine
elections by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret
vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.” According to this
article, the very act of military coup and the so-called salvation revolution
constituted a gross violation of human rights.
The Constitutional
Decree No. 2 consolidated the atrocious violation of human rights as
it laid down antagonistic rules to international human rights norms.
The decree, which is also, called the law of transitional proceedings
and authorities (1989), briefly stipulated in Article (1) the dissolution
of all political parties, banning of political activities, and confiscation
of their property.
The Tawali rule
that was subsequently imposed in the political life of the country was
another gross violation as it added exceptional powers to the government
to exclude the right of citizens to free association and assembly.
This provision
is furthermore a gross violation of Articles 19, 20, and 20-1 of the
Declaration. Article 19 guarantees “freedom of opinion and expression.”
Article 20 provides for the right to “freedom of peaceful assembly
and association,” and Article 21-1 maintains the right of everyone
“to take part in the government of his country, directly or through
freely chosen representatives.”
Article (1)
of the Constitutional Decree No. 2 violated Article 25 of the International
Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right
“to take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through
freely chosen representatives.” Article 25 (B) of the Convention
refers to the right “to vote and to be elected at genuine periodic
elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be
held by secret ballot, guaranteeing the free expression of the will
of the electors.”
Article (3)
of Decree No. 2 dissolved all trades unions and professional organizations.
Paragraph 2 of the same article allowed the confiscation of unions’
properties. This constitutes a violation of Article 22 of the ICCPR:
“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of association with others,
including the right to form and join trade unions for the protection
of his interests.”
The decree also
violates in Article 3 the provisions of Article 8 of the International
Convention on the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which guarantees
the freedom to form and to join trades unions.
Article (4)
of Decree No. 2 canceled all licenses issued for the press and non-governmental
information agencies. This contradicts one of the most important principles
of human rights, namely Article 19 of the Universal Declaration which
guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The Decree
violates, moreover, Article 27-1 of the Declaration which preserves
the right of everyone “to participate in the cultural life of the
community” and Article 19-2 of the ICCPR.
Article 5 of
Decree No. 2 canceled registration of all associations and non-religious
societies. The violations previously criticized are equally applied
to this article.
Article (6)
of Decree No. 2 violated in eight sections international norms through
the imposition of emergency law. Article 6-9 of the Decree violated
Article 17 of the Declaration, which reads: “Everyone has the right
to own property alone as well as in association with others. (2) No
one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”
Article 6-9
(2) of the Decree enabled the authority to expropriate all property,
warehouses, and wares suspected by law. This violated Articles 17-1
and 17-2 of the Declaration.
Article 6-9
(3) made it possible for the government to ban the movement of people
or residence within the borders of the state. This violates Articles
13-1, 13-2 of Declaration that guarantee freedom of movement and residence,
the right to leave any country, including own country, and to return
to the country. The Decree also violated Article 12 of the ICCPR.
Article 6-9
(6) provided for the termination of service of all employees of the
state. This is a grievous violation of the right to work as a fundamental
human right which is protected by Articles 21-2, 23-1, and 25-1 of the
Declaration, in addition to Articles 6-D of the International Convention
on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and Article 25-9 of the International
Convention on Civil and Political Rights that ascertain the right to
work.
Article 6-9
(8) of Decree No. 2 allowed arbitrary arrest of persons suspected as
a threat to political or economic security. The article did not refer
to the right to “a fair and pubic hearing by an independent and
impartial tribunal.” This grossly violated Articles 2,3,9 and 19
of the Universal Declaration that entitle everyone to the right “to
liberty and security of person,” “protection from arbitrary
arrest, detention or exile,” and the right to a fair trial “in
the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal
charge against him.”
Article 6-d
of the Decree involved a most contemptuous portrayal of human rights.
The article stated, “Any political opposition of any sort to the
National Salvation Revolutionary regime is prohibited by emergency law.”
The comparison
thus far discussed between constitutional decrees and international
human rights law is in need of no further discussion on the atrocity
of Article 6-d. It suffices to mention that the article contradicts
Article 3, 7, 8 and 19 of the Declaration jointly with Articles 18,
19, 21 and 25 of the International Convention on Civil and Political
Rights.
The military rule
of Sudan has done a great harm to the constitutionality of the country.
Our organization has consistently condemned the massive unlawful dismissals
of hundreds of Sudan’s most qualified academicians, judges, attorneys,
and other professionals. The absence of this significant manpower from
civil service was a major factor that allowed, among many other factors,
the so-called salvation regime to rule the country with a non-democratic
constitution.
SHRO-Cairo calls
upon the Government of Sudan to:
(*) Reinstate all
Sudanese judges, attorneys, jurists, academicians, and the other professionals
who have been unlawfully dismissed by the authority for political reason
in the Civil Service of Sudan.
(*) Recognize the
SHRO-Cairo recommendations as well as resolutions of the Kampala Conferences
that aimed to help both government and opposition groups to realize
the human rights constitutionality for the laws of Sudan.
The organization
calls on the United Nations to:
(*) Convene a conference
on Sudan in a sisterly state with the full participation of Sudan Government,
the opposition National Democratic Alliance, the United Nations Human
Rights Commission and relevant agencies, as well as the Sudanese and
external human rights groups to help insure the full realization of
international human rights norms into provisions of the Sudanese constitution.
