Silencing the New Front: the Emergence of Widespread Torture against the Youth Movement

(April 2011) Throughout Sudan’s interim period, a marginal amount of space for freedom of expression and association was allowed by the National Congress Party (NCP) in conformance with the democratic transformation platform set forth by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).  Significant measures were taken in the drafting of the Interim National Constitution (INC), included in the CPA, to include constitutionally protected rights to the freedom of expression and association, as well as custodial safeguards. The Bill of Rights of the INC aimed to mitigate and remedy the severe repression of the NCP’s early days in power, the Ingaz era.

Despite these efforts, genuine attempts at reform proved to be fleeting. Access to political expression alternatively waxed and waned in the North as the NCP struggled to consolidate internal threats while simultaneously faced with power checks by their CPA partners, the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM). Due to shifts in openness, civil society remained largely fragmented and the political opposition split from their constituencies, effectively stemming popular support. Crackdowns in the North created a widespread state of fear amongst communities, and the pervasive use of arbitrary arrest, torture, and incommunicado detention proved to be effective tools in silencing civil society and political opposition and maintaining the status quo.

As the NCP negotiated the referendum process and management of internal threats, mass demonstrations began in Tunisia following the self-immolation of a young vendor, with President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali stepping down less than a month later on 14 January. The revolution quickly spread to Egypt, with President Hosni Mubarak abdicating power on 11 February. Both popular uprisings highlighted widespread poverty, unemployment, corruption, and resentment towards longstanding leaders – all relevant to the Sudanese context.

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