The Delegation of the European Union to Sudan expressed its concern over the arrest of activists and journalists in the country, while denouncing the violations committed by the military authority.
A statement issued by the spokesperson stressed that “The European Union, the Troika (Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America), Canada and Switzerland are alarmed by the February 9 arrests and detentions of several high-profile political figures.”
“These troubling actions are part of a recent pattern of arrests and detentions of civil society activists, journalists, and humanitarian workers occurring throughout Sudan these last weeks”, added the statement.
The statement also condemned “this harassment and intimidation on the part of Sudan’s military authorities. This is wholly inconsistent with their stated commitment to participate constructively in a facilitated process to resolve Sudan’s political crisis to return to a democratic transition”.
In its statement, the delegation called for “an immediate end to such practices and for the immediate release of all those unjustly detained.”
The delegation reminded Sudan’s military authorities “of their obligations to respect the human rights and guarantee the safety of those detained or arrested and the need to ensure that due process is consistently followed in all cases”.
Three prominent political critics of the military, former Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Khalid Omar Yousif, Rapporteur of the Committee to Dismantle the Regime of former President Omar Al-Bashir, Wagdi Salih, and the Committee’s Secretary General Al-tayeb Othman, were arrested on Wednesday.
The General Secretariat of the United Nations called on the Sudanese authorities to release Yousif and the rest of the political detainees.
Sudan has witnessed almost daily protests, in which 79 people have been killed, in response to Al-Burhan new measures, most notably the imposition of the state of emergency and the dissolution of the Sovereignty Councils and the transitional ministers.
