Youth groups pressure Sudan government over rape and torture

Last January, as South Sudanese overwhelmingly voted for secession, what remained of Sudan was going through political and social transformation. There had been small-scale protests since the government of Omar Al Bashir, a military dictatorship, took over in June 1989 but January 2011 was different.

Not only did the 2011 protests call for change, they also encompassed a wider range issues affecting the Sudanese public.

When youth movements began emerging in 2011, they attracted the upper middle class, a section of society that had earlier distanced itself from the national issue and politics.

In December 2010, the Tunisian revolution took off and the government was overthrown, the following month calls on social media websites such as Facebook for change were getting louder in Sudan. As the revolution was unfolding in Egypt,the calls for mass protests became heard.

The protests were led by youth groups, notably Girifna (We are Fed Up) and Youth for Change (known as Sharara). Girifna was founded in late 2009 and was mobilizing the public against the ruling party before and during the Sudanese elections in April 2010.

It was founded by students and young activists who were fed-up with the government and wanted change. From day one, Girifna called for the overthrow of the Sudanese government through peaceful and non-violence means. The group communicates at the grass root level through public debates and events and also in the virtual world through its Facebook groups, twitter, Youtube channels and a regularly updated website.

Youth for Change (also known as Sharara) began in 2010 and has gained popularity through its heavy online presence and organizing the January 2011 protests known as the “2011 revolution protests”.

One of their Facebook events for the protest managed to attract over 10,000 youth.

H.K, a young university student joined the Jan 30 protest.

“I took food and clothes with me in a bag and put them in the trunk of my car, I was prepared to stay the night, we wanted it to become a Tahrir square,” said H.K

There were ongoing changes on the meeting points as organizers chose streets instead of a big square like Jackson square which made protestors an easier target as police forces surrounded them and blocked side streets. Amnesty international said that at least 150 protestors were arrested.

Many youth were detained for a few days to about two weeks. Some reported torture and even sexual assault at the custody of the police forces.

A young activist arrested in Khartoum North in January 2011 reported beatings, electrocutions, sleep deprivation and other horrendous forms of torture. He was kept there for nearly 50 days and came out with a chronic back injury and complaints about his knees.

In mid-February as other protests were taking place in Khartoum and its twin cities, Safia Ishaq, a young female activist affiliated with Girifna was kidnapped by a number of men and taken to one of the security services premises.

In a case that has received public outcry, Ishaq released a testimony that was published in late February last year. She states that she was gang-rapped by three security men who also beat her, insulted her and later dumped her on the side of a road.

She recorded a video where she told her story and subsequently became the first Sudanese woman to publicly come out and speak about sexual assault by the Security organ. The video has attracted over 100,000 views so far. After the incident, Ishaq had to flee Sudan as the security service was looking for her for speaking out against the sexual assault.

Girifna continue to raise the issue of rape of Ishaq and call for justice for all sexual violence that has been committed by Sudanese security forces against many Sudanese women.

“A year ago, a young Sudanese woman was violated and many more women were silenced through fear of sexual assault. Many people stood by her side and continue to face consequences for that,” read a statement from the the group, “we will never forget Safia. We will continue to peacefully resist the current regime and after Sudan’s revolution, we will push for a fair investigation and hold her rapists accountable”

Girifna has also petitioned the government of Sudan over detentions of activists affiliated to their group. Most youth activists are being held incommunicado for weeks and in some cases months.

In January 2012, at least 10 activists from Girifna and Youth for Change were arrested and detained from a few days to up to two weeks. Other students and youth activists such as Taj Al Sir Gaafar, Muhammed Idris Jeddo and Ibrahim Majzoub remain in detention since December 2011.

published @ http://ch16.org/2012/02/13/youth-groups-pressure-sudan-government-over-rape-and-torture/

Sudanese activist admitted to hospital in critical condition

Ibrahim Ali Majzoub, a 25-year-old Sudanese activist with the Girifna (We are Fed Up) movement and the Democratic Unionist Party, has been transferred from Kober Prison in Khartoum North, to a hospital nearby, said a family friend.

Mr Majzoub was arrested in early January by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) while addressing a crowd over Manasir displacement issue at Wadi Al Neel University in River Nile State, some 300km from Khartoum.

He was detained before being transferred to Kober where he was neither charged nor tried.

"His parents went to the hospital to visit him and his mother could not recognise him," said a family friend who requested to be identified only by initials R.S.

Girifna, a youth group he is involved with, found out that he had an appendix operation while in detention and had been in pain since the operation.

He was currently at the NISS organ's hospital and was reportedly in a critical condition.

Another youth activist, Taj Al Sir Gaafar, also affiliated with the Girifna and opposition party Haq, was on day five of his hunger strike.

Gaafar was protesting his detention since December 30 last year, without a trial.

Civil resistance

A student of University of Khartoum, Gaafar mobilised over 10,000 colleagues in a protest and subsequent sit-in which led to the closure of the university late December.

Another youth activist, Muhammad Idris Jeddo ,who formerly headed the Darfur Association of Students at the University of Khartoum, was also arrested last December.

Jeddo, whose detention sparked a protest inside one of the dorms, was held at Kober Prison pending trial or charges.

His friend, who requested not to be named, told the Africa Review that he was also kidnapped from a bus at gun point.

"When we asked about him, the security services told us that he will not be released until the protest at the University of Khartoum is called off," said the friend.

There has a crackdown on youth activists and students since December 2011 as a result of on-going protests at universities all over Sudan.

Youth activists have been more vocal in calling for regime-change and civil resistance in recent months in light of the Arab Spring in neighbouring countries.

Last week, six activists from Girifna were released after a two-week detention at Kober prison, following an event they organised to discuss the developmental and the human rights situation in eastern Sudan.


published @ http://www.africareview.com/News/Sudanese+activist+admitted+to+hospital+in+critical+condition/-/979180/1328832/-/lxdtcw/-/index.html

Published: Fight the Cause

Sudan Eyez: Fight the Cause, a mix-CD that includes fourteen tracks by different Sudanese musicians and poets couldn't have been produced at a more perfect time. While Fight the Cause was being widely circulated on Facebook and downloaded for free, a wave of rage was spreading amongst Sudanese youth which one of its reasons is Safia Ishaq.

Ishaq is an activist who was gang-rapped by Sudanese security forces; angered because of what happened to Ishaq young Sudanese put her photo as their display picture in the Facebook, while many were joining groups calling for changes following Tunisia and Egypt.

In its introduction, the mix-CD emphasizes that the battle for the Sudanese cause has been ongoing for 21 years and the movement towards change started on January 30, 2011, was "inspired by the Egyptian and Tunisian youth."

By asking the listeners to make this CD the soundtrack of the 2011 Sudanese protests, the artists are actively trying to mobilize their listeners to become active and involved in the movement.

The mix-CD begins with a 1958 recording broadcasted from Omdurman Radio which was called This is Omdurman; the recording was two years after Sudan's independence from Great Britain and the year of its first military coup. Music from old Sudanese songs is sampled and integrated into a number of tracks. It covers different genres from hip-hop by US-based Sudanese rapper and poet Selma-I and Khartoum-based rappers ReZOULution, to Reggae beats by Mao and R n B by Dubai-based Sudanese artist Mo'awia known as Nile.

Featured artists easily alternate between English and Arabic and insert cultural references such as referring to the government as Kozes, a cup made of metal used for drinking water in Sudan.
Fight_the_Cause_One

Supporting an Activist

The artists began working on Fight the Cause CD after the January 30 protests and the whole idea was instigated by the arrest of rapper, blogger, activist and poet Ahmad Mahmoud, also known as DZA the Dissenter. 70 protesters were arrested on the 30th of January protest. Two days later, Mahmoud was arrested as he took part in a peaceful protest in Khartoum North.

Hashim , the brain behind the idea, said that the aim was to produce a music “ that is going to inspire the Sudanese youth so they can’t let us down when it’s the right time to make some changes,”

Picking the contributors wasn’t a challenge for Hashim, he already had a few musicians in mind. He made sure to pick the tracks that match the concept of the album. He told me in an interview that he knew that the musicians wouldn’t mind joining such an album even if it is going to bring them problems.

The tracks were already recorded; Hisham just had to pick the most suitable ones. He started working on the mix-CD and was planning to dedicate it to Ahmad Mahmoud, his fellow musician and good friend. Fortunately, Mahmoud was released twelve long days later.

In the meantime, the youth movements in Sudan decided that 21st of March was a day of mass protests. The mix-CD had to be finished and distributed beforehand.

“I really wanted that album to spread awareness so I had to publish it unfinished, after all, it took me about one month to collect the pieces,” he stated.
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Distribution

The mix-CD was distributed online. Many put a link to it on their Facebook pages. I personally stumbled upon the mix-CD after a friend of mine posted a link to it on Facebook. When I asked Hashim if they used the internet only for distributing the CD, he quoted the poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron and told me that “the revolution will not be televised,”

Gihad AbuNafeesa, a medical doctor found herself part of this artistic movement calling for change when she read about what happened to Safia Ishaq, a 25 year old artist affiliated with Girfna, a two-year old youth movement calling for change.

Ishaq was arrested on February 13, 2011, by the police for her involvement in the January 30 movement. Not long after she was released, she spoke out about her arrest, beating and subsequent gang-rape by three members of Sudan’s security service in a video testimony broadcasted on Youtube.

AbuNafeesa was heartbroken and angry by the oppression of women in Sudan and the ongoing violence against civilians and decided to use her pen to write the story of the Sudanese struggle.

In her piece, the quality of equality, performed at the Women’s Week at Ahfad University for Women in Sudan, she spoke of Ishaq when she said:

“You asked for the quality of your equality,

And gained nothing but cold depravity…

of ones who crowned your head with fear

When they unwrapped your hijab, and bound your hands -

because you chose to make a stand!”

AbuNafeesa has used Ishaq’s picture as her Facebook display picture for nearly two months now.

Published Piece:- http://www.onislam.net/english/culture-and-entertainment/music/451920-fight-the-cause-sudanese-youth-singing-for-change.html