The Speaker of the National Assembly, Ahmed Ibrahim Al Tahir, has said the bill on amending the national intelligence and security services Act, presented by the national dialogue parties (Parliamentary Block for Change), was referred to the committees of justice, legislation, security and defense for consideration and drafting a report prior to submitting the draft to the parliament for deliberation.

Member of the Parliamentary Block for Change, Mr. Hassan Dikain, in statement published by Al Jareeda, confirmed that the head of the Block, Mr. Abdul Aziz Dafallah had handed over the bill to the Speaker of the National Assembly, saying the Speaker had accepted the bill as per the Parliament Regulations. Mr. Dikain explained that the executive organ has submitted amendments concerning the Article of Immunities in the National Intelligence and security Act covering Article 5 (interpretation), Article 24 (NISS jurisdiction), Article 25 (security powers), and Article 50 (powers of members), director and the council especially paragraph (d) which deals with renewing duration of detention for a detainee.

Meanwhile, Dikain said the amendment bill is likely to pave the way for amending all laws restricting freedoms and harmonizing them with the interim constitution, adding the amendment is one of the demands of the National Dialogue Parties in order to create a favourable environment to hold a constitutional conference.

Article 40 (1) of the Interim Constitution of the Sudan 2005 provides: “ the right to peaceful assembly shall be guaranteed; every person shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form or join political parties, associations and trade or professional unions for the protection of his/her interests”.

Source; Aljareeda newspaper