---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Tue, May 3, 2011 at 4:35 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fw: Omar al-Bashir may court the west, but his people are still suffering To: Group <[email protected]>
It's good to see the Guardian giving the right of reply to someone who speaks from experience about Sudan, as recent articles by the Guardian's Simon Tisdall appear to be little but pro-NCP propaganda. John BEGIN Omar al-Bashir may court the west, but his people are still suffering His denial of genocide is part of a cynical PR campaign to distract from his ongoing crimes o Abeer Awooda o The Guardian, Tuesday 3 May 2011 As a recent refugee from Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's regime, I found it disturbing to read the headline for his interview with Simon Tisdall (Genocidal mastermind or bringer of peace? Bashir says he is a wronged man, 21 April). The implication that Bashir's motives are misunderstood is not a picture his millions of Sudanese victims would recognise. The interview was described as "his first with a western news organisation since Bashir was charged with genocide by the international criminal court". He is determined never to face this charge in a courtroom, preferring to fire off denials and denunciations through the media, and the interview seemed to give him a platform to grandstand. The article implies that Bashir is a victim who is simply being demonised: "For human rights pressure groups, some southern Sudanese and Darfuri separatists, American Christian evangelicals, and US and European neocons, Bashir is … a sort of African Stalin." But Bashir's longest battle is not with the west but against his own people. I am of Darfuri heritage and my people are among the most recent witnesses to Bashir's continuous aggression against all corners of his country: 300,000 killed and 2.7 million displaced are not figments of the west's imagination, they are our nightmare reality. Bashir cleverly "accepted responsibility" for what has happened in Darfur while simultaneously denying orchestrating any attacks on civilians himself – the main charge against him. Bashir has not only waged war but has created an oppressive state that I was lucky to escape from – with help from human rights campaigners such as Waging Peace. My journalism angered the state censors. As a woman, daring to wear trousers also brought the attention of Bashir's thuggish security services, and I endured arrest, and then torture. So it was with a hollow laugh that I read that "compared with many Arab countries, Sudanese sources in Khartoum say Sudan's many opposition parties, independent newspapers and women's groups enjoy considerable freedoms". In denying genocide and belittling human rights abuses, Bashir is clearly running a cynical PR campaign designed to distract while he continues to commit more crimes. The conflict in Darfur has already killed hundreds of thousands – only last week Bashir's forces bombed civilians with fighter jets. My fellow women, journalists and dissenting voices back in Khartoum find that their repression has reintensified since fledging Arab spring protests against the regime in February were brutally crushed. Bashir's re-engagement with the western media may actually be a bad omen. He allowed Southern Sudan to hold a referendum on splitting away and then expects to be rewarded by the west for restricting himself to small acts of destabilisation rather than full-scale war in response. He may even persuade the UN to forget all about his indictment for genocide and crimes against humanity. He has already declared that Sudan will move faster towards full sharia law under an Islamic government after southern secession. If he gets away with all this, under the cover of irrelevant rants against the western world, it will once again be my people who suffer. END ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor Sudan Ecumenical Forum [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.co.za/group/sudan-john-ashworth -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
