SUDAN IN ARAB SPRING TENTACLES

DISSENT SPROUTS NOW IN SUDAN

IS ARAB SPRING SWEEPING IN?

~Asif Nawaz

Arab spring still continues, spreading its tentacles to other parts of the Arab World. Earlier it dismantled monarchies in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, and now is cause of great concern for the dictator in Syria.

Now, Arab spring has reached Sudan; a North African Muslim populated country, rated as among the ten most repressive and corrupt nations by Freedom House and Transparency International, there are no freedom of speech or assembly in the country. The stuttering economy is in the hands of the ruling elite in Khartoum and their cronies, and the regions have been marginalised for decades. This is not the first sign of the Arab Spring in Sudan. Demonstrations last year were swiftly crushed. Sudan is currently facing the same kind of scenario which was there in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen prior to the revolution. A dictator is ruling the country for a long period of time, in the name of democracy and being publicly elected by so called neat and fair general elections. Everything in the country is owned and regulated by the president, whether it is legislature, executive or judiciary or even media.

Sudan is known as a failed state for its social, political, and economic shortcomings. Basic freedoms are minimal; women are oppressed and activists, journalists and politicians arrested arbitrarily. Poverty, estimated at 46.5% overall and 57.6% in rural areas, grows more acute. Corruption is pervasive. Sudan’s Human Development Index is lowest of all MENA countries – 169 of 187 overall. With conflicts in every corner of the country, the South may not be the last to secede.

People in Sudan have seen many ups and downs in past few years. Recently on 9^th July 2011, they have tested the bitterness of separation of its territory and formation of new South Sudan after a long confrontation between mostly Muslim North Sudan and mostly non-Muslim South Sudan. But today they are out of their homes, inspired by their brethren in other parts of the Middle East, demanding their rights and protesting against the government and calling its end.

The recent uprising in Sudan came into being After President Omar al-Bashir announced austerity measures, including tax hikes and an end to cheap fuel. He has defended his austerity measures by noting that with the secession of South Sudan, his country has turned from an oil exporter to an importer, because it has lost a third of its territory, and most of its oil to the new South Sudan. He also pointed to the costly conflict with South Sudan, where key issues like borders and control of oil fields have not been settled. Sudan lost three-quarters of its oil revenue after South Sudan gained independence last year, forcing the government to impose cuts that have hit Sudanese who were already grappling with soaring inflation and a weakening currency.

But the Sudanese people did not accept his justification; rather they called for strikes, sit-ins and demonstrations to topple Bashir’s government, throwing their weight behind recent anti-austerity protests, which have also involved calls for greater freedoms.

The latest round of protest began on the evening of June 16^th, 2012, when female dormitory residents at the University of Khartoum staged an impromptu demonstration in opposition to increased meal and transport prices. A week earlier the Khartoum State Governor had increased transport prices by 35%. The male students quickly joined forces and together they moved the protest off-campus. They were violently met by police forces. After dispersing the protest, the police raided the university dorms, beating and harassing female occupants. News of these events spread across the university the following morning, sparking a university-wide protest in solidarity.

One next Friday, people came on streets in much large numbers i.e. more than 20,000. The clashes took place as part of Friday demonstrations that have been dubbed by some activists “The Friday of Elbow-licking” to mock the NCP’s vice chairman, Nafie Ali Nafie, who famously used the Sudanese idiom “only if you can lick your elbows” to dismiss the possibility of an Arab Spring style uprising against the regime.

Since then, protests have continued, without end. Locals have now joined the revolt, spurred by the student uprising, fueled by economic hardships, and provoked by the government’s ‘fiscal austerity’ program. Protests have spread to a number of districts including AlKalakla, AlQubba, Kober, Burri, Riyad, Al-Manshiya and in Omdurman.

Reasons of uprising in Sudan

The reason behind this uprising, I think, is not only the austerity measures taken by the government aiming at reducing a $2.4bn (£1.3bn) budget deficit. But long lasting tyranny exercised by the government upon the citizens is also the main reason.

The austerity measure just worked as a spark to light the fire like the Bu Azizi’s step was. Everyone in the Sudan is very worried due to deteriorating economic situation as well as political condition. But no one was getting any idea to come out of these circumstances. So, when recent agitation started on last 16^th June, everybody participated in this expressing their anger and dissent.

BBC Arabic has conducted a discussion point after these developments to find out the main reasons behind the recent uprising in Sudan. Many Sudanese have participated and told the real situation of their country. One of them was a female activist Wafa Mohammad Al-Ameen (24). She complains that the Salary is not enough to pay house rent or even water and electricity bill, and she said I am not mentioning anything about going to the doctor or buy medicine. She raised a question “think about those who are doing marginal jobs, or those that do not find a job? Indeed they will die, if not by hunger, may be by the disease caused by malnutrition. She was very angry while talking to BBC saying that what is happening in Sudan is the feeling of angry citizens, because this is not a crisis of resources, as portrayed by the government, it is a crisis of management and the matter of corruption in the ruling political class, where 90% of resources go to their benefits, and security and military purposes. 

Who is leading the protests in Sudan?

 

The University of Khartoum and the student population have been the heartbeat of this recent mobilisation. They are real key players. But now all other political and religious parties are coming forward in support of these guys. Opposition parties loosely allied under the umbrella of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) which includes the National Umma Party (NUP) of Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and the Popular Congress Party (PCP) of Hassan Al-Turabi, were held back from throwing their full weight behind the protests due to their disagreements on how to administer the country after the government is toppled. Meanwhile, youth opposition groups such as GIRIFNA have been at the forefront of the protests which widened over the following one month with hundreds of demonstrators; burning tires and chanting slogans denouncing price rise and calling for the downfall of the regime in various parts of the capital Khartoum and 10 regional towns.

But till now there has been no Islamic party or movement came forward. Opposition parties are very weak in Sudan despite being a multi party state, because they haven’t been given enough space and chance to flourish and gain a hold in the nation. E. J. Hogendoorn, the Horn of Africa project director for the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based organisation that studies conflict, said “Unlike in Egypt, as of yet, the Sudanese lack an organised and disciplined party, like the Muslim Brotherhood, that can form the core of the protest movement,”

Islamic party or movement’s not coming forward might be because of their cautious measures as the Muslim Brotherhood did in Egypt. But it is fact, that not only in Sudan, if any change happens in any part of Arab world, there will be no option other than Islam.

What are the demands of these protests?

 

Many pro-Sudan government elements claim that the Sudan uprising is disorganized and without a demand led focus, to downplay the scale of the protests. But it’s wrong. They have the same demands which the Tunisians, Libyans or Egyptians had. They want freedom, justice and dignity. And finally a list of 16 demands has been formulated by these Protestors which includes the resignation of the National Congress Party (NCP) government, to be replaced by a transitional government that represents all geographical regions of Sudan, its civil society agencies, youth and women, conducting national elections within a time-frame that is no longer than two years, according to "GIRIFNA" opposition group website.

Demands also consist of eliminating all public order laws and laws restricting freedoms, demolishing abolishing all increases imposed by the government on the prices of basic consumption goods such as fuel, sugar and food, releasing all political prisoners and ensure freedom of political participation and freedom of the press, ending the use of religion to terrorize political opponents as well as stop all atonement campaigns and accusations of treason, 13, Conducting a national conference to find a mechanism to govern Sudan and find solutions to the current national crisis, and adopting a democratic mechanism to draft and approve a national constitution that codifies these demands for freedom, social justice and equity into law.

Role of Media

Media’s role in whole Arab uprising has been a very positive and appreciating. Al-Jazeera as well as BBC and CNN were seen as ‘friends’ to Tunisians, Libyans and Egyptians, but this has not been the case in Sudan. Both Al-Jazeera [English and Arabic] and A.J. Stream have been accused of supporting the Bashir regime by a number of Sudanese tweeters. And the government also has censored local coverage of protests and has detained all journalists attempting to report on the demonstrations, including A.F.P.’s resident correspondent, Simon Martelli, who was arrested outside the University of Khartoum. But it is uplifting to note that the momentum gained so far has continued despite the media blackout on Sudan’s revolt.

Since the slow coverage of international media to the recent waves of protests, many members of the youth movements believe the international media harbours a pro-Government stance. And they are raising questions on the integrity of media, as it gives extreme focus to events taking place in some countries, while completely disregarding developments emerging from other states.

One another important reason of western media’s ignorance to the happenings in Sudan is that the Sudan is not as crucial as the other Arab countries. The Sudanese have, however, soldiered on, using social media to communicate and document events. As one blogger proclaimed, “Dear Media, just as we’ll uproot the tyrants ourselves we’ll report it ourselves”.

Government’s respond to these protests

Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir from the very beginning of these protests played down it as the work of a ‘few agitators’, as the government insisted that they will press ahead with spending cuts aimed at dealing with an economic crisis. Unsurprisingly, the government responded it harshly by violent crackdown which provoked international condemnation, but they failed to stop the popular challenge.

An increasingly cruel reaction came into viewed from Sudanese security forces, whereas Tear gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition have been used against protesters. The government’s armed retaliation has served not only to disperse but also to injure, and has specifically targeted women. Hundreds of individuals, including human rights defenders, journalists, students and political opponents, have been arrested. Photographs of released detainees can be found on social media websites showing marks and bruises as well as shaved eyebrows and heads – all tactics of derision and ridicule.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay described it as “Heavy-handed suppression.” The U.S. State Department has also condemned Sudan’s response to the protests.

One big game is going to be played by the President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to reduce the pressure of citizens upon the government by setting up a committee to form a new constitution. But people today seem to be beyond these cheap deceptive techniques.

Conclusion

Developments during the coming days will determine whether this is indeed a revolution as many hope, or just another set of protests similar to ones Sudan has witnessed over the last 18 months. While the University of Khartoum and the student population have been the heartbeat of this recent mobilization, the protests have now spread to markets, districts, and other governorates.  The numbers and frequency of protests have steadily grown over the last one month. The protestors remain resilient, bravely fighting back, unarmed, against the oppressor’s brutality, and returning for more the next day.

Sudan has a history of popular revolts bringing down governments. It happened in 1964 and in 1985. Maybe it will happen soon once again. Maybe it will not. But one thing is clear: Come this Friday, and possibly many Fridays after it, Sudanese protesters will be back on the streets continuing in their struggle to lick their elbows.

(This article is based on the News which have been published in several online newspapers such as BBC Arabic, New York Times, Reuters, CNN, Eurasia Review, VOA News, Alarabonline and Aljazeera)