The new press law: violations and restrictions or transformation and freedom?

Recently, Rishan Oshi, received a job offer from a newspaper in Khartoum.  The young journalist, whose last job was working as an editor for Al-Tayar before it was closed down by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) for unknown reasons last summer, was very excited about getting back to work.

The negotiations with the newspaper were underway when the newspaper backtracked, one of the editors working there objected to hiring her claiming that Rishan is a NISS target.  He called her “trouble”.

“Last June, we received a phone-call from the NISS, telling us that Al-Tayar is suspended, we were told that they still don’t know the reasons,” Oshi told DCMF.

Al-Tayar’s staff still doesn’t know the reasons. After months of protesting and campaigning for their newspaper, they began looking for other job opportunities during the worst period for journalism in Sudan and for job opportunities in the journalism field.

Last year, the crackdown on the press in Sudan resulted in financial losses for newspapers in Sudan due to low advertisements and confiscations of entire issues of newspapers at printing houses, as well as an unstable work environment for journalists who are left unpaid for months.

Over fifteen journalists were stopped from writing directly by the NISS, while others such as Oshi are isolated until “readers forget their names and they are out of the market,” as she puts it.

A new press law – the worst in years?

Last December, the press woke up for another day of fighting to survive, to find the parliament debating a new press law.

“The press laws were proposed at a time when the country is going through a constitution-making process.  It makes sense to finalise the constitution before focusing on press laws,” said Faisal Al-Bagir, a journalist and a press freedom activist.

Al-Bagir, who coordinates the Sudanese Journalists for Human Rights network, believes that this press law is the worst since Sudan’s first press laws in 1930.

To be exact, this is the fifth press law in the last two decades.  However, from the outset, the 2013 press law had unknown parents, each side was claiming that it was not their baby.

Idris Al-Douma, the editor-in-chief of one of the best-selling independent newspapers in Sudan, Al-Jareedasaid that “the new regrettable laws are meant to shut down the mouths of journalists.”

Al-Douma knows about restrictions, his newspaper has been confiscated many times since it opened in 2010, and was suspended for more than 3 months in 2011 leading to heavy financial losses.

In the language of the NISS, confiscation means that an entire issue is seized from the printing house during the night, after it has been printed. Although the NISS calls a number of chief editors in the evening to revise the material published in the newspaper, and assists them in editing the newspaper, they sometimes confiscate the newspaper if the newspaper insists on publishing a specific article, or as retribution for publishing an article.

Even when there is freedom of expression, there is no freedom after expression.

“I was taken to court many times for my writings, my last trial was two months ago and I was declared innocent,” said Oshi.

New forms of censorship

If the NISS acts as a censor, the press laws will compete with the intelligence agency as a strong censor.

The new press laws, if passed, will legalise the closure of newspapers, the cancellation of the registration of a newspaper or a publishing house. They will impose financial penalties on the newspapers as well as the printing houses and also stop journalists and editors working for periods of time.

In the 2009 laws, a newspaper could be suspended legally for three days.  The new law stipulates that the period can last up to ten days, which will cause heavy financial losses for the newspapers.

“The 2009 laws were worst when they were first proposed,” recalls Abdel-Rahman Al-Amin, the editor-in-chief of the newly-founded Al-Qarar newspaper, adding “the government at the time was a national unity government and the opposition was better represented which helped the laws get reformed.”

Al-Qarar newspaper is an independent newspaper created by journalists who wanted to see a newspaper that is not controlled by businessmen.

“A big factor in the 2013 laws is that the printing house which was previously just a venue for printing the newspaper, becomes a target for closure or financial penalties, which could easily turn the printing house into another censor,” said Al-Amin.

Violations of press freedom?

Some articles from the 2013 press laws, explained Al-Bagir in a phone interview, were taken from the Ethiopian press laws, which are among the worst in the world.

Commenting on the new press laws, Mohy Al-Deen Titawy, the president of the Sudanese Journalist’s Union (SJU) told members of the press that the laws violate press freedom, expressing his union’s opposition to them.

Surprisingly, the new press laws sets to take journalists’ licenses from the SJU and pass them to the National Council for Press and Publications (NCPP), a council that monitors the press in the country and gives newspapers or magazines the license to print.

The NCPP, with its well-respected leadership, is seen by journalists as a governmental body as it is under the supervision of the presidency and the presidency appoints its secretary-general.

However, Al-Amin views this move as a positive one as it “controls the distribution of the press license which many journalists have, yet small number practice journalism.” This perspective is understandable as even the police officers at the press prosecutor’s office can get a press license after a number of years of working there.

Journalists in Sudan hope to see the judiciary play the sole role in persecuting journalists and newspaper.

“The Council, which is the body responsible for protecting journalists and newspaper is failing in this regard, it is failing press freedoms,” said Al-Amin whose newspaper staff work as volunteers, six months after the newspaper was launched.

The NISS, although it takes journalists and newspapers to court, does not always win the case.

The Sudanese Communist Party’s Mouthpiece, Al-Midan, for instance, won its case against NISS after a court battle.  However, it remains suspended for unknown reasons.

Hopes for political transformation

In the last week, the President of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir called for the release of political detainees and for a more open dialogue with the opposition in an attempt to foster an inclusive political process.

With the elections coming up in less than two years and the president stating that he will not run for another term, there are good reasons for optimism in Sudan, and there are hopes that this political transformation will materialise into more freedoms, especially press freedoms.

However there are still fears. Ironically the political openness which experts think was triggered by a small-scale but nonetheless, sustained protest movement, bred dissent not only towards the government, but towards the NISS, an apparatus known for being ruthless.

“With calls to limit the powers and functions of NISS especially on the press, the state has to find another way to control the press,” said Al-Amin in an attempt to understand the timing of the press laws.

Releasing political detainees, advocating for a more comprehensive political and constitution-making process are seen in a positive light by journalists, but there are sincere hopes to free the press and free journalists from censorship in the near future.

Published @- http://www.dc4mf.org/en/content/new-press-law-violations-and-restrictions-or-transformation-and-freedom

The soul of Khartoum

Published @- http://www.opendemocracy.net/reem-abbas/soul-of-khartoum

The Governor of Khartoum, Abdel-Rahman Al-Khider has been determined to “civilize” Khartoum in the past few months. The idea seemed well-intentioned in the beginning .

Tea ladies are women who sell flavoured tea and coffee on the pavements. Their customers sit around them on stools usually under the shade of a tree in any street in Khartoum.

It is a breezy morning and being the Sudanese person you are, you crave a cup of tea. You turn to your right hand-side, you see a tea-lady and you begin walking her way. You take one Sudanese pound worth of Legimat (Zalabaya) and a cup of tea ‘with medicine’, the Sudanese word for tea spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cardamom. You are enjoying the delicious snack and you get up from the short stool and head to the tea-lady to pay her for the delicious snack. She is no longer there.

You stand there in utter shock: but she was just there. Your curiosity drives you to take a right into a side-street and you find her sitting at the end of the street, with stools around her and customers sitting there enjoying their cup of tea. You pay her only after asking, what happened?

“There was a police sweep coming our away, we are not allowed to be on main streets anymore,” she tells you. The Governor of Khartoum, Abdel-Rahman Al-Khider has been determined to “civilize” Khartoum in the past few months. The idea seemed well-intentioned in the beginning, a wider four-laned Nile street, a beautiful corniche for walking, cleaner streets and more greenery.

The state government saw the need to civilize Khartoum by civilizing its people. The police raids on men who wash cars on main streets began: they would get picked up or prevented from doing their work by the police. The governor said they are making the streets dirty and it looks uncivilized. In all honesty, they could be given serious tips on how to keep the surroundings clean when washing a car, but most importantly, you are denying a large number of youth the only income between them and living a life of crime. After all, we could all think of million things to do other than standing in the sun the whole day.

Then, we all turned to another job that is bringing an income to many families, especially families headed up by women. Tea ladies have become a part of our community, a “marginal” job at the centre of Sudanese life, whether for the civil servants or the unemployed youth and the underemployed journalists who keep a tab at their favorite tea ladies’ berth.

There is Sara*, a young tea-lady in West Omdurman who worked at some company, but left after being subjected to sexual harassment by her supervisor and now works as a tea lady. Or Helewa, who fought with the rebels, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) during the civil war and now makes a living making the best Zalabeya in Khartoum.

Last week, Helewa wasn’t there, she was harassed out of that spot she favoured for years, by the police.

I like the new greenery and the colorful benches on the side of Nile Street, but I also like Khartoum state with tea ladies on main streets and men selling peanuts and cold hibiscous juice by the side of the street.

After all, they are the soul of the city. 

Leave Nile Street Alone

Every day, thousands of people, especially youngsters, leave their house to sit on Nile Street, by the beautiful Nile river and drink tea, coffee and enjoy ready snacks at the open-air cafes catered for and run by tea ladies.

The Council of Islamic Scholars in Sudan have asked the governor of Khartoum to ban the venues they describe as "haphazard cafes" on Nile Street.

The Secretary-General of the CIS told the press that the cafes have become places for drug-dealing, debauchery and are a black spot in Khartoum: he added that they do not exist in neighbouring countries.

 

The CIS is basically talking about the place most frequented by families and youth. Every day, thousands of people, especially youngsters, leave their house to sit on Nile Street, by the beautiful Nile river and drink tea, coffee and enjoy ready snacks at the open-air cafes catered for and run by tea ladies.

The tea ladies, women who sell ginger coffee and cinnamon-flavoured tea, line the space around them with plastic chairs and tables to attract clients, although the smell of coffee is sufficient to attract most clients.

 

Nile Street has become an icon for many in Sudan. It is a place to make money as it’s now a business place for hundreds of tea ladies and men who make a living selling gum, cotton candy, soft drinks and phone credit among other things. It is also a place for entertainment, where people don't have to pay an entry fee and spend a hefty amount on a meal, especially in this tough economic situation.

It is a place for youth to hold cultural events in the open-air spaces and a place for young lovers to get to know each other.

 

Weeks ago, rumours started surfacing in Khartoum that the government is pushing for a Nile Street for families only, in other words, the hordes of young men going there after work will be segregated out into specific areas.

Then, yesterday, the CIS, the largest body of Muslim scholars makes this statement and raises more fear of a crackdown on the only affordable and the favorite venue for entertainment us all.

The harassment has already started in my opinion, if you were willing to read the signs. Recently a lawyer and her daughters were picked up by the public order police for "indecent" clothing during a quiet family evening on Nile Street.

 

A little over a month ago, two friends of mine, a boy and a girl had their evening ruined by a security officer who wanted a bribe for not arresting them. They were sitting facing the river on Nile Street in Omdurman and talking when the officer appeared.

If the government decides to restrict the cafes and activities on Nile Street, this will not be met with total apathy. People will not allow the silence in the early 1990s when cinemas and cultural institutes were closed down to be repeated. People need space to breath and it will surely be difficult to take this away from them.

 

I know a young man who lost his job three years ago and never succeeded in finding a job in the same field, engineering. He was stuck doing menial jobs and was thoroughly depressed and miserable because he was not able to support his wife. Every day, he would leave his house after 7pm to go to Nile Street and enjoy an evening with his friends. When his wife complained, he told her it was his therapy, the only place to escape the disappointments he is facing, the only place.

 

Taking away Nile Street from us will be beyond a disappointment: it will be inhumane.

Sudan-South Sudan Economic Conference convened in Berlin

KHARTOUM - The Sudan-South Sudan Economic Conference took place in Berlin on Tuesday, January 29, with Germany pledging that economic development would safeguard against conflict and radicalism.

KHARTOUM - The Sudan-South Sudan Economic Conference took place in Berlin on Tuesday, January 29, with Germany pledging that economic development would safeguard against conflict and radicalism.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Westerwelle (left), his Sudanese counterpart Karti and South Sudan’s Ambassador to Germany Osman, during the trilateral economic conference.
© The Niles | Nik Lehnert

Initially scheduled for last October, the conference was postponed when protestors stormed the German embassy in Khartoum following a Youtube film by an American film that mocked Islam.

At the official opening German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle outlined German hopes that the conference would help Sudan and South Sudan “along the path toward peace”.

The conference would help Sudan and South Sudan “along the path toward peace”.
Guido WesterwelleSpeaking to some 300 attendees he said that economic development was key to obtaining stability in the volatile region, adding that poverty feeds extremism and hate.

Sudanese and international human rights activists, however, voiced opposition to the meeting.

Ahead of the gathering activists railed against Germany for hosting the event. Act for Sudan, a coalition of Sudanese and US activists and organisations protested the conference, circulating a letter signed by 64 international organisations as well as human rights advocates including the US Department of State 2012 Recipient of the International Women of Courage Award, Hawa Abdallah Salih.

The letter called on Foreign Minister Westerwelle to “cancel this conference that places Germany squarely in the role of generating financial support for the genocidal Sudanese regime”.

Germany is among the few Western countries with good links to Sudan. The nation, which operates under a US trade embargo, is trying to attract more investment to help its ailing economy, which lost its oil income to South Sudan when its neighbour became a separate nation in 2011.
The Berlin conference was attended by South Sudanese representatives, who are also hopeful for business with Western firms to halt the country’s economic downward spiral.

According to the letter, the signatories are concerned about the human rights violations in South Kordofan, Blue Nile, Darfur and the East and they fear the conference will “help to fund more atrocities against civilians”.

During his speech, Westerwelle stressed that Germany would push for peace in the conflictive regions including Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and Jonglei.

Speaking to the Niles, Susan Morgan from Act for Sudan argued that financial support to the Sudanese regime should not occur until attacks on civilians stop and there is humanitarian access across Sudan.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle and his Sudanese counterpart Ali Karti, minutes before the official opening of the trilateral economic conference between Germany, Sudan and South Sudan on January 29.
© The Niles | Nik LehnertThere should be “a clear demonstration of progress on all remaining issues, including an inclusive constitutional review process followed by free and fair elections,” she said.

The letter was signed by activists from Iraq, Uganda, Austria, Greece, the UK, Italy, the US, Niger as well as Sudanese activists.

In March 2012, a Sudan investment conference to be held in Turkey was cancelled as the US and other powerful countries signalled that they would not attend due to Sudan’s ongoing conflicts.

Girifna, a pro-democracy Sudanese group wrote an open letter to Germany on its website asking the host to “put people before profit”.

The letter states that the Sudanese government is implicated in conflicts, an attack on civil society organisations as well as a crackdown on independent media outlets and peaceful protest movements.

Mai Shutta, a Sudanese activist based in Germany organised a press conference and a march against the conference with German and Sudanese activists.

“Money does not solve Sudan's political problems, it helps supports conflicts and displacement,” said Shutta in an email interview.

Business however is struggling in Sudan, which recorded a budget deficit of 10 billion Sudanese pounds this year. The country’s economy witnessed a steep economic slide since South Sudan’s independence in July 2011 when Sudan lost 75 percent of its oil revenues.

Sudan hopes to attract investment from Germany and other European countries to ease its debt mountain which stands at $46 billion, making it difficult to borrow money.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement- North Sudan Faction (SPLM-N) was the first group to call for the cancellation of the conference. Its Secretary-General, Yasir Arman, asked Germany to “assume its responsibility in putting an end to genocide, protecting civilians and ending the war,” in a statement issued last week.

Published @http://www.theniles.org/articles/?id=1666

Story of a Journalist

He is in his 20s and has been working in journalism since 2010, freelancing for a number of newspapers for free because as he puts it "I want to write and be productive even without pay"and working for other newspapers.

He worked at a newspaper writing excellent investigative articles on human rights and the political situation. 

Writing in a notebook at night and using the computer at the newspaper because he could not afford a laptop... he was making 300 Sudanese pounds a month after all.

He endured being summoned by the security services for his articles and was threatened with detention and being stopped from writing.

He was arrested during Sudan Revolts by security officers, beaten and his belongings were stolen.

He is one of the best journalists I've seen and I loved reading his articles. He is now working in the construction industry, transporting bricks and sand...building houses. He is trying to support himself and his family.

Proposed Sudan Media Law Targets Press Freedom

First published:

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/01/sudan-press-freedom.html#ixzz2IM1zhs00

KHARTOUM, Sudan — A few weeks ago, a mysterious document appeared at the national assembly, the Sudanese parliament. It was a draft for a press law, put together by a body which has yet to reveal its identity.

Normally, such a document should be submitted to the political sector of the National Congress Party (NCP) — the ruling party of Sudan — which verifies the bill and hands it to the national assembly after consultations with the Press Council, the Journalist’s Union and the media in general.

The document made its own way to the national assembly, to the dismay of journalists who were shocked to find the new laws were more repressive than the 2009 press law, which were then dubbed the "worst press law in Sudan's history."

Afaf Tawor, who represents the media committee in parliament, told journalists on Dec. 1 that the new laws "have penalties including fines for journalists, suspending a journalist from writing for up to two months, suspending an editor-in-chief from work and confiscating press cards from both."

The new press laws legalize closing a newspaper or a press center, as well as cancelling the registration of a publishing house. The laws also subject newspapers and other media institutions to financial penalties.

Hussein Saad, the media coordinator for the Sudanese Council for Defending Rights and Freedoms — an independent body of human rights defenders, lawyers and politicians — told Al-Monitor that the Sudanese press is already going through a difficult time and if the press laws profiled by Tawor are approved, it will be a disaster.

"The margin for freedom of expression has become nearly nonexistent, and the Sudanese press is already subjected to pre-publication censorship; newspapers are closed and confiscated. Closures and court cases against journalists have become common,” said Saad, once a journalist at the now-suspended Ahjras Al-Hurriya and Al-Midan newspapers.

The 2009 press laws were passed by parliament even though journalists objected and held silent protests and submitted petitions. The laws gave the state more control over the press and the state-run Council for Press and Publications more power to suspend newspapers and control the registration of press companies.

Mahjoub Mohamed Saeih, the godfather of the Sudanese press and founder of Al-Ayam, one of the oldest newspapers in Sudan, said that he does not understand how such laws could be passed if they did not come through the normal legal process.

"The Press Council and the Journalist's Union said that they did not submit these laws; it is from an unknown source. This is unacceptable, and they should be drafted through the usual process," said Saleh in a phone interview.

Saleh added that if these restrictive laws are passed, it will be dangerous to the future of democracy and freedom of expression in Sudan.

Mohy Al-Deen Titawy, the president of the Journalist's Union, rejected the new laws as the worst press laws since 1990 and stressed that the bill was not drafted by journalists or media professionals.

A committee including Titawy was formed to amend the press laws based on the recommendations by the Journalist's Union and the NCP, which will then present a bill to journalists and editors for further discussion before submitting it to the national assembly.

The 2009 press laws, as problematic as they were for press freedom, had fewer restrictions. They gave the Press Council the power to freeze a newspaper for three days for not abiding by journalistic ethics, whereas the new press laws bring this up to ten days, which could add financial strain on newspapers.

Additionally, the 2009 laws state that the editor-in-chief is responsible as the main party in any court case against a newspaper. The new bill, however, places the responsibility at the feet of journalists, the editor-in-chief, the printing house and the company under which the newspaper is registered.

"This could turn the printing house, which has no say in the editorial policy of the newspaper, into a censoring body, as they could refuse to print my newspaper since closure is a great financial burden they cannot afford," said Idris Al-Douma, the editor-in-chief of Al-Jareeda, one of Sudan's best-selling independent newspapers.

Al-Douma believes that this draft was leaked to test the reaction of the journalists, the press council and the union.

"Our reaction was anger since the new press laws will restrict press freedoms and halt the development of the press in Sudan," said Al-Douma in an interview with Al-Monitor.

Since 2009, the main body responsible for taking action against newspapers and journalists was the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), which forcibly shut down more than five newspapers, conducted pre-publication censorship, confiscated issues from the printing house before distribution and took more than 10 journalists to court.

The NISS is permitted to take action against any newspaper viewed as a threat to national security under the controversial National Security Act.

"The actions of NISS reflected negatively on the government and these new press laws are, in my opinion, an attempt to legalize NISS's actions by shifting them to the functions of the press council," said Al-Douma, whose newspaper was suspended for three months in 2011.

Al-Douma fears that the press laws will be passed by the national assembly in its April session.

"The ruling party has a majority of seats in parliament, and they are very keen on staying in power. The press is an impediment to that," said Al-Douma.

Abdel-Gadir Mohamed, a press-freedom advocate and author of a book on the freedom of the press in Sudan, is also not optimistic about the future.

"Last week, the president hired his vice president, Nafie Ali Nafie, and the chief of NISS in the higher council for media policies, which is more worrying than the press laws," Mohamed told Al-Monitor.

In the meantime, journalists are waiting impatiently for the draft to be discussed by the Press Council and the union, and their recommendations to the press laws.

Sudan Activists Languish in Jail

MEDANI, Sudan — On June 28, 2011, Mohamed Saleh and Ma'ni Mubarak were attending "Breaths," a three-day cultural forum organized by students at Al-Jazeera University in Medani, 300 kilometers from Sudan's capital, Khartoum. Hailing from Nubia, Mubarak was involved in organizing the section about Nubian heritage and culture, while Saleh attended the performances before leaving in the late afternoon, long before the clashes began.

At about 6 p.m., the students were taking a break before resuming the forum after prayers, when a fight broke out between students from the Islamic Movement and the Democratic Front. The initial scuffle seemed contained, until:

 

"All of a sudden, I saw students from the Islamic Movement coming towards us with metal rods and trying to break the benches in the cafeteria to use them as weapons," said Nisreen Al-Mamoun, one of the forum's organizers.

 

Al-Mamoun said that the attackers asked all students to leave the area except for Communist students, in reference to the Democratic Front (DF), which is a student movement affiliated with the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP).

 

"They dropped a molotov and students started leaving, but the attacks on students already began and I saw people getting injured," said Al-Mamoun, who was a chemical engineering student at the time.

 

Mubarak was one of the students beaten, as he was one of the most popular characters on campus and a speaker for the DF.

 

"I was beaten with metal rods and to defend myself, I began throwing bricks at the attackers," said Mubarak, who added that other students were defending themselves by throwing stones and bricks.

 

Mubarak was unlucky, he was injured and rushed to the hospital, not knowing that more than a year later, he would be behind bars for causing "severe bodily harm" as stipulated under Sudanese criminal law.

 

The clashes received little media coverage and the students moved on with their lives. Saleh graduated and began applying for jobs.

 

"A year later, I was in town to attend the fourth memorial of Mutasim Abu Al-As. I was with friends, including Mubarak in a coffee shop, when security officers arrested us," said Saleh, who was in town to get his certificates and documents from the university.

 

Abu Al-As was a DF student who was stabbed to death in clashes with Islamic Movement's students in 2008 at Al-Jazeera University. Saleh said he was warned by an Islamist student accused in the murder of Abu Al-As to not return to Medani.

 

"He told me to stay away or else I could get killed," added Saleh.

 

Student violence has become a norm in Sudan. In 1964, a revolution that toppled the military dictatorship was inspired by the killing of a University of Khartoum student at the hands of the police. However, violence has in the last decade adopted an ugly politicized face with students from rival political factions killing each other.

 

Student deaths in recent years have exceeded 35, with the majority being due to severe torture by security forces or clashes between Islamic Movement students, who are loyal to the regime, and other students.

 

"We were detained for two weeks before our friends and lawyers paid 3,000 Sudanese pounds ($600 at the time) to bail us out," said Mubarak recalling the detention last June.

 

But Mubarak was not released and was instead accused of attacking a security guard at the university.

 

"In court, the witnesses — who were security agents — were too scared to lie. They ended up contradicting the case and the court declared him innocent," said Hanadi Fadul, an Al-Jazeera University graduate who worked on Mubarak’s case.

 

In late November, the five students were arrested again and taken to court.

 

"The witnesses who were students from the government's party contradicted themselves on key points which should've dropped the charges against the students," said Adil Abbas, a lawyer who is part of the student's defense team.

 

Abbas added that although Saleh was not there, the court deviously built its case on the fact that he did not clearly say that he was not there during his court hearing.

 

"The students when attacked have the legal right to defend themselves," added Abbas, in reference to the accusation that Mubarak caused harm to students by throwing bricks at them.

 

Five lawyers worked on this case including Abbas and Fadul to divide the work load. Fadul was responsible for defending a student charged with stabbing a student.

 

"My defense was simple, he suffers from dwarfism and he has to stand on a table in order to stab a tall person in the stomach. He is also incapable of holding the huge knife they claimed he used," said Fadul. He added that, legally, only medical reports from a government hospital were accredited by the court, but this time, the court accepted a report from a private hospital, which is against the law.

 

In prison, the students receive visits from their friends who bring them food and keep them company in an attempt to make their one-year sentence more bearable.

 

"The food they serve, even birds cannot eat it," said Mubarak who added that their cell has 50 prisoners.

 

Nisreen Al-Mamoun, who is a close friend to both students, brings them food each week.

 

"Two days before they were sentenced to a year in court, Saleh was hired in his dream job at the Ministry of Agriculture," said Al-Mamoun.

 

Mubarak's younger brother, Mohamed, told Al-Monitor of his anger at his brother’s sentence while en route to Medani from Kharoum. "I'm going to see my brother, I cannot accept this sentence, it is very unfair, he does not deserve a year," said Mohamed.

 

Last week, four students from Al-Jazeera University were found dead after they went missing following a public forum discussing fee exemption for Darfuri students.

 

Their colleagues and human rights activists allege that the students were tortured to death by security forces, however, the university and the police stated that they drowned in a sewage pond not far from the university.

 

Their deaths inspired a wave of protests in many cities across the country calling for retribution and the removal of the Sudanese government.

 

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2012/al-monitor/sudan-activists-languish-in-jail.html#ixzz2FzPiLoOg