Must-read articles and tweets on #SudanRevolts:
Reign of Terror in Sudan: How the Government is Trying to Quell the Protests – Sudan Democracy First Group
Since the beginning if the current protests in Sudan on Monday, 23 September, 2013, the Sudanese government has deployed a comprehensive and ruthless security plan aimed at terrorizing the population and its political, civil society and media leaders, as well as the public into submission at any costs. Some of the tactics deployed are the following. In a press conference held on 30 September, the Minister of Interior said the government was holding 700 detainees. This official figure reportedly retains only demonstrators arrested during the still ongoing protests, not political and civil society activists arbitrarily detained in successive waves since the beginning if the demonstrations. Operatives of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) unleashed the first of these waves immediately after President Omer al- Bashir’s announcement of the lifting of fuel subsidies on Sunday, 22 September. On Monday, 1 October, the government threw wider dragnet of preventive detentions targeting youth and political activists. This was a reaction to political and civil society actors stepping up their efforts to better coordinate among themselves in order to maintain the momentum of the protest and better focus its political messaging…
Sudan: 40 demonstrators sentenced to flogging, fines in Wad Madani – Radio Dabanga
The Central Regional Court in Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira state, on Wednesday sentenced 40 people charged with protesting against the government’s decision on the removal of subsidies on fuel and demanding the downfall of the regime, to 20 lashes and a fine of SDG150 ($34). The 40 protesters were charged under articles of law related to the fomenting of riots and creating chaos. A remaining 180 protesters have yet to be charged. A number of secondary school students have been transferred to a juvenile court. Lawyer El Hadi Yahiya, speaking for demonstrators’ defence to Radio Dabanga, said that the court today ruled on 40 demonstrators. One was sentenced to prison for a period of two months, the others to 20 lashes and a fine of SDG150 ($34). Yahiya confirmed that Sudanese have the right to demonstrate. The complainant in this case was the police who refused to answer questions from lawyers. The interrogated policemen did acknowledge that they had arrested the protesters “in groups”…
Sudan Revolts: Day 1, by kashiff111
On the 1st of October 2013, probably around 6am I posted the following on my facebook timeline: “Today is the 1st of October.. a month all of Sudan remembers very well.. 21st of October is a date they remember even more… with all what is going and happening in my country.. before this revolt.. the hunger my people suffer.. the oppression .. the lack of healthcare and education.. and the list goes on and on.. i declare from this day my mouth will not touch food or any pleasures .. only drinking water.. till the 21st of October… i have read some sick comments on so many pages about how this revolt is just some facebook blabber.. these defeated excuse of Sudanese young men and women want to tell the world that we do nothing but talk!! yea i talk over facebook cause thats what i can do for now.. but we have over 200 of our youth who died for us… if i cant be with them then i will not eat till i either see them or see this corrupt government fall under our feet. No more word will come out of me.. only action… #SudanRevolts“…
Sudan escalates mass arrests of activists amid protest crackdown – Amnesty International
Reports that Sudan’s security forces have arrested at least 800 activists, members of opposition parties, journalists, and others amid ongoing anti-government protests mark a shocking escalation of the crackdown on dissent, Amnesty International said. A wave of arrests took place between the night of Monday 30 September and the early hours of Tuesday 1 October. Amnesty International is still receiving reports of arrests at the time of writing. “Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service is notorious for its repressive tactics in rounding up and placing perceived dissidents behind bars – but even by their standards, this latest round-up marks a significant escalation in arrests,” said Lucy Freeman, Africa Deputy Director at Amnesty International. “We fear that the hundreds of arrested or missing are at grave risk of torture or other forms of ill-treatment. Those detained are being held incommunicado, with no access to lawyers or their families.”…
@ReemShawkat The revolution will be over by the time they figure out how to use that equipment. #Sudan #incompetentgovt #wannabespies
— Ahmad Mohamed (@AhmadMohamed10) October 2, 2013
