Letter to the editor: Resolutions can’t overshadow the lost lives of Sudan
By Abigail Faires
In the wake of the official signing ceremony for Sudan’s new constitutional declaration on Saturday (Aug. 17), we must not forget about the country’s pro-democracy activists who have been lost since December.
More than 250 unarmed demonstrators have been killed in Sudan since the infamous “bread riots” broke out last winter, with the latest round of killings happening just two weeks ago. This time around, ten protestors, including five teenage students, were sacrificed.
The large swaths of innocent civilians being lost in Sudan are the young professionals—the doctors, engineers, and university professors—who have held firm to the belief that the fear, intolerance, and regionalism propagated by former President Omar al-Bashir for 30 years, no longer have a place in Sudan’s future. They are the country’s hopeful, mission-driven change-makers. They are the young activists like Sara.
I “e-met” Sara last October, when we both signed up to volunteer as participants for a virtual exchange program. Throughout our five-month exchange, Sara and I discussed an array of heady topics—from orientalism and dominance, to the grave dangers of a single story. But we also learned a great deal about each other—like the fact that Sara knows way more about American politics and Hollywood films than I do, or that we will always be able to find common ground when it comes to our affinity for Trevor Noah.
As individuals, we learned about the intrinsic ability of art to awaken the feelings for which we have no words; we learned about how our cultures and the media have influenced our perceptions of the world and our place in it. As humans, we learned that we all want to feel understood; we all want someone to witness our stories; and perhaps now more than ever, we need to stay grounded in the present moment, as we work towards a better tomorrow.
Sara’s smile is infectious. And she has worn it both beautifully and proudly during every single one of our Skype calls—calls during which I often find myself pondering her secrets to perfectly shaped eyebrows and imagining the color and texture of her hair, which lies just beneath a delicately wrapped hijab. But these superficial curiosities are neither here nor there; they are minuscule facets of Sara’s warm and magnetizing presence.
Last fall, Sara enrolled as a second-year medical student at a university in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital city. In order to pay for her degree, she works as an anesthesia specialist at a local hospital, and through it all, she somehow finds time to volunteer at an English Club—at least she did, until the group was forced to stop meeting when the demonstrations began.
In May, things also began to change for Sara at work.
Following the ousting of al-Bashir in April, demonstrators peacefully occupied the space outside of the military headquarters in Khartoum, for weeks. Then, on the ninth night of Ramadan—the Islamic holy month of fasting, reflection, and community—security forces began opening fire on the unarmed civilian protestors. Two days later, the shooting persisted.
Describing the horrific scene in a May 24 email to me, Sara wrote:
“The same shooters came back to finish the job on the [11th] night of Ramadan. The victims were rushed to the hospital I’m working for and I happened to be working that night. It was horrible seeing young men and women being rushed into the ER and OR from where they were protesting peacefully covered in blood. It was like a nightmare. Thankfully, no one was killed that night, only injured.”
On June 3, 2019, just days after meetings were held between the military council and the Egyptian president and crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sudan’s security forces launched their most violent demonstrator-crackdown to date. More than 100 unarmed civilians were killed that day.
On June 15, Sara sent another email:
“Today it’s much safer than a week ago. We used to wake up [to] the sound of gunshots near our neighborhood. The streets were unsafe and we couldn’t go out [of] our homes. I’m staying home because the [Transitional Military Council] closed my hospital, probably for sheltering and caring for the protesters on that horrible day. I can’t go to my college because it was closed for further notice until the situation is safer. Saying that, we’re holding up and I’m very hopeful for the future.”
For me, Sara represents the new faces—the new generation of change-makers—currently leading Sudan into a better future. They are not starving, war-torn Africans who need food and saving. Rather, they are highly intelligent, capable activists, currently rewriting the country’s narrative. And they need our support, now more than ever.
The people of Sudan have been calling for a peaceful transition to democracy—to a civilian-led government—since December. To support this transition, the United States has said it will not remove Sudan from its state sponsor of terrorism list until the military leaves power. Until this happens, Sudan will remain ineligible for relief from either the IMF or the World Bank—residual sanctions, which as reported by Reuters, are keeping “Sudan’s economy in a chokehold.” (The country’s inflation rates are back on the rise and continue to hit the region’s poorest populations the hardest.)
Staking our claim as the most powerful economy in the world, we, as Americans, share a great responsibility—a duty—to support the will of the people in Sudan. But I fear that our emphasis on democracy lacks a deeper understanding of the movement that has long since been underway there.
Since 2009, Omar al-Bashir has been wanted by the International Criminal Court, for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the genocide in Darfur, where he, as reported by The Times, oversaw “the forces that killed, raped, and terrorized hundreds of thousands of civilians.”
Last winter, Sudan’s young activists united under the following message: “The entire country is Darfur.” With this line, the demonstrators were not only expressing that fear, intolerance, and regionalism no longer had a place in their country. But they were also embracing their humanity; they were bringing truth and light to the darkness; they were holding those in power accountable for the most egregious of human rights violations.
Saturday’s signing ceremony honored a landmark resolution, which paves the way for a three-year transition from military to civilian rule for Sudan. After months of negotiations between the country’s main pro-democracy coalition and the Transitional Military Council that assumed power in April, the two sides reached an 11th hour agreement on what has been perhaps the biggest point of contention: “the possibility of immunity from prosecution for military generals [like al-Bashir] for past actions, including protest related violence.” As reported by The Times, both sides agreed “that immunity could be lifted for a convicted military official based on a vote by a legislative body made up of representatives from the pro-democracy movements.”
The trouble is, this “legislative body” does not yet exist. What’s more, negotiations are still underway on the dismantling of the military council and the appointment of a new 20-member transitional government—both critical and unnerving variables for the people of Sudan.
As Sara wrote on August 13:
“… there haven’t been any arrests for the shooters of past events. We’re afraid that there might be an agreement that will give immunity to the TMC members who were involved in these killings. This is absolutely not acceptable and I don’t think that anyone would see a new brighter future without having justice for the martyrs of the revolution.”
The people of Sudan are not only Darfur. They are not only Sara. They are also the hundreds of activists who have been lost since December.
The people of Sudan deserve to have their injustices righted. They deserve to hold those in power accountable. And they deserve our support.
Abigail Faires (@abbyfaires_lnks) is a freelance grant writer, international ESL instructor, and the CEO of an emerging nonprofit organization, Learn2Link.
The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.
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