In preparation for next April’s elections, Sudanese President (and indicted war criminal) Omar al-Bashir launched a new website yesterday. Visitors to the site are greeted by a poorly photoshopped image of al-Bashir and invited to select one of three languages: French, English or Arabic.
All three version of the website feature a painfully ironic header with the same photograph of the Sudanese president and a peace dove perched on the end of his name holding an olive branch in its mouth. There is also an odd flash banner with the slogan “Freedom ,, Development ,, Peace” and a scrolling series of seemingly meaningless numbers. It’s a pity that al-Bashir’s policy advisers are not as committed to peace as his web designers.
The English version of the website includes only four sections : “What said about Albashir,” “News and Event,” “Photo Gallery,” and “Video.” Unfortunately, the “What said about Albashir” section does not actually include much of what is being said about Omar al-Bashir (indicted war criminal, fugitive from international justice, etc.).
According to the Sudan Tribune:
[Website project leader Hashim Ali] Salem on his end said that the website is updated daily noting that the information contained in media messages “requires a high degree of professionalism”.
The site administrator stressed the importance of comprehensive coverage and providing resources.
While all three versions of the website may lack some basic functionality and an appealing design, the Arabic version is indeed far more comprehensive and appears to have more current content. Obviously most of al-Bashir’s supporters speak Arabic and there is little need to cater to visitors reading English or French, but one wonders why they did not delay the release of the alternate language websites until they were able to build them properly. (Bec Hamilton makes an astute observation about the language options and the potential audience for this website.)
It will be interesting to see how al-Bashir’s government/campaign uses www.albashir.sd considering they already have a number of nicer and better developed government websites and a state-run media outlet to push their message. Check back in the next few days for a review of the Arabic version of al-Bashir’s new online home.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
