Sudan forms 'fact-finding committee' to investigate protests

Sudan’s fact-finding committee for investigating the recent protests yesterday took the oath of office before the country’s President Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan News Agency (SUNA) has reported.

The Sudanese justice minister, Mohamed Ahmed Salem, told reports at a press conference that the committee consisted of a number of state ministers and representatives of the interior ministry, communication and information technology ministry, and the National Intelligence and Security Service.

Salem explained that the committee was tasked with gathering facts about the recent events which accompanied the protests in some states, calculating the associated losses, and determining the size of the damage resulted from the protests.

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He stressed on the committee’s “neutrality and independence.”

The committee’s assigned tasks, Salem pointed out, include redressing grievances and determining the responsibility.

On 31 December, Bashir President issued a republican decree to form a fact-finding committee on the recent events in Sudan, led by Salem.

Near-daily demonstrations triggered by a worsening economic crisis have spread across Sudan since December 19, the most prolonged challenge to Bashir’s rule since he took power in a coup in 1989. According to official Sudanese data, these violent protests have led to the death of 24 people, though opposition groups say the death toll has reached more than 40 people.