---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Wed, Jul 18, 2012 at 9:32 AM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Sudan: protests continue To: Group <[email protected]>
1. Sudan prisoners' relatives beaten, dispersed-witness Tue Jul 17, 2012 6:09pm GMT KHARTOUM, July 17 (Reuters) - Sudanese security forces broke up a protest in central Khartoum on Tuesday by dozens of people demanding the release of relatives jailed for taking part in four weeks of anti-government demonstrations, a witness said. The demonstrators began gathering in front of national security headquarters in the centre of the capital, but police and security agents quickly dispersed them, the witness said. "Agents in civilian clothes beat with batons several young men trying to gather," he said. "They arrested several people and dragged them away." Some protesters briefly held up pictures of jailed relatives. Some 2,000 people have been detained since small protests began last month against austerity measures and the 23-year rule of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said last week, citing Sudanese activists. Sudan has had no mass protests like those in Egypt or Yemen but opposition to Bashir, in power since 1989, is increasing, acclerated by the country's economic problems. In another sign of dissent, around 60 journalists protested against a security crackdown on independent newspapers, witnesses said. They shouted "freedom, freedom" in front of the Sudanese Union of Journalists. Since the start of the year the authorities have closed several newspapers and confiscated dozens of entire editions before publication to stop critical coverage, editors say. Sudan is suffering a severe economic crisis, resulting from the loss of much of its oil when South Sudan broke away and became independent a year ago. Year on year inflation was 37.2 percent in June, double the rate of June 2011, adding to the hardships faced by millions of Sudanese after years of crises, ethnic conflicts and U.S. sanctions. (Writing by Ulf Laessing; editing by Tim Pearce) http://af.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFL6E8IHLH020120717?sp=true END1 2. Sudanese police clash with Khartoum University students July 16, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Police and security forces are currently clashing with students of Khartoum University (UoK) after they attempted to march in a peaceful protest to the office of the University’s director, Sidiq Haiati, activists said, on Tuesday’s afternoon, one day after the director said he rejected police involvement in university affairs. Activists also told Sudan Tribune that earlier on Tuesday the police had raided the dormitories of the main campus in down town Khartoum and fired tear gas at the students who refused to vacate in compliance with the University’s decision to close some faculties. UoK has been witnessing increased protests and clashes between student activists and police forces, supported by pro-regime militiamen and students known as Rabata, since the birth of widespread demonstrations in response to worsening economic conditions on 16 June. The most violent confrontation occurred on 11 July, when police firing teargas and Rabata armed with machetes raided one of the University’s campuses in Khartoum and clashed with protesting students. The anti-government youth group Girifna announced on Tuesday via Twitter that security forces are currently clashing with students who attempted to stage a marching protest to the university director’s office. The protest attempt comes after the university’s director, Sidiq Haiati, made a rare appearance at a press conference held on Monday to deny that the decision to close the university was politically motivated. Haiati claimed that many faculties had already finished their term and that’s why they had decided to close during Ramadan. He accused some unknown parties of seeking to profit politically and spreading rumors about his resignation. Haiati was reacting to press reports that said he had tendered his resignation after he was ordered to close the university by the director general of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS), Mohammed Atta. The director however stressed that the administration has a clear position on the entrance of the police force onto the campuses, explaining that they reject the involvement of the police without prior permission from the administration. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/BREAKING-NEWS-Sudanese-police,43289 END2 3. Press Release: UN Watch Outrage: Sudan's Al-Bashir, Indicted for Genocide, is Nominated for Seat on U.N. Human Rights Council Rights group UN Watch urges Ban Ki-moon, rights chief Navi Pillay to speak out GENEVA, July 12 - Geneva-based human rights group UN Watch urged United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to urgently speak out against the African-backed bid by Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir, indicted for genocide by the International Criminal Court, for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council. Last week, the U.S. failed to get the council to pass a condemnation of what it said was a Syrian candidacy for 2014. The NGO UN Watch also called on US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU's Catherine Ashton to denounce and fight against Sudan's candidacy. "Electing Sudan to the U.N. body mandated to promote and protect human rights worldwide is like putting Jack the Ripper in charge of a women's shelter," said Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch. UN Watch already heads an international campaign of MPs and human rights groups opposing the candidacies of Venezuela and Pakistan. The U.N.'s African group of states agreed behind closed doors to endorse the candidacies of Ethiopia, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Sudan. Because Africa has arranged for five countries to run for the same amount of allotted seats, Sudan's election is virtually assured. "Technically," said Neuer, "Sudan must still receive an absolute majority of 97 affirmative country votes in the U.N. General Assembly's November election for new human rights council members. However, in the history of these ballots, names presented on a closed slate have never been rejected. It's just the way U.N. ambassadors work. And the fact is that Sudan has been chosen to head various U.N. groupings, so its election to the UNHRC, however outrageous, is a real possibility." Neuer said that UN rights chief Navi Pillay, who hails from South Africa, could make a big difference by speaking out. "We need her to be the moral voice here, to urge other African countries to put their names forward, and to call for unequivocal opposition to Sudan's scandalous bid. Her role is crucial." "Just a year after the human rights council sought to exorcise the ghosts of its past by suspending Col. Muammar Qaddafi's Libya -- which infamously chaired the body in 2003, and was reelected a member in 2010 -- it is now set to replace him with a tyrant wanted for genocide by the International Criminal Court. For how long must we have the inmates running the asylum?" Neuer said that Sudan clearly failed to meet the criteria of UNGA Resolution 60/251, which established the UN Human Rights Council in 2006. General Assembly members are obliged to elect states to the Council by "tak[ing] into account the candidates’ contribution to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto." The resolution also provides that consideration ought to be given to whether the candidate can meet the obligations of Council membership, which include (a) to "uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights" and (b) to "fully cooperate with the Council." "The U.N. and the cause of human rights will be severely damaged if Al-Bashir's Sudanese regime wins a seat," said Neuer. UN Watch also called on the U.S. and the EU to lead a vigorous campaign to defeat Sudan's candidacy, and to ensure there will be competition on the African slate of candidates. "Last year, the democracies fought a successful campaign to defeat Syria, by persuading other countries to compete. Yet they said and did absolutely nothing in 2010 on Libya -- perhaps due to lucrative oil and business deals -- and Qaddafi won by a landslide. It's vital this year that the US and the EU announce early that they are opposed to having the oppressive Sudanese regime of Al-Bashir Assad judging the world on human rights," said Neuer. UN Watch is a Geneva-based human rights organization founded in 1993 to monitor UN compliance with the principles of its Charter. It is accredited as a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and as an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information. http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1316871&ct=12008107 END3 4. NCP says Sudan lacks basis for ’Arab Spring’ July 16, 2012 (KHARTOUM) – Officials from Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have refused to equate ongoing protests in the country to the Arab Spring phenomenon, casting the unrest as a sabotage plot by opposition parties. NCP’s leading member Qutbi Al-Mahdi said on Monday that opposition parties are incapable of emulating their counterparts in Arab countries and create a revolution in Sudan. He asserted that opposition parties do not have programs for resolving the economic crisis. Worsening economic conditions have triggered small but widespread protests across different parts of Sudan for the last month. The NCP attributes Sudan’s current economic situation, as manifested in soaring inflation and depreciation of currency, to the loss of about three quarters of the country’s oil production due to South Sudan secession. Critics however point to NCP’s rampant corruption, chronic mismanagement, and overspending on defence and security to fund wars and remain in power. According to Qutbi, the people did not respond to calls for protests because they realise that the opposition has no economic policies or programs that are better than those of the government. The NCP figure voiced confidence that Sudanese people enjoy a level of awareness that will prevent them from taking to the streets to enable traditional opposition parties who ruled before to return to power. “If the opposition ever ruled Sudan again it will take the country down,” he said before returning to criticise opposition parties for attempting to imitate the Arab Spring style of protests saying that the Arab Spring will not manifest in Sudan because its basis are not existent. Similarly, the NCP’s political secretary, Hasabu Mohamed Abdel-Rahman, said on Monday that opposition parties are incapacitated due to their ideological and political divisions. Hasabu reiterated that the NCP stands for freedom of expression but will apply the law against anyone who commits sabotage. Earlier this month, mainstream opposition parties allied under the coalition National Consensus Forces (NCF) signed a charter called the ’democratic alternative’ which forged consensus on regime change through peaceful means and outlined the basis for a three year transitional period to run the country after the fall of the NCP. But it is unclear whether these parties are throwing their full weight behind the protests which have so far been led by anti-government youth activists. Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, leader of the opposition National Umma Party (NUP), says he is conducting a dialogue with the NCP to ensure a peaceful transition of power. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/NCP-says-Sudan-lacks-basis-of-Arab,43287 END4 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 82 050 1235 (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. 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