Khartoum: 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 per cent and the Sudanese pound has plunged in value, while shortages of bread and fuel have hit several cities.
Sudanese police fired tear gas at demonstrators planning to march on the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum on Monday, prompting organisers to push for further rallies after deadly anti-government protests.
Crowds of men and women chanting “freedom, peace and justice” and “revolution is the people’s choice” gathered in downtown Khartoum, but they were quickly confronted by police, witnesses said.
Demonstrators gathered in groups in and around the downtown area, but were unable to converge to march towards the palace of President Omar al-Bashir.
As police fired tear gas, protesters were seen taking refuge in small lanes of the capital’s usually busy business district, which was deserted on Monday. Most shops and businesses in downtown Khartoum were shut ahead of the planned march. Monday’s march was called by a group of professionals including doctors, teachers and engineers, who organised a similar rally on December 25.
“We will march towards the presidential palace calling for President Omar al Bashir to step down,” the Sudanese Professionals’ Association said in a statement late on Sunday.
Opposition groups and prominent rebel chief Abdel Wahid al Nur from war-torn Darfur had also urged their supporters to participate in the demonstration. Hundreds of police officers and security forces deployed to key squares across the capital in the early morning to prevent the march.
Late on Monday, the organisers of the march urged the protesters to continue with the rallies in their residential areas.
“The use of force by the authorities will not deter the people and we will continue with our demonstrations,” the Sudanese Professionals’ Association said in a new statement.
Bashir has told police to abstain from using excessive force against the demonstrators after 19 people, including two security personnel, were killed in clashes in the initial days of demonstrations that erupted on December 19.
Rights group Amnesty International says 37 people have been killed in protests so far. — Agencies
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