Several rallies were held in Khartoum on Sunday after the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) and the Freedom and Change Coalition called for demonstrations against the year-long state of emergency imposed by President Omar al-Bashir last month.
Protesters in Jabra, south of Khartoum, demanded the independence of the judiciary and the regime’s ouster, witnesses said.
They chanted “Freedom… Freedom” and “Down with the regime!”. But security forces fired teargas to disperse them.
Also Sunday, head of the Federal Umma Party Ahmad Babiker Nahar resigned from the parliament only weeks after announcing his party’s withdrawal from an alliance with the ruling National Congress Party.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Khartoum denounced the “excessive use of force by the Sudanese government’s security forces” in a statement published on Facebook.
“Embassy Khartoum is fully engaged on promoting respect for human rights in Sudan and condemns the excessive use of force by the Sudanese government’s security forces,” it said.
The Sudanese authorities stayed mum on the mission’s statement.
The SPA and other opposition parties allied with it as part of the Freedom and Change Coalition called for marches to demand an “independent judiciary” following the trial of anti-regime protesters.
Bashir has ordered the creation of special emergency courts to investigate violations during the state of emergency.
On Thursday, eight protesters were sentenced to jail by emergency courts in Khartoum for participating in unauthorized rallies earlier in the day, the tribunals' first such rulings.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
