Unhealed Darfur… Nyala Massacre

On July 31st 2012, I was a little bit sick that day; actually the sickness was a result of fasting without eating enough food. It was Ramadan and many friends were fasting under NISS custody, probably they were tortured and find no mercy in the month of mercy. It was a nightmare for the families to gather at breaking the fast and a beloved person is missing. The intensity and frequency of protests were decreasing in Khartoum. All the elements of frustration were there in addition to hunger and low blood pressure. I decided to spend that day just laying on my bed. Not to do any thing and basically to avoid FB and twitter. I heard my father sadly saying There is No Power but from Allah. I run to his room and asked him whats happening he said " they killed the kids in Nyala"
I've just turned backwards and slept. This was too much sorrow, anger and sadness to handle. I kept following the news from my dad and my brother. I expected the day after to find the streets of Khartoum are full of protesters demanding justice for Nyala massacre victims but nobody were there. I wasn't surprised; more than 300,000 persons were killed in Darfur; 2,000,000 were displaced and nobody were protesting against this in Khartoum. I was also surprised by the shocked faces of Khartoum people; I kept saying yeah they shot fire on peaceful protesters, they are killers, nothing is new about this; the killers are still there. What would we expect from a government killed more than 300,000 without held responsible and being accountable to these crimes. Simply they'll continue killing and firing them. I was so angry and so many people were angry too, but we didn't took the streets. Khartoum anti regime protesters waited Friday prayers and gathered again in Wd Nubawi mosque. Although many of them have mentioned that Ansar sect were not happy with Friday protests heading from their mosque since Shozaz Alafag Friday on 6th July 2012. On 13th July; the Kandake Friday some Ansari women quarreled with protesting women telling them that It seems they didn't came for the prayers rather than the "protests" and they are ruining some marriage ceremonies. Finally on Friday August 3rd, when people gathered to pray for the souls of Nyala Massacre victims Imam asked them not to distort the mosque mandates and activities by organizing protests.
Although it was a big frustration for the protesters but the whole issue were distorted. Most of the activists rather than thinking about managing protests from other place than Wd Nubawi mosque; were busy with analyzing if Umma party and Ansar sect betrayed them or not; was this failure due to lack of coordination or it revealed the party standing point.  The whole issue of solidarity and demanding justice for the Nyala massacre victims' were forgotten.

It took me 3 weeks to write this post; because I didn't know how can I write it. Even-more; I was questioning the value of blogging about peaceful protests firing and murder of children without taking the streets.I'm convinced that justice would never be achieved under this regime. The atrocity of Nyala massacre could never be reflected in a blog post; at the same time I could never pretend that nothing happened and continue writing about trivial things.

Although protests subsided now but it will revive again soon or later. This wouldn't be the last massacre in Darfur and we must never forget the victims. July 31st will always be a sad day witnessed the killing of 13 peaceful protestors and the injuring of more than a hundred of them.

#SudanRevolts

Published also herehttp://sudanyat.wordpress.com/2012/08/24/unhealed-darfur-nyala-massacre/

لا شكر ... لا عزاء

تزامن اطلاق سراح مئات معتقلين/ات احتجاجات يونيو-يوليو 2012 مع الذكرى الثانية والعشرين لمجزرة شهداء رمضان(مدونة شهداء رمضان) لن يمحي جرائم الانقاذ.

مئات الاسر اليوم تنام قريرة العين لعودة ابنائها وبناتها بعد غياب ناهز الشهرين ، 

ومئات الاسر ايضاً تنام وفي خاطرها ذكرى قتلاها ومفقوديها ، ...

عوضية عجبنا ؛ اول عيد بعد الرحيل...

في نيالا عشرات الاسر لا تزال في حالة حداد على ارواح اطفالها ؛ ضحايا مذبحة نيالا 31 يوليو 2012 ... 

في كتم وكساب ؛ في معسكرات النازحين ؛ لا مكان لسرادق العزاء ، حيث الترقب خوفاً من مذابح جديدة على يد مليشيات الجنجويد، على مرآى ومسمع من الحكومة... 

وفي مليط لن يأتي عيد للاطفال هذا العام ، فقد سلبتهم عصابات النهب المسلح اموال اسرهم وهداياهم ...

اطفال جليلة خميس واطفال منعم رحمة لا زالوا ينتظرونهم ...

وكثيرون في كجبار وبورتسودان ، في النيل الازرق وجنوب كردفان ، والقائمة تطول...

لا شكر لحكومة الانقاذ لإفراجها عن المعتقلين/ات ...

لا شكر على واجب تأخر كثيراً ؛ رغم انني لن اتفاجأ ان سمعت متحدثاً ذات يوم يضيف "اطلاق سراح المعتقلين/ات المتهمين/ات بالشغب والتخريب قبل يومين من عيد الفطر" الي انجازات الانقاذ بجانب "الكباري والسدود"

عوداً حميداً وحمداً لله على سلامة الاحرار والحرائر

لا يزال القتلة طلقاء ، ولكنهم ليسوا احراراً

لا عزاء

#السودان_ينتفض

One Year After South Sudan's Secession, the North Is on Fire

Published here

"I called my mum and dad's mobiles but they were not picking up. I kept calling them for the whole of last night until their phones were switched off. Then I started calling our neighbors, one of them answered my call saying that my family and all the people ran away after war broke down in our village. Nobody was left behind except the dead." Ibtisam* is a student from Deling in Southern Kordofan and these were her words on Thursday 9 June 2011 when she spoke about the war she had suffered. One year ago.
I thought that the secession of South Sudan would be the price of peace; preserving the lives and the dignity of the Sudanese people so that we could hold the pain of our failure to coexist peacefully. But losing the South, not making peace and triggering a war in the new South is a nightmare. It is hard to think about your government's aircrafts bombing your fellow citizens and sleep comfortably that night, even if you are living thousands of miles away from the war zone. Our innocent people in the Nuba Mountains are losing their homes, their families and their lives; they are paying the price of our Government's greed.
Since June 2011, the Nuba Mountains have been a restricted access area with no relief or humanitarian aid able to reach the victims of war. While aircrafts have bombed villages, few local human rights monitors are documenting the violations. While the international community was silently watching, Blue Nile state followed the Nuba Mountains in its decent to war in September 2011.
Another episode of war began three months ago as clashes took place between South Sudan and Sudan in Heglig, an oil rich border area. These clashes affected the citizens of both countries. In Sudan, the escalation of war has worsened our poor economic situation even more and living expenses have doubled in just a few days. The lives of Southerners who remain in the north have been threatened by hate speeches made by President Al Bashir and Government officials. People went crazy on the streets chanting for Sudan's Armed Forces (SAF), to beat the "insects" of South Sudan's army as Al Bashir called them. One day after declaring victory in Heglig, a church was burnt in Khartoum.
Freedoms have shrunk since July 2011. We now have a one party government attempting to impose a single identity on the nation. Every person or group which dares to declare itself different is regarded as "other".
My generation has witnessed the North-South war in the name of religion. In the 1990s many Sudanese youth took part in the Jihad, believing that Allah would reward them with heaven if they died at war. Most families have lost a loved one. We were the children of war propaganda; few of us realized the sins of war after struggling emotionally and mentally to understand the necessity of peace.
I believe that many lives have been destroyed by the war. But being killed in war isn't the worst that can happen. Children have lost their families and have been displaced and exploited as soldiers. They've lost their hopes for a better future. Women were raped and tortured and saw their own children and husbands slaughtered. People were starved to death while escaping war. A whole nation has been deformed by the sins of war.
I dream of a country where civil records officers do not put your tribe as a vital information for a national ID. I dream of a better Sudan where my children and the children of the Nuba Mountains enjoy the right to life, access to education and health care.
For all of the above mentioned reasons I say "never again".

*Name changed for security reasons
www.wechoosepeace.org #ChoosePeace

To Margret: I Hope This Post Will Find A Way To You

Since I was a primary school child, I was told in the school and TV that southerners are our enemy, they want to control our country and if we let them to do so, they will confiscate our houses and treat us as their slaves. They will destroy our mosques and burn Quran. We told that they are already doing this in the areas controlled by SPLA. We were forced to chant for Jihad, pay our share of feeding the soldiers and pray for our brothers to be safe and win "our" battle of Islam. 

I remember one of my class mates (Margret) was crying someday; she was terrified by war slogans and felt threatened by them. That day I questioned myself why the sweet Margret was terrified? We were chanting for the bad southerners not her, I told her she will be OK but somehow I felt guilty of letting her feel as such. Surprisingly I realized later all southerners felt like Margret.

The 9 years old girls started talking; why Margret was attending the school with us while all Southerners were attending Comboni school attached to the Evangelical Church? she will be fine there and will be easily integrated ignoring the fact that she is Sudanese and has the right to attend any public school.

Dear Margret;

please accept our deep sorrows and apologies for hate we spread; you know we liked you very much. We were just school kids and didn't mean to hurt you. Now I can imagine the pain you felt while the girls asked you to leave the school. The fear you lived in when we chant for Jihad and the killing of Southerners. If you voted to South Sudan separation no body can blame you. If you choose not to leave your home in Algazeera, you should have the choice, and for you Sudan revolts.

يا سعاد الفاتح ... ان شالله تكوني عرفتي بنات الداخلية الما لقوا يبيعو شاي بيسوا شنو

"الراجل بيرسل لي بنته في الداخلية عشرين جنيه، ودي ما بتغديها أسبوع كامل، فالحرة منهن بتعمل طربيزة شاي جوة الداخلية، والتانيات انتو عارفين بعملن شنو" النائبة البرلمانية سعاد الفاتح مخاطبة البرلمان السوداني

مساء السبت 16 يونيو 2012 انطلقت الاحتجاجات والهتافات من داخلية البركس للبنات واغلبية قاطناتها من طالبات جامعة الخرطوم في تظاهرة هادرة تندد بالغلاء، قمعت قوات الشرطة التظاهرة واقتحمت داخلية البنات مما أدى لإصابة عدد منهن.


كانت هذه التظاهرة شرارة انطلاق لعدد من التظاهرات ابتداء من صبيحة اليوم التالي ؛ الاحد 17 يونيو 2012 وتم اقتحام الداخلية مرة اخرى ذاك المساء بواسطة قوات الشرطة والامن.


واليوم الاثنين 18 يونيو 2012 وفي هذه اللحظة تحديداً تحاصر قوات الشرطة داخلية طالبات جامعة السودان (البركل) ويتم قذفهن بالقنابل المسيلة للدموع.


هذا في اشارة بسيطة يا سعادة البرلمانية بما تفعله الطالبات القادمات من الاقاليم ، اللائي لا يجد ما يسد الرمق وحكومتك وحزبك الاسلامي لا يملك سوى تضييق العيش عليهن وتلطيخ سمعتهن وقذفهن بمثل هذه الاحاديث ، نحن نعلم ما يفعلنه ، لقد قطنت هذه الداخليات منذ 8 سنوات مضت ، وقتها لم يكن العيش مضنياً هكذا ، ولكن اغلب زميلات السكن كن من أسر بسيطة ، تقتطع من قوتها اليومي لتبعث بحفنة من النقود لبناتها المتغربات وان كانت لا تكفي، أعرف بعض الزميلات كن يتناولن وجبة واحدة فقط يومياً ، أغلبهن عانين من سوء التغذية ونقصان الوزن طوال فترة دراستهن الجامعية ، وقد كن قبلاً صحيحات الجسد ولكن غلاء المعيشة في الخرطوم ما أدى الى ذلك ، فضلاً عن ذلك في احد الفصول الدراسية أصيب الجميع بشتى امراض الجهاز الهضمي من قرحة معوية وقرحة اثنى عشر لما عانينه من جوع أو التايفويد والديدان لرداءة الطعام المتوفر. 


أحيطك علماً يا سعاد ، ان كنتي لا تعلمين ، فهؤلاء الفتيات الهزيلات البنية ، الجائعات ، كن الاكثر حرصاً علي الدراسة والاجتهاد واحراز أعلى الدرجات ، وكن الاكثر استقامة خلقاً واخلاقاً. وقد صعقت يوماً عندما سألتني احدى النساء عن مدى صحة ما يحدث في الداخليات ، وان فتيات الارياف يحملن سفاحاً وينجبن وهذا مالم أشهده قط ولكن لا أكف عن سماعه من أفواهكم كما أوردت في حديثك البرلماني أو أقرأه في صحفكم الصفراء التي تقتات من الشائعات والمصائب الاخلاقية. ولكن ما أجده مثيراً في مخاطبتك أعلاه للبرلمان هو اعترافك بأن مهنة الشاي عمل الحرائر ، وانطلاقاً من هذا الاعتراف فانا أناشدك بأن تقودي حملة ضد ما تمارسه المحليات ودوريات النظام العام من ظلم وانتهاك لبائعات الشاي ، تارة للجباية وتارة لإساءتهن وقذفهن بالسوء.


هؤلاء الفتيات كن من جيلي ، عندما لم نكن نتظاهر لاسقاط النظام فحينها كنا نراه بعيداً ، وعندما لم نتظاهر ضد الغلاء حيث لم يكن قد وصل ذروته بعد ووقتها كنتم تتمتعون ببترول الجنوب ، لكننا تظاهرنا من أجل ابسط حقوقنا كالعيش الكريم الذي لطالما حاول صندوق نهب الطلاب ومنسوبيكم حرماننا منه ، حيث يتم تكديس الفتيات في الغرف وتحوي الغرفة من 8- 10 افراد بل ووصلت بكم الجرأة الي تسكين15 طالبة من كلية المختبرات الطبية في غرفة واحدة في الوقت الذي تحتل فيه بعض الفتيات من منسوبيكم غرفة كاملة منفردة بها ولا نعلم لأي كلية أو جامعة كن ينتمين ، وقاتلنا من أجل توفير الخدمات الاساسية من مياه وصرف صحي في الداخليات ، وكانت الاحتجاجات تخرج عفوية بلا تنظيم تنخرط فيها كل الفتيات باختلاف انتماءاتهن.


واليوم أن طالبات الجامعات ، القرويات ، الفقيرات ، الحرائر ، الشريفات ، اخترن أن يسلكن طريقاً اخر ، غير الذي ترينه وتعتقدينه ، فبدلاً عن ما تظنينه لقد اخترن المقاومة والصمود في وجه مليشيات الشرطة وعصابات الامن المسلحة ، لا يملكن سوى الهتافات والتفافهن حول قضية هي بالاساس قضية شعب بأكمله ، شعب يرهن  بقاءه بزوالكم ، وانتم حتماً زائلون. 

يا سعاد ... الما لقت تبيع شاي بتطلع مظاهرة ... عشان اختها الصغيرة او بتها ما تجي تلقاك لسة قاعدة في البرلمان وبتشوهي في سمعتها

#السودان_ينتفض

Nubian Survivors... Telling Their Stories

I've lost two post graduate scholarships because of my ethnicity, The officer asked me to proof that I'm Kenyan by showing my parents birth and marriage certificates which is impossible for a person born in 1940's; the officer himself who was my school mate doesn't have his parents' birth and marriage certificates, luckily he is not a Kenyan Nubian" Said Nubian Elder from Kenya

I ran all over the way crossing boarders to Kenya, left my mother and my family behind escaping from the war in Northern Uganda. We settled in Kakuma Refugee Camp where I met my mother and my family was a life. We didn't eat for many days and finding food was hindered by the local community who were surrounding the camp and checking us like aliens" Said Ugandan Nubian Elder.

Nubian are ethnic group living in South Kordofan region and the far North of Sudan, some of them were taken to Kenya by the British colonization and settled there. Nubian are found also in Northern Uganda and some part of DRC. They conserve their culture, they share the same status of subordination across the region of East Africa

Regarding the status of Nubian Sudanese  nationals; nothing to say more than all the audience of the event were refugees who flee from Sudan a year ago with the escalation of violence in their home land; Nuba Mountains.

On June 2011 the war broke between Sudanese Arm Forces (SAF) and Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/ North Sector (SPLA/NS) triggered by bombing the house of SPLA leader and state governor candidate  Alhilo. On May 2012 Human Rights Watch reported finding a cluster bomb (its usage is banned internationally) in the war zone.  HRW Report

During the past 12 months uncountable number of Nubian were, murdered, injured and displaced. The authorities does not open IDP camps around Khartoum and other cities, so most of the survivors have to live with their relatives and former neighbors who were lucky enough to flee the region and resettle in other cities like Khartoum. Nubian activists have been targeted by the authorities; Jalila Khamis Kuku was kidnapped from her house in her night clothes and detained since March 14th, 2012 till now without facing any charges.

One more shared characteristic between the Nubian across the borders is their strength and the ability to survive and tell their stories.

Much appreciation to KACE Sudan, Kampala Office for spotting light on the culture and status of Nubian in the region. Personally I didn't know anything about Kenyan Nubian before attending this event. Here is a summary of the event "Nubian Across Borders Week" http://www.kacesudan.org/pages/nubian1.html

Photo by: Ayman Hussien; Nubian drums band performing at KACE

Diaries of Ethiopian Lady in Khartoum

This post is a reflection of real stories I've witnessed happening to Ethiopian ladies in Khartoum, the capital of Shariaa and civilization project.

The 1st scene, on May 7th 2012:

A whole family was arrested even the children in Adiem near Bashdar station. 

It was the afternoon and the police raided the house where we sell food and they knew about us, but they come from time to time to confiscating our utensils. Tomorrow we  will be judge immediately after accusing us of managing prostitution place. They know we are not prostitutes, we are just selling food. we left our families behind and promised to send a lot of money monthly.Our money is not enough to pay the fine, live and send some money back Now we should find alternatives for selling food. Anyhow we are harassed several  times a day in the streets, by our costumers and police men, having no choice rather than living with abuses, so may prostitution would be a choice.