{"id":608570,"date":"2019-04-18T13:21:02","date_gmt":"2019-04-18T13:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"
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Sudan\u2019s former P"},"modified":"2019-04-18T13:21:02","modified_gmt":"2019-04-18T13:21:02","slug":"sudan-crisis-omar-al-bashir-moved-to-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/04\/18\/sudan-crisis-omar-al-bashir-moved-to-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudan crisis: Omar al-Bashir moved to prison"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sudan\u2019s former President Omar al-Bashir has been moved to Kobar maximum security prison, days after he was deposed in a military coup.<\/p>\n

Reports say the ex-leader has until now been detained at the presidential residence under heavy guard.<\/p>\n

He is reportedly being held in solitary confinement and is surrounded by tight security.<\/p>\n

Months of protests in Sudan led to the ousting and arrest of the long-time ruler on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Uganda\u2019s Minister for Foreign Affairs Henry Oryem Okello told Reuters news agency the country would consider offering the deposed leader asylum if he applied, despite an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).<\/p>\n

As an ICC member, Uganda would have to hand over Mr Bashir if he arrived in the country. The ICC has not yet commented.<\/p>\n

Until now, Mr Bashir\u2019s whereabouts since his removal were unknown. The coup leader at the time, Awad Ibn Auf, said Mr Bashir was being detained in a \u201csafe place\u201d. He himself stood down soon afterwards.<\/p>\n

Lt Gen Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan was then named as head of the transitional military council, to become Sudan\u2019s third leader in as many days.<\/p>\n

Demonstrators have vowed to stay on the streets until there is an immediate move to civilian rule.<\/p>\n

Who is Omar al-Bashir?<\/h2>\n

Mr Bashir led Sudan for close to 30 years.<\/p>\n

He is accused of organising war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sudan\u2019s western Darfur region, for which the ICC issued an arrest warrant.<\/p>\n

After months of protests \u2013 starting in response to a rise in living costs and morphing into calls for the government to resign \u2013 Sudan\u2019s military toppled Mr Bashir in a coup on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The transitional military council was set up in the wake of his removal, and has said it will stay in place for a maximum of two years until a civilian government can be put in place.<\/p>\n

What are conditions like in the prison?<\/h2>\n

Kober prison, situated on the east bank of the Blue Nile, was built during Britain\u2019s near 60-year colonial rule of Sudan.<\/p>\n

The building, built with bricks and surrounded by towering concrete walls, has the capacity to hold hundreds of prisoners. Space in its tiny cells, however, is said to be scarce.<\/p>\n

Many of the protesters and opposition leaders who took to the streets demanding Mr Bashir\u2019s resignation have been detained on its special wing for political prisoners.<\/p>\n

Sudan\u2019s feared National Intelligence and Security Service runs this wing, not the police.<\/p>\n

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  • Omar al-Bashir: Sudan\u2019s ousted president<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Sudan analyst Alex de Waal, who has visited the prison, told the BBC its infrastructure has not been updated since it was built.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe cells are very rudimentary, it is a very basic form of accommodation, there is no air conditioning or running water,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

    Nevertheless, the prison has a reputation for treating the inmates well and not subjecting them to random violence, he added.<\/p>\n

    A former detainee at the prison told AFP news agency that up to seven prisoners, most of whom are petty criminals, are typically housed in each cell.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThere is a bathroom in each cell but no beds \u2013 only mattresses and mosquitoes,\u201d the former inmate, who was jailed there during protests against Mr Bashir\u2019s rule in January last year, said.<\/p>\n

    What\u2019s the latest with the protesters?<\/h2>\n

    Demonstrators remain camped out the military headquarters in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.<\/p>\n

    Reports on Monday said there had been efforts to disperse a sit-in, but protesters joined hands and troops stepped back from a confrontation.<\/p>\n

    The Sudanese Professionals\u2019 Association (SPA), which has spearheaded the protests, urged supporters to stop efforts to disperse them, calling on demonstrators to \u201cprotect your revolution and your accomplishments\u201d.<\/p>\n

    An SPA spokesman told the BBC that the group \u201ccompletely rejected\u201d the transitional military council leading the country, and said protesters seek the dismantling of state intelligence agencies and the \u201cfull dissolution of the deep state\u201d.<\/p>\n

    What has the military said?<\/h2>\n

    Military council spokesman Maj Gen Shams Ad-din Shanto announced a raft of new measures on Sunday, including the end of censorship and new heads of the security forces.<\/p>\n

    The council has arrested former government members, he said, and will put in place whatever civilian government and whichever prime minister opposition groups agree.<\/p>\n

    But while the council promised not to remove protesters from their sit-in, the major also called on them to stop unauthorised roadblocks and \u201clet normal life resume\u201d.<\/p>\n

    \u201cTaking up arms will not be tolerated,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

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    Source: BBC<\/p>\n

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