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Bashir forms panel to probe Sudan protest violence
KHARTOUM, Jan 1, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir ordered
authorities on Tuesday to set up a fact-finding committee to investigate
violence during anti-government protests that have rocked the African
country, state media reported.
At least 19 people have been killed and hundreds wounded during the
protests that erupted in cities, including the capital Khartoum, on December
19 after a government decision to hike the price of bread.
Human rights group Amnesty International has put the death toll at 37.
“President Omar al-Bashir has ordered the setting up of a fact-finding
committee headed by the justice minister to look into the incidents of the
past few days,” state news agency SUNA reported quoting a presidential
decree.
The government raised the price of a loaf of bread from one Sudanese pound
to three (from about two to six US cents).
The ensuing protests quickly evolved into anti-government rallies in
Khartoum and several other cities.
In the initial days of the protests, several buildings and offices of
Bashir’s ruling National Congress Party were torched by protesters.
Riot police have managed to disperse the rallies so far, while security
agents have arrested several opposition leaders and activists in a crackdown
on suspected organisers.
Sudan is facing an acute foreign exchange crisis and soaring inflation
despite Washington lifting an economic embargo in October 2017.
The foreign exchange crisis has steadily escalated since Sudan’s partition
in 2011, when South Sudan broke away, taking with it the bulk of oil
revenues.
Inflation is currently running at 70 percent and the Sudanese pound has
plunged in value, while shortages of bread and fuel have hit several cities.
BSS/AFP/RY/1550 hrs