The head of the Southern Sudan Human Rights Commission called upon the president of the republic to grant a pardon to the South Sudanese in Northern jails or allow them to serve the rest of their sentences in the South.
Lawrence Korbandy told SCR News that president Omar Hassan al Bashir should use his constitutional powers to allow all south Sudanese prisoners who are willing to conclude their sentences in south Sudan prisons to go.Mr. Korbandy added that the move would send a positive message to the people and government of south Sudan ahead of the referendum.
Mr. Korbandy added that three quarters of the south Sudanese in the northern prisons are women accused of crimes related to alcohol.
He argued that non-Muslims are legally permitted to produce and drink alcohol.
Mr. Korbandy said women who produced alcoholic drinks in Khartoum are usually fined 500 Sudanese pounds and have to serve three months in prison.
The number of south Sudanese prisoners in the north is estimated in thousands. It is not yet clear how the NCP and SPLM will resolve the issue of prisoners after the independence of South Sudan.