Sudan Opposition Claims Security Law Reforms Fall Short

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By Adebayo Somuyiwa

Published: January 4, 2010

Sudan Opposition Claims Security Law Reforms Fall Short

Adebayo Somuyiwa

Southern Sudanese politicians claim controversial reforms to Sudan’s national security laws grant intelligence agents sweeping powers and will undermine next year’s elections. President Omar al-Bashir’s party passed the new law on Sunday. The reforms shorten the amount of time suspects can be held but retain the right of intelligence agents to search and detain suspects. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which governs the semi-autonomous south, says agents will exploit these powers to arrest anyone campaigning against Bashir and would like the powers handed over to police. The SPLM and Mr Bashir’s National Congress Party (NCP) are rivals in the 2010 elections. South Sudan secured its own semi-autonomous government in a 2005 peace deal that ended more than two decades of north-south civil war.

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