UN helps train anti-riot police officers ahead of Sudanese referendum

[un.org] The United Nations has helped
train some 200 anti-riot police officers in southern Sudan, which is
preparing for next year’s referendum on whether it should secede from
the country.

During the three-day course late last month in Malakal, the capital of
Upper Nile state, the officers – including 50 women – were trained in
crowd control during riots and during peaceful demonstrations taking
place before, during and after the plebiscite.

The planned referendum on self-determination in the south is meant to be
the final phase of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which
ended a two-decade north-south civil war in the African country.

The training was carried out by instructors from the UN Police (UNPOL)
and Major General James Biel, Commander of Upper Nile state for the
Southern Sudan Police Service (SSPS). (more on un.org)