Politics

The politics of Sudan takes place in the framework of an authoritarian republic in which all effective political power is in the hands of the President.

Executive Branch

Sudan has an authoritarian government in which all effective political power is in the hands of President Omar al-Bashir. Bashir and his party have controlled the government since he led the military coup on 30 June 1989.

Legislative Branch

The country is currently in an interim (transitional) period following the signing of a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on 9 January 2005 that officially ended the civil war between the Sudanese Government (based in Khartoum) and the southern-based Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) rebel group.

The newly formed National Legislature, whose members were chosen in mid-2005, has two chambers. The National Assembly (Majlis Watani) consists of 450 appointed members who represent the government, former rebels and other opposition political parties. The Council of States (Majlis Welayat) has 50 members who are indirectly elected by state legislatures. All members of the National Legislature serve six-year terms.

Judicial Branch

The Judicial branch is made up of the Supreme Court and the Special Revolutionary Courts.

The legal system is based on English common law and Islamic law; as of January 20, 1991, the now defunct Revolutionary Command Council imposed Islamic Sharia law in the northern states; Islamic law applies to all residents of the northern states regardless of their religion; some separate religious courts accepts compulsory International Court of Justice jurisdiction, with reservations.

Recent Sudanese Political History

From 1983 to 1997, the Sudan was divided into five regions in the north and three in the south, each headed by a military governor. After the 1985 coup, regional assemblies were suspended. The RCC was abolished in 1996, and the ruling National Islamic Front changed its name to the National Congress Party. After 1997, the structure of regional administration was replaced by the creation of 26 states. The executives, cabinets and senior-level state officials are appointed by the president and their limited budgets are determined by and dispensed from Khartoum. The states, as a result, remain economically dependent upon the central government. Khartoum state, comprising the capital and outlying districts, is administered by a governor.

In December 1999, a power struggle climaxed between president Omar al-Bashir and NIF founder, Islamist ideologue, and then speaker of parliament Hassan al-Turabi. Al-Turabi was stripped of his posts in the ruling party and the government, parliament was disbanded, the constitution was suspended and a state of national emergency was declared by presidential decree. Parliament resumed in February 2001 after the December 2000 presidential and parliamentary elections, but the national emergency laws remain in effect.

Al-Turabi was arrested in February 2001, and charged with being a threat to national security and the constitutional order for signing a memorandum of understanding with the Sudan People's Liberation Army. He was placed in a maximum-security prison and was freed in 2005.

As part of the agreement ending the Second Sudanese Civil War, nine members of the SPLA and 16 members of the government were sworn in as Ministers on 22 September 2005, forming the first post war government of national unity.

Foreign Relations

Sudan has had a troubled relationship with many of its neighbours and much of the international community due to what is viewed as its aggressively Islamic stance. For much of the 1990s, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia formed an ad-hoc alliance called the "Front Line States" with support from the United States to check the influence of the National Islamic Front government. The southern Sudanese rebels supported anti-Uganda rebel groups such as the Lord's Resistance Army.

In 1990-91 the Sudanese government supported Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War. This changed American attitudes toward the country, and the Clinton administration prohibited American investment in the country. The US also began attempts to 'isolate' Sudan and began referring to it as a rogue state.

Beginning from the mid-1990s Sudan gradually began to moderate its positions as a result of increased US pressure following the 1998 US embassy bombings and the new development of oil fields previously in rebel hands. Sudan also has a territorial dispute with Egypt over the Hala'ib Triangle. Since 2003, the foreign relations of Sudan have centred on the support for ending the Second Sudanese Civil War, the condemnation of government support for militias in the Darfur conflict and the ongoing conflict with Chad.

Violence continues in the region, and on December 15 2006, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) stated they would be proceeding with cases of human rights violations against members of the Sudan government.

Human Rights

An August 14 letter from the Executive Director of the Human Rights Watch found that the Sudanese government is both incapable and unwilling to protect its own citizens in Darfur and that its militias are guilty of crimes against humanity. The letter added that these human rights abuses have existed since 2004.

Both government forces and militias allied with the government are known not only to attack civilians in Darfur, but also humanitarian workers. Sympathisers of rebel groups are arbitrarily detained, as are foreign journalists, human rights defenders, student activists, and displaced people in and around Khartoum, some of whom face torture. Conflicts between the government and rebel groups have resulted in rape, torture, killings and massive population displacements (estimated at over 800,000 as of 2004). There have also been several reported cases of crucifixions carried out in Sudan.

Sudan practices capital punishment and it can be applied to minors; 2 children who were under 18 at time of the offence were executed in 2005.

Enslavement also persists in Sudanese society. Estimates of the number of blacks now enslaved in Sudan vary from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands (not counting those sold as forced labour in Libya).