On Sunday, December 12th, from 10 to 11 a.m. Eastern Time (7 to 8 a.m. Pacific Time), the i-ACT team will broadcast “Why Darfur: A Refugee Town Hall Meeting” a live online forum with Darfuris living in a refugee camp along the border between Chad and Darfur.
Activists in the 250-mile Sudan Freedom Walk arrived at the steps of the U.S. Capitol yesterday. Welcoming them were a cheering crowd, reporters, musicians, and a speaking program led by Simon Deng and Dr Adam Abdel Gabar, the Sudan Freedom Walk organizers.
Speakers call for U.S. Leadership in Sudan (Photo: Martha Bixby, Save Darfur Coalition)
The welcome rally featured a webcast viewed by several hundred activists nationwide, a performance by Emmanuel Jal, music by Kevin Skolnick and Aaron Shneyer, and speeches by Simon Deng, Dr. Adam Abdel Gabar, Mark Feinman, Joe Madison, Rev. Jim Lafferty, Gloria White-Hammond, Tom Prichard, Michael Lupai, Niemat Ahmadi, Tragi Mustafa, Amin Ismail, Ahmat Nour, Mohamed Yahya, Charles Jacobs, Khalid Gerais, Faith McDonnell, and Erjok Mayor.
Although the speakers had many messages, several points were frequently emphasized and repeated. Foremost was a call on President Obama and Congress to do more for the Sudanese people who have suffered for decades. The speakers repeatedly thanked the American people and government for standing by South Sudan and Darfur in the past. But they also pleaded with the U.S. not to abandon the Sudanese people in this time of great need, with a referendum on independence approaching quickly and the potential of renewed war on the horizon. (more…)
Please join us on Thursday, October 7th, for the closing rally of the Sudan Freedom Walk at the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. The Sudan Freedom Walk, started in New York, ends here in Washington, D.C. after 250 miles. The walk called for democracy and freedom from genocide and slavery in Sudan.
You are invited to join the rally featuring remarks from activists Simon Deng, Dr. Abdel Gabar Adam, and other Sudanese community leaders. Afterward, Sudanese musician Emmanuel Jal will entertain the crowd with his unique brand of hip hop layered with African beats.
When: October 7th, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Where: West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol
Can’t attend in person? Watch the rally here.
[Rally feed will be live from 1p.m. to 3p.m. Eastern Time]
If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can visit our uStream channel.
Read below words from Simon Deng and Dr. Adam about why they walk tirelessly in the Sudan Freedom Walk, and read more about the walk on our blog.
Simon Deng: “The duty of preventing war and ending conflicts and human rights abuses lies in the hands of the Obama Administration.” We as Americans have a moral obligation to defend freedom when it is being threatened. And peace in Sudan is the legacy of the United States government and the American people.
When I envisioned the Sudan Freedom Walk, I could’ve called it Southern Sudan Freedom Walk. But I look at Sudan and I see that what happened to me happened in the Nuba Mountains. What happened in the Nuba Mountains is happening in Darfur. The people of Sudan have been walking away from violence for decades. The people of South Sudan are now walking the road to freedom – through the referendum in January. The people of Southern Sudan don’t want to go back into the dark place. They want freedom now.
The kids from Darfur walked for miles and miles. The women shed countless tears. Each of them walked for one thing- Freedom. Their God-given rights have been taken away. I was a position where I could not say no. I was in a position only to say yes. How can I talk about what happened to me without talking about what happened to the others? I decided to be the voice of the voiceless, speaking on behalf of those who cannot speak for themselves. I have to walk on behalf of those who cannot walk. I am a free man living in a free nation. I can walk freely, and I did, day and night. I feel pain, but I am so happy since I am living free.
The time has come for the Obama Administration to give crisis in Sudan even 5 minutes of Obama’s own time. The President must defuse and dismantle the situation in South Sudan, which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called a ‘ticking time bomb,’ before that bomb kills one more human being on the top of the millions that have already been killed.”
Dr. Adam:
“Refugees in Sudan are tired of conferences and speeches around the world. We need action from the United States government and action from the world community. We need comprehensive peace for all of Sudan – a lasting peace that is inclusive of all the marginalized people.
The time is now to save lives, before another war and ethnic cleansing breaks out in Sudan. I joined this walk because killings continue in Darfur and the insecurity in the IDP and refugee camps need to be stopped. The people of Darfur and of South Sudan stand together for peace and freedom.
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’.”
Amnesty International’s new report “Agents of Fear: The National Security Service in Sudan” includes a number of detailed stories of those who have survived NISS torture. The human rights organizations cites NISS documents that reveal many brutal torture methods used by NISS, such as: electric shocks, severe beatings and whipping, the denial of restroom facilities, sexual abuse, and many other types of abusive and inhumane treatment. In addition, the NISS for years has been taking their victims to “ghost houses” in and around Khartoum and torturing them in these unofficial, undisclosed locations.
The following is a passage from the report on the section on torture:
“NISS agents use psychological torture as much as physical torture. This is demonstrated by the environment they create during interrogations, the vocabulary they use, as well as some of the methods they rely on to weaken the mental state of their victims and make them more vulnerable and hence more willing to “confess”. The scene of an interrogation was described by many survivors of torture as a stage on which NISS agents perform different roles and where the victim is made to go through various stages of psychological suffering, leading sometimes to a “confession”.
Abdelshakour was moved back and forth between the electric shock room and the hot room until 5 that evening. At 5pm he was taken to another place and made to sit against a wall until 10 pm. At 10 pm, he was taken for another interrogation. Abdelshakour Hashim Dirar was released from NISS detention on 3 September 2008. He now lives in exile.”
Survivors of torture often link a certain feeling, smell or sound to their memory of torture. One Chadian survivor of torture at the hands of the NISS told Amnesty International that during his detention in Darfur, NISS agents used to play music every time they tortured them. They, the detainees, found it strange because the house in which they were kept was remote and it was unlikely that anyone could hear their screams. “When I asked some people about it after my release, someone told me the reason they did it was to make us relive our torture every time we heard music playing…
At noon the same day, he was taken to the top of the building and exposed to the sun for an hour with his hands tied behind his back. He was then thrown into a room with a hot air conditioning system and no windows. He said that the heat was intolerable and no human being could survive long in it. He was kept there for a few hours, enough to cause damage to his skin. He was then taken out and moved into another room where NISS agents administered electric shocks through his hands and feet. He received eight shocks initially.
“Abdelshakour Hashim Dirar is a lawyer, a member of the Darfur Bar Association, and brother-in-law of Suleiman Sandal Hajjar, a JEM commander. On 14 May 2008, he was arrested from his office in Omdurman by NISS agents in uniform. Around 30 armed men arrived in three vehicles. Ten of them dragged him from his office, blindfolded him and threw him into one of the vehicles. Abdelshakour was held for four months and described being tortured on a regular basis. He said he was held in solitary confinement for long periods, and the door of his cell would open at night and security agents would enter and whip him repeatedly.
Abdelshakour described various methods of torture he suffered in the space of one day:On 17 May 2008, the day after an interrogation in which he denied having any links with the JEM, NISS agents arrived and started beating him. The beating continued for two hours; seven NISS agents were involved, five in uniform and two in plain clothes. They used their bare hands, kicked him and hit him with plastic water pipes.
On the first day of his arrest, Abdelshakour spent almost five hours blindfolded up against a wall and was then taken for interrogation. The NISS agents asked him some questions, then forced him to take off his clothes. That is when the beating started. He was beaten with plastic water pipes and electrical wires. The torture lasted until around 5am the next morning. Abdelshakour fainted three times and was dragged to the bathroom, had water thrown on him to wake him up, and the torture resumed.
Abdelshakour was interviewed by a number of different people during his detention. All questioned him about the JEM’s plans and about traitors within the Sudanese Armed Forces. Every time he repeated that he knew nothing about the JEM he was tortured again.
Amnesty International has just released a report called “Agents of Fear: The National Security Service in Sudan.” In this extensive paper, there are horror stories and detailed information about the National Intelligence and Security Service’s (NISS) activities in Sudan. Over the past two years, NISS has been responsible for the disappearances of countless individuals, particularly human rights defenders and Darfuris.
This new paper really hits at the heart of Sudan’s security state and the repressive tactics of the regime in Khartoum. The following is a passage from the section on arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances, one of the many categories addressed in the Amnesty report:
“According to information collected by Amnesty International from various sources, there are around 200 individuals arbitrarily detained following the Omdurman attack whose fate and whereabouts remain uncertain until the present day. Very little information is available about their conditions and the government of Sudan has not made any official statement acknowledging the detention and whereabouts of these individuals. Amnesty International considers them to be possible victims of enforced disappearance in Sudan.
In April 2010, the government revealed it had buried 108 individuals, all alleged JEM fighters, who were allegedly all killed during the attack on Khartoum. The government reported that DNA tests had been carried out before the deceased were buried but has not yet made public any of the information relating to these individuals.
Hashem Abdelshakour Hashem is the youngest NISS detainee known to Amnesty International. He was only nine months old when he was detained with his mother Zubeida Sandal Hajjar and his aunt Zahra Sandal Hajjar on 8 June 2008. Zubeida Sandal Hajjar’s husband, Abdelshakour Hashim Derar, was a lawyer and member of the Darfur Bar Association who was arrested by the NISS in Khartoum on 14 May 2008 and was being held incommunicado at an unknown location at the time.
NISS agents came to the family home in Khartoum, claiming that they wanted to take Zubeida and Hashem to visit Hashem’s father in detention. Zahra was also asked to accompany them on their visit. However, the NISS agents took the women and child to an unknown detention centre. They were all kept together in incommunicado detention until their release.
The two women are the sisters of a JEM commander, Suleiman Sandal Hajjar. They were held in various NISS detention centres and unofficial places of detention. The women were reportedly interrogated about the whereabouts of their brother every few days.
Their diet was poor and consisted of Sudanese beans. Zubeida said the food was too salty and often inedible. At one point, they were transferred to a detention centre that was reportedly full, and had to spend entire days in the sun. The women were kept at times in a very small and dark cell and had to create a makeshift bed for Hashem with their thowbs. Zubeida described how hard it was for him to sleep on the floor of the cell and that he used to sleep mainly during the day, in her arms.
Hashem suffered an eye infection in detention and was not seen by a doctor. Zubeida was threatened more than once with having Hashem taken from her if she did not “confess” where her brother was. The three were released on 20 August 2008.”
A refugee being interviewed at the Gaga refugee camp
Those who follow the developments in Sudan have undoubtedly heard a plethora of opinions from government officials, policy analysts, journalists, and others about what needs to happen to bring peace to Darfur. But what about the people who have the greatest vested interest in what happens in the region? The people who call Darfur home?
The Darfur conflict research organization 24 Hours for Darfur has given Darfuri refugees a voice in the “Darfurian Voices” report. From April through July 2009, the group’s researchers surveyed 1,872 Darfuri refugees and 280 community leaders in Chad to learn about their views on issues like the conflict’s primary causes, the peace negotiations, and the prospect for peace and justice.
The report reveals interesting findings concerning Darfuris’ views on the conflict that has driven them from their homes and turned them into refugees. 87.5% placed primary blame for the conflict on President Omar al-Bashir, the National Congress Party, the Government of Sudan or on a combination of these actors for the crisis.
The refugees polled in Chad seem optimistic about the likelihood that there will eventually be peace in Darfur. About two-thirds said that they either “strongly or somewhat disagreed” with the notion that peace is not possible in the region. When asked to define the necessary elements of this peace they envision, “security/cessation of violence” (51%), “the signing of a peace agreement” (17%), and “the implementation of justice” (16%) were among the most common responses.
But what did respondents mean when they spoke about “justice” being an indispensable part of peace? This is an especially compelling question in light the International Criminal Court’s July 12th arrest warrant for President al-Bashir for three counts of genocide. An overwhelming 98% of Darfuri participants in the survey believe that he should appear before the ICC. Some have reportedly alleged that the charges against al-Bashir may endanger the prospect of achieving peace in Sudan. However, only 13% of respondents agreed with this assertion.
The report also includes insight into the Darfuri refugees’ views on democracy, reconciliation, and truth-telling and has profiles of actors involved in the conflict. The organization took the results of their research and applied it to formulating recommendations for state-level and international actors for addressing the crisis in Darfur in hopes of giving these Darfuris a voice in their region’s future. Read further coverage of “Darfurian Voices” in Foreign Policy.
Please note: This blog entry contains stories of torture and graphic imagery.
June 26th was the International Day of Victims of Torture and to commemorate that day the Save Darfur Coalition has put together a series of true stories of torture from Darfuri victims. This day and blog are both dedicated to those who have experienced torture around the world and particularly the victims of Darfur. Despite the continuation of large scale attack, burning, looting and displacement, Darfuri students have demonstrated their persistence to continue their education with the hope that one day they might be of help to their people whose lives have been filled with suffering. However, the arrests, abductions, torture and killing remain a threat for Darfuri students coming to study in the capital of Khartoum. Below are a few examples of many attempts to silence Darfuri students through torture and violent intimidation.
Mohamed Musa was a 23 year old from the city of Kabkabiya in North Darfur and a student at Khartoum University. He was abducted on February 10, 2010 from the university after his final exam by the SNISS and taken to an unknown location where he was severely beaten. His body was found the following day after an entire day of torture, and was taken to a hospital to analyze and find the cause of his death. The national security personnel refused to analyze the body and tried to force his students (colleagues) to take the body and bury it without making any noise. After the consulting with lawyers from Darfur Bar Association, the students refused to receive the body. As a result, 6 students were arrested. Mohamed Musa’s father and mother both mourned and tried to come to Khartoum even though it was expensive and dangerous due to the security situation. Their friends and family raised money but they were only able to buy one plane ticket. His father went to Khartoum but was detained by SNISS who tried to intimidate him into burying his son’s body without searching for the cause of death. After pressure from demonstrations and appeals from pro bono lawyers from the Darfur Bar Association (who provide legal aid to Darfuri victims), Mohamed Musa’s father was finally released. The medical investigation proved that Mohamed Musa was subjected to severe torture. This case illustrates how he went through physical inhumane torture which led to his death and how his father has endured such unimaginable psychological torture. While the SNISS denied that they killed Mohamed Musa, later on they arrested another student from the Grifna campaign in Khartoum during the April elections and showed him photos of Mohammed Musa’s torture and said the same would happen to him if Grifna didn’t stop. That incident alone is a clear indication that the government of Sudan’s security agents had tortured Mohamed Musa to death.
The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur recently reported that “the security situation in Darfur is tense following reports of fighting between Sudanese armed forces and the Justice and Equality Movement”. Clashes in Darfur have cost almost 600 lives in May 2010, 440 of which were lost in fighting last month between Darfur rebels and government forces, 126 in tribal violence, and 31 in other violence, including murder. This increase in violence comes after the collapse of peace talks between the Government of Sudan and the Justice and Equality Movement. In the past several days, violence between Arab tribes in Darfur has killed 41 people. The spokesperson for the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur stated that in the last couple of months there have been lower numbers of fatalities in Darfur, but in May, there have been an increasing number of clashes. Despite the surge in violent deaths in Darfur, the international community and Sudanese government is planting much of its focus in the upcoming referendum and the rebellions in South Sudan.
The increasing number of clashes is partially due to lack of progress in peace talks between the JEM and the government of Sudan. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir announced on Saturday that the current round of Darfur peace talks would be the final negotiations with any armed group. He claims after this round there will be no legitimacy through guns, only through the ballot box. Amongst others, rebel divisions and fighting have been two of the biggest obstacles to peace talks which started in 2003 and have continued in Chad, Nigeria, Libya and currently in Doha. Since April, Bashir’s security forces have cracked down on what little political freedom opened up during the electoral process, arresting opposition leaders, and cracking down on press and civil society liberties.
While the upcoming southern referendum and the rebellions in South Sudan are understandable distractions for the international community, Darfur continues to face a humanitarian crisis. Darfur’s humanitarian operation is the largest in the world with more than 4 million people requiring aid and costing nearly $1 billion a year, but the fighting and kidnapping of humanitarian workers and UNAMID personnel has forced some agencies to scale down operations and withdraw from certain regions. While it is important for the United States and international community to prepare for the upcoming referendum, this must not overshadow addressing the humanitarian crisis and violence that continue in Darfur.
RT @sudan365: Many thanks for supporting the Sudan365 campaign this year! Check out our new Beat for Peace video! -http://t.co/OAMsnrVabout 14 hours agofrom Twitter for Mac
