Arab News

NEW YORK/KHARTOUM: The UN said on Thursday that more work remains to be done and urgent and serious steps by the Sudanese authorities are needed to reaffirm commitment to the constitutional declaration.

“The agreement on Nov. 21 was an initial step forward toward fully restoring constitutional order and civilian democratic rule,” said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

Sudanese PM Abdalla Hamdok was released from house arrest and restored to his job under the deal reached last month, four weeks after he was removed in a military takeover.

He also said more work remains to be done to pave the way toward free and fair elections leading to civilian democratic order.

“To begin to gain domestic and international acceptance, authorities must urgently release all those who have been arbitrarily detained since Oct. 25,” Dujarric said.

The UN called for “full accountability for human rights violations, including the killing and injuring of protesters during recent protests must also be ensured.”

The takeover ended a 2019 power-sharing agreement between the military and political groups involved in toppling former leader Omar Al-Bashir. Those groups have rejected the agreement, as have resistance committees that have organized a campaign of protests.

“The path of the transition cannot be decided without engagement of all parties involved in Sudan’s revolution,” Dujarric said, adding: “We support Hamdok’s efforts to engage with the Forces of Freedom and Change, resistance committees, and other voices among the Sudanese public.”

He also said that the UN stands with the Sudanese people in this endeavor. “This is not our agreement, but we have been in touch with all parties.”

Further protests are planned for December on key anniversaries from the 2018 start of protests against Bashir.
Meanwhile, Volker Perthes, UN special representative for Sudan and head of the UN Integrated Transition Assistance

Mission in Sudan, met with the former chairman of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, where he also reiterated that while the UN “cautiously welcomed” the November agreement “as a first step toward the return of the constitutional order, the agreement itself does not constitute a return to this order and that other critical steps need to follow.