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Sudan Human Rights Organisation
Geo-Religions-Capital’s Policies Against Human Rights
Sudan:
New Face of Dictatorship, New Model of Violations of Human Rights
March 2002-March 2003
S H R.O, 154 Kilburn High Road, London, NW6 4JD Tel No: +44 (0)20 7328 7251 / 311
Geo-Religion-Capital’s Policies Against Human Rights.
Sudan: a New Face of Dictatorship, New Model of Violations
Following the failure of the attempt of bombing the World Trade Center in New York in 1993, and after the failed attempt of assassination of the Egyptian President, Hosny Mubarak in Ethiopia 1996, the fever of exploitation of oil resources in the Sudan within the policy of privatization of social, economic, cultural and political powers, resulted in the creation of the recent two factions within the regime of the National Islamic Front which came to power through the military coup of 1989.
One of these two factions is guided by the Iranian model, and the other is following the Pakistani model of Theocratic democracy, which, in a way, is better than the model established in Afghanistan by the Talibans.
Due to the political resistance of the National Democratic Alliance and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/Movement, the Islamic National Front military regime promulgated a constitution, elected a president, local councils and established a constitutional court and a new federation of trade unions.
The official Arabic Language version of the constitution and laws differs completely from the English text which is meant to address the international community in order to legalize the human rights abuses and cover the actual practices of the security forces of the regime.
1- Violations of Civil and Political Rights :
Laws and Practice
A- The Political Theocratization is a major threat facing the human rights movement.
Under the articles of the Constitution, nothing can stop any Fatwa against citizens who refuse the idea of an Islamic State or the so called “Islamic Guidance for State and Society”.
The word “Islam” is in fact, usually, misused contrary to its original meaning as a (positive abstract from all kind of the worldly/land-lordship).
History of misusing Islam is dating back to 1500 years as a cover for feudalism, and recently as cover for Free market capitalism, and is linked to the socio-economic factors, rather than the Islamic religion itself.
The use of Islam against communism during the cold war, which was later integrated with the New World Order, lead to a situation of Islamo-phobia and Western-phobia, and made the Muslim countries a diehard dictatorships aggressing the progressive and enlightened elites of these countries.
B- At the end of February 2003, an official conference on Dar-Fur/Western Sudan held by the Government of Sudan and the Military Governor of Dar-Fur Region came to the conclusion that the Western Sudan region of Dar-Fur is suffering from Governmental tribal apartheid and racial discrimination policies, together with social and economic exploitations and marginalisation.
C- Dictatorship and Racial/Tribal Discrimination linked to the centralization of power in Khartoum, and the inequitable distribution of the national income, together with Government of Sudan establishing and supporting Tribal Militia are one of the main sources of the conflict in Darfur, which was accentuated by the government policy of arming the militias to wage war against non-Arabs of African origin. (Dar-Fur’s Events London 2002).
D- The National Security Law; the Penal Code, the Declaration of State of Emergency and Public Order Laws, the Registration of Parties, Unions, Press and Associations, play a major rule in the violations of Human Rights in Sudan.
E- Hundreds of students, political and civil society activists, were arrested without charge or trial; or faced trials without any sort of legal aid; in addition to the simplicity in issuing long imprisonment sentences, and death penalties (more than 90 Death penalties by one judgment in less than one hour trial without lawyers, at the end of 2002).
F- The Government security forces fired at students and demonstrators more than ten times during 2002. In one of these actions against Academics and students riots in May 17. 2002, more than 357 students were injured in Al-Nilein University in Khartoum after Police shot at students celebrating the New Sudan Manifesto. (SPLM.UK.30.5.2002).
Recently on the 17th, 22nd and the 23rd of March 2003, 4 university students were killed because of Police direct shooting on their heads and chests in Al-Duwiam City and in Khartoum. (SHRO Press Release23-3-03).
In all cases of shooting at students, not a single security agent faced justice, whereas, on the contrary the students faced torture in the local detention centers
G- Freedom of Expression is curtailed by the continuous arrest of writers and editors, usually, without (charge), for extended periods of detention and harassment.
In the last 12 months, six issues of different newspapers were confiscated; and publishing centers were closed-down many times.
H- Constitution, Penal Law, National Security Act, Declaration of State of Emergency, Local Public Order laws and laws of Registrations, limited Public Freedoms and the Right of Organization.
2-Violations of Social and Economic Rights in Sudan
Privatization of Powers, Corruption, Marginlization & Exploitation and abusing of Unions’ Rights linked with National and International Terror:
A- Oil and Privatization are major factors in the President-Party-State’s social &economics policies.
Exploiting Oil fields in Southern Sudan is linked to the civil war; Crimes against humanity, bombing civilians, genocide and war crimes, yet the Government of Sudan didn’t take any step to investigate any part of these public charges against it; not to mention the drastic results of the governmental committee for investigation slavery.
B- At the end of February 2003, an official conference on Darfur region reached the conclusion that the western Sudan region of Darfur is suffering from governmental tribal apartheid and racial discrimination policies, together with social and economic exploitation and marginalisation.
C- Dictatorship and racial/tribal discrimination linked to the centralization of power in Khartoum, and the inequitable distribution of the national wealth, together with government of Sudan establishing and supporting tribal militia are one of the main sources of the conflict in Darfur bearing in mind that the government policy of arming the Arab militias to wage war against non-Arabs of African origin. (Dar-Fur’s Events, London 2002)
D- As the result of Sudan’s government policy, hundreds of villages were burned, thousands were killed, 100,000 citizens forced to be displaced. The economic resources were drastically squandered. The outcome of the recent military policy is the establishment of the newly declared Sudan Liberation Movement and Sudan Liberation Army, created to struggle for a: “United democratic Sudan based on equality, restructuring and devolution of power, development, culture and political pluralism and material prosperity for all Sudanese. This means a new wave of civil war in Dar-Fur and Sudan”. (Press Release/Commentary by SLM/SLA posted on March.14, 2003)
Recently, Sudanese Air Forces bombed civilian’s areas in the region.
E- The Northern, Eastern, Western and Southern Sudan suffer from strong policy of marginlisation in addition to civil and military regimes’ oppression, resulting on 2 millions deaths and 4millions displaced locally. Moreover, another 4 millions Sudanese immigrated outside Sudan.
F- The IGAD’s Machakos peace negotiation between the Government of Sudan and Sudan’s Peoples Liberation Movement, in all views, will help in the realization of participation in power and wealth between the two sides, while the other socio-political part of Sudan’s Capital-Countryside’s conflict will still be in the wait to be addressed.
G- The rights and freedoms of Unions and Associations are still in the hands of the governmental Unions’ Registration Officer and the Associations’ Registration Officer.
Sudan Security forces play a cardinal rule in establishing and disbanding the Unions and Associations, and in the mean time the unions with major membership such as the farmers, workers and professionals are powerless in the state's economic policies.
As a final outcome of this Anti-Unions policy, more than 90% of Sudan’s population is (living) under Poverty Line, according to the official statistics of the late nineties.
Strikes, under State of Emergency, can lead strikers to death penalties, as was the case of the Doctors strike in the early nineties.
H- Women are suffering in double sense as women and as workers, from the Capital-Patriarchies policies.
Women, who constitute 70% of the work force in the field of Education and Health services, with similar percentage in the office-work, does not get the same income as their male beers who perform the same type of work.
Moreover, under Islamic-Patriarchal rule as the famous local Public Order, the Governors of the regions or the provinces can order the cancellation of the women right to work, in the same manner as happened in the year 2000 in capital Khartoum.
Ordain an official dress in the streets and places of work, force women to bear the veil, is a basic element in framing criminal charges against the majority of the women lashed in the Sudan.
The women right for education is retreating beyond the poverty line due to the privatization of public education. Not to mention the marginalized areas where women live under poverty in addition to bombardment.
I- Personal and family rights are flagrantly abused in peace camps in the Nuba Mountains region, where the government’s Islamic relief agencies and the Popular Defense Force militia of Arab tribes, are stripping Nuba children and adults from their culture and imposing on them the Arabic-Islamic culture.
In the Nuba area the people suffer from marginlization in some part of it, from exploitation on other part, in addition to the affects of the civil war.
As a result of these Crimes against humanity, hundreds thousands of Nuba were forced to change their own culture to the official Arabic-Islamic culture.
J- State of Emergency and Public Order laws cancel the basic rights of privacy and personal life. Moreover, the Popular Police Forces is monitoring wedding parties and home drinks, not to mention the streets women’s dress code.
K- The Free Market and Privatization policies play a major rule in strengthening the powers of the Islamic banks party-regime and revive the old-economic democracy system through the mechanisms of banks' profits and capitalization, based on hard exploitation and marginlization of the work forces at the same time.
The new upper-class controls the state apparatus, institutions, corporations, companies, media and military forces. As a result of this absolute power, Free market and Privatization policies resurges as a major machine of corruption and money laundering rule in an Islamically proclaimed state, thus affecting the human rights situation in Sudan
L- Islamisation used to design wealth and power for few people, making themselves new Lords or new agents of God on earth. Yet, in order to protect their interests, and to conform with their new dress they are facilitating Intelligence, Corruption and State-Terror inside and outside Sudan.
The facts of daily life gives a clear view on the relationship between the interests of free market, corruption and terror, and the violations of Human Rights, nationally and internationally; and help in understanding the nature of the mix red blood, dark blue oil and war cross and stars.
M- The rights for work, fair-income, education and health are affected badly by Government and
IMF & World Bank’s policies that build-up the evil triangle of poverty, sickness and illiteracy by centralizing wealth and power, distributing exploitation & marginalization and wars and terror.
3- Violations against Cultural Rights and Freedoms in Sudan:
War Against Human Rights, Peace and Equality Cultures in Sudan’s Clash of Civilizations
A- The Popular Defense Force’s brain washing camps, through out the Sudan, are official bases of war against Human Rights, Peace and Social Justices, and against the cultures of pluralism known in the Sudan. Millions of youngsters are forced to join these camps, from1990 till now.
Waging war against civic life and customs and Sudanese pluralism cultures is a main target of the theocratic-militarism’s war and terror, in a hard line way.
B- Freedom of Expression was hardly hit in the year 2002 by Government of Sudan when it confiscated issues of several (authorized) newspapers more than 20 times.
Tens of intellectuals, writers, editors, usually, arrested without (charges) in some times, but few of them faced trial after long time of detention and pressure. In the last 12 months, the newspapers issues confiscated count for more than ten times. Tens of Journalists faced savage detention and high fines and some news papers faced orders to shut down, publishers are faced with corruption of government advertisements contracts.
C- The classical governmental media control is diametrically opposite to the idea of openness.
In the Sudan’s clash of civilizations the government media reproduced all terms of the quiet and soft apartheid against a non-Muslims and non-Arabic cultures, false propaganda about the society and state, waging a war of dislike against all non-Islamist-formations in a pluralistic Sudan. Falsehood and propagating of hatred is an intelligence base of media war against right for information.
D- Abd-Al-Karim Mirghani Cultural Center was shut-down twice; universities and cultural groups' events and symposiums are usually cancelled; plays and songs were banned without any explanation, some singers and coral groups were put under observation because of their views; singers were slashed; writers must not oppose the Islamic guidance of the State
E- Freedoms of religion and believes of Muslims face peril by observation. the Republican- brotherhood and some other members of Islamic-Sophism sects as Khatmia faced State oppression, but for Christians the freedom of religions faced more risks as new Churches in the new living-hood areas were forced to shut-down. Condition to get licenses to build a Church is restricted more than conditions to build-up Mosques, Biblical activities, facing violence or suppression conflagration.
The God-father of this regime, Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi is still under house arrest for more than two years without charge or trial. His last two books about Islam-State relationship were not allowed to be published in Sudan.
In conclusion, no public way to God or to human sense is out of the State control.
The naked reality of the so called openness in Sudan is just a New Order for violations of basic Human Rights. Treating the other religions and economical interests in the Middle-East, Horn of Africa, Great African Lakes, Central and West Africa by Geo-Religion-Capital concepts will drive the whole region into a scene of grave violation of human rights, mixing the policies of oil and blood nationally and internationally.