This archive report was first published on 19 May 2021.
May 19, 2021 - Khartoum, Sudan
Sudan's transitional government has taken a significant step towards addressing criticism over delays in delivering justice, removing its top judge and accepting the resignation of its chief prosecutor.
According to a statement issued by the country's ruling sovereign council, the council has relieved Neamat Abdullah Mohamed Kheir from her position as head of the judiciary, making her the first female to hold the position in October 2019.
Tagelsir al-Hebr, the general prosecutor, had submitted his resignation 'several times before but this time he was more insistent on stepping down,' the council said in the statement.
Hebr oversaw investigations into various cases related to 'violations' committed during the rule of former President Omar al-Bashir, including the 1989 Islamist-backed coup that brought him to power.
On Saturday, Sudan's army handed Hebr the results of a probe into the recent killing of two demonstrators who had been calling for justice for the victims of a 2019 violent protest dispersal.
Protesters Demand Justice ¶
Earlier this month, hundreds gathered outside the army headquarters in Khartoum calling for speedy investigations into the killings of protesters during a 2019 violent dispersal of a mass sit-in at the same site.
Security forces dispersed the rally, killing two and wounding dozens. The April 2019 sit-in was held to call for an end to Bashir's three-decade rule.
The protesters kept up the encampment for weeks demanding the transfer of power from the military to civilians. In June 2019, armed men in military fatigues violently dispersed the camp, leaving at least 128 killed in a days-long crackdown, according to medics linked to the protest movement.
