This text was signed by Mr. Omer Hassan Ahmed Elbashir, President of the Republic, on August 4, 2005, as a Presidential Decree titled “Organisation of Humanitarian Work Act, 2005†and was introduced before Parliament in November 2005. It included serious restrictions to freedom of association in Sudan, providing in particular for an increased control over and interference with local and international NGOs carrying out human rights and humanitarian activities. Moreover, the Bill provided for a number of modalities facilitating the suspension of the activities of an organisation, its closure or dismantling, as well as the expulsion of foreign staff members (See Observatory Open Letter to the Sudanese authorities, dated November 7, 2005).
The Parliament rejected the Bill following the approval by the National Council of Ministers of a report presented by its Humanitarian Affairs Committee, stating that some amendments would be necessary to the adoption of the Bill.
However, the Observatory remains preoccupied by the deterioration of the situation of human rights defenders and humanitarian staff members in Sudan. In this regard, the Observatory urges the Sudanese authorities to put an end to any kind of retaliation, including arbitrary arrests and judicial persecution, against them.
More generally, the Observatory urges the Sudanese authorities to conform in any circumstances with international and regional instruments guaranteeing freedoms of association and expression in Sudan, and to conform with the provisions of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9, 1998, in particular with its article 1, according to which “everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels†.