U.S. resident caught up in Sudan's protest movement NPR, 19/7/2012 – Rudwan Dawod stands in front of a school he helped build in Turalei, South Sudan. The Oregon resident is now detained in Sudan, accused of terrorism after he participated in protests there. Rudwan Dawod stands in front of a school he helped build in Turalei, South Sudan. The Oregon resident is now detained in Sudan, accused of terrorism after he participated in protests there. American Nancy Williams and Sudanese Rudwan Dawod met in South Sudan, where they were both working. The two fell in love and married, and they're expecting their first child in September. But while Nancy Williams Dawod is home in Oregon, her husband, who has U.S. residency, is in detention in Sudan, facing terrorism charges and possibly a death sentence. He is due to appear in court next week. Dawod is a Muslim from restive Darfur and was visiting his family in the capital, Khartoum, en route to starting work on another volunteer project for the nongovernmental organization Sudan Sunrise in recently independent South Sudan. In the past, he has helped build schools in the South and had plans to rebuild a church destroyed during the long civil war. But on July 3, Dawod was arrested after his group Girifna, which means "We're Fed Up" in Arabic, organized a peaceful demonstration. In June, university students started a wave of protests against the government of President Omar al-Bashir and against austerity and the high cost of living in Sudan. Rights groups say up to 2,000 people have been detained. Speaking to France-24 television network before his arrest, Dawod said: "I'm not fighting against al-Bashir in person. He's not the only problem. I'm fighting against the discrimination. I'm fighting against the marginalization, the lack of freedom, the lack of democracy." Dawod concluded: "We really need to do a lot in Sudan. I really love Sudan. I belong to the U.S., too, but this is my native country, so I will live here forever, and I will die in Sudan, too."
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