Talks on Sudan over remaining power transfer issues resume Tuesday

Talks between Sudanese protesters and ruling generals are expected to resume on Tuesday, a protest mediator and protest leader said, as many protesters demonstrated in Khartoum to demand an impartial investigation into a deadly raid in June during a protest. a sit-in.

Both sides have already signed a power-sharing agreement to form a joint civil-military governing body that would establish a civilian regime.

This is the main demand for a national protest movement that led to the dismissal in April of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir. He has since demanded that the military council that has taken its place cedes power to civilians.

The decision to resume talks was made when police fired tear gas at protesters angered by the results of an investigation into the June 3 raid on a protest camp in front of the UN headquarters. ;army.

The African Union mediator, Mohamed El Hacen Lebatt, said in a statement on Sunday that the leaders and generals of the protest had been invited to "final talks on the Constitutional Declaration".

President of the protest movement Babiker Faisal also confirmed Tuesday's talks in Khartoum between the two parties, which signed on 17 July the first power-sharing agreement.

The second agreement will address issues such as the powers of the joint civilian-military governing body, the deployment of security forces and the immunity of generals in case of demonstrable violence, Faisal said.

"I hope we will reach an agreement on the constitutional declaration on Tuesday because the outstanding differences are not huge," Faisal told AFP.

Lebatt said a technical committee representing both parties would meet Monday for preliminary talks.

The "Political Declaration" of 17 July provides for the creation of a joint transitional civilian-military governing body to set up a comprehensive civil administration.

This governing body will consist of six civilians and five generals.

He will then supervise the formation of a transitional civilian government and a parliament to govern for 39 months, after which elections will be held.

Political uncertainty

Members of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council witness the signing of an agreement with the leaders of the demonstration in Khartoum on July 17, 2019. Protesters and ruling generals signed a power-sharing agreement paving the way to a civilian administration, a key demand from protesters since the president. Omar al-Bashir was filed in April .. By Haitham EL-TABEI (AFP)

Discussions were to resume shortly after the July 17 agreement, but three rebel groups belonging to the protest movement opposed the agreement.

They argued that it did not address peace-related issues in war-torn Darfur, Blue Nile and Kordofan regions of the South.

Their concerns were addressed in separate talks in Addis Ababa last week between rebel group representatives and leaders of the protest.

The "constitutional declaration" should put an end to the political uncertainty in Sudan since the ousting of Bashir on April 11.

The crisis reached its climax after a deadly raid in June on the crowd of protesters who camped in front of army headquarters in Khartoum since April 6.

Shortly before dawn on June 3, armed men in fatigues attacked the site of the sit-in that lasted several weeks, shooting and hitting protesters.

Doctors linked to the protest said the raid killed 127 people and injured many others.

But a joint investigation by prosecutors and the ruling military council that took power following Bashir's dismissal revealed that only 17 people had been killed on 3 June, with a total of 87 deaths between that day and the day. June 10th.

The investigation identified eight officers involved in the violent crackdown on the Protest camp, including a general, a colonel and a captain of the dreaded paramilitary rapid support forces.

Unbiased probe

A man carries a banner bearing the inscription "blood for blood" during the demonstration of Sudanese protesters in Khartoum on July 25, 2019. The leaders of the Sudanese demonstration and their rebel partners have ended their differences about A power-sharing agreement signed with the country's military leaders, promising to work together for peace, declared a leading protest group on July 25. By ASHRAF SHAZLY (AFP)

The eight officers face charges of crimes against humanity, Fatah al-Rahman Saeed chief investigator told reporters Saturday.

But protest leaders rejected the findings, saying the investigation had exonerated the military council and had made a death toll well below their own numbers.

Saeed's investigation "was commissioned by the military council, which calls into question its integrity since the military council itself is accused in this case," said the Sudanese Professionals' Association, which had been the spearhead of the initial protests against Bashir.

Angry protesters held rallies against the probe, calling for an independent investigation into the raid.

On Sunday, dozens of protesters chanted the slogan of the protests that had been going on for months: "Freedom, peace, justice!" Protesters said the riot police quickly dispersed the crowd with the help of tear gas.

The ruling generals of the country insisted that they had not ordered the dispersal of the sit-in.