Protests in Sudan today
Omar al-Bashir and his National Congress Party (NCP) failed another test today of their commitment to holding free and fair elections in Sudan scheduled for April 2010. Responding to a march (see video here of crowds chanting “Freedom, Peace and Security”) planned by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and northern opposition parties, the Sudanese security forces violently quashed the demonstration and arrested a number of Sudanese politicians and activists. We have been compiling information throughout the day.
The following is a run down and here is also a collection of pictures.
Amnesty International confirms that over 200 people, including opposition leaders and human rights activists, were arrested at the demonstration. It demanded that Sudanese authorities announce the names and whereabouts of those arrested and either charge them with recognized criminal offenses or release them immediately:
“This is yet another example of the culture of violence that the Sudanese government has adopted,” said Tawanda Hondora, deputy director of the Africa program at Amnesty International. “The government must respect the right of protesters to peacefully assemble and express their views. This is a crucial time for Sudan and all parties should abstain from using violence, especially in the light of the coming elections and referendum.”
Two of the leading members of the SPLM, Pagan Amum and Yasir Arman, were among those arrested. Our sources tell us that Arman was beaten severely by a group of police officers before being taken to the hospital. Both men are now free. The children and grandchildren of Sudanese opposition leaders Sadiq al-Mahdi (Umma Party) and Hassan al-Turabi (Popular Congress Party) were also detained during the day. Here is an interview of Amum from prison:
All of us have been arrested in violation of our constitutional right of peaceful demonstration and marches. Our intention was to present a petition to the members of parliament to enact within these two weeks the Referendum Law on the right of self determination for the people of southern Sudan…Sudan is on the edge of an abyss and we must do everything to preventing it from falling into this abyss of disintegration and chaos…[We are protesting] so that these laws are enacted in conformity with the constitution so that there are freedoms which will ensure that the upcoming elections will be free and fair.
Al-Jazeera reported early this morning that the Sudanese security blocked them from covering the protests and confiscated their tapes. Fortunately, they captured this footage before being shut down. Our colleague has quickly translated and transcribed two interviews in the footage. The woman in a white toab(Sudanese national dress), a member of the Umma party, about a third of the way through the video says:
The arrest of the SPLM leaders and members of the Sudanese parliament has proved that there is no freedom in Sudan. This demonstration is peaceful, the people are peaceful. If the government is facing it with this number of military and police forces and with harassment and violence, that means this country doesn’t have freedom, no respect for law and order, no freedom of expression. This consequently demonstrates the reality that the government is using the force to maintain its seat (in power) and is not allowing any democratic transformation in this country to take place.
After this interview, the man in suit, a member of PCP, asserts:
It’s impossible for the election to take place in an environment dominated by oppression and dictatorship. It’s crucial to change the laws one of which was referenced by the police today to justify their reaction to the protest…because the government’s justification for their reaction is Article 127 of the Sudanese criminal laws that allows the authorities to stop any kind of demonstration or protest even if its peaceful, as well as prohibiting any gathering for delivering statements of protests to the government…The demonstration is calling for the reform and amendment of many laws that were supposed to be amended based on the Sudanese Interim National Constitution.
Protestors Detained Today
The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies issued an alert later today about two students detained yesterday around 7:00pm for distributing fliers for Girifna, a campaign for free elections in Sudan:
The security forces chased the two students, firing shots into the air in order to force them to stop. When the students stopped they were arrested. Their instruments, a flute and a bass guitar, were smashed.
One of the students, Mr. Khalifa, was beaten with the butt of a rifle by security agents and was knocked unconscious at the scene. They were then taken to NISS offices near the railway station in Khartoum where they remain in custody without access to lawyers or family. The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies fears that they have been subjected to torture.
Available information indicates that these students were targeted for no other reason than that they were attempting to peacefully express their political opinion. The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies calls on the government of Sudan to respect the provisions of Article 39(1) of the Sudan Interim National Constitution, which provides that every “citizen shall have an unrestricted right to the freedom of expression, reception and dissemination of information”. The government should immediately release these students unless they can be charged with an internationally recognised criminal offence. At a minimum, the students should be given access to their lawyers and families.
ACJPS also provided these additional details on the crackdown:
Despite the announcement that the intent of the demonstrations was peaceful, authorities released a statement shortly after midnight declaring the demonstration illegal. Heavily armed riot police with batons and tear gas lined the streets of Khartoum in the early morning hours, blocking the roads to Parliament and the main headquarters of several political parties, including the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM). Though the government had announced a public holiday for schools and public employees in an effort to deter the public’s participation, thousands had gathered by morning.
Rubber bullets and tear gas were fired into crowds, and security agents confiscated cameras from international media. In Khartoum, over 250 people were arrested, including prominent lawyers, students, journalists, and parliamentarians. Pagan Amum, the SPLM’s Secretary General, Abbas Jumma, the SPLM Minister of the Interior, and Yasir Arman, the SPLM’s Deputy Secretary General and leader of its Parliamentary block, were all arrested. Mr. Arman was seriously injured in police custody, where 13 security agents took him from his cell to a bathroom and beat him. In total, 42 people so far have been taken to the hospital including Samia Rabih, Hussam Mohamed Alamin, and Muna Eltigani, who was seriously injured and taken to a hospital.
Arrests also took place at similar demonstrations held across Sudan. In Wad Medani and El-Obeid, capital of Northern Kordofan State, 42 individuals were arrested, as were 58 in El Hasahisa. Protests also took place in Port Sudan, Gedaref, Kassala, and El Fasher, as well as in every major city in South Sudan and IDP camps in Darfur. A list of the arrested protestors is available upon request.
In sum, it was a very bad day in Sudan – with ominous signs that things could get a lot worse. And with all of this happening, radio silence from the Obama administration.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
Tags: Elections, Human Rights, Omar al-Bashir, protest, Sudan
