Global Voices » Usamah Mohamed

US Invitation to Sudanese Official Draws Wide Condemnation

Usamah Mohamed — Tue, 07 May 2013 19:18:09 +0000

The United States government faced a wave of criticism when news surfaced about an official invitation it has extended to a senior delegation of the Sudanese government, particularly including Nafie Ali Nafie, Sudan's ruling party controversial strongman and Presidential adviser to President Omar Hasan al-Bashir.

In late April, a Department of State official told the Associated Press that Nafie and other officials have accepted an invitation to Washington DC for a “candid discussion on the conflicts and humanitarian crises within Sudan.” Another top State Department official explained to AFP that the U.S. had invited Nafie “after he voiced an interest in traveling to Washington”.

Considered a reward to the Sudanese government despite its ill-reputed record of undemocratic conduct and committing of war crimes in Darfur, the invitation drew wide criticism from the Sudanese activist community at large, as well as US congressmen and US-based Sudan advocacy groups, questioning Nafie befitting to be honored such an invitation.

Dark history

In the early 1990s, a time at which securing its grip on power was the Sudanese regime's top priority, Nafie headed the notorious National Security and Intelligence Service, NISS, during which he was a mastermind of the practices and policies that shaped the ongoing legacy of the security apparatus. Specifically, Nafie is widely believed to be the architect behind establishing what is commonly known in Sudan as “Ghost Houses”, off-the-record detention safe houses at which security agents hold political activists captive without due process or judicial oversight.

Mass human rights violations reportedly have been documented to take place in these ghost houses, including but not limited to torture, rape, disappearance and killing that thousands of political activists faced.

Reports also accuse Nafie of personally participating in committing such violations, including in one incident the beating up of a detainee during interrogation sessions! In a 2008 interview, Nafie bluntly admitted and endorsed the torture of political dissents in his presence, arguing that his mission was to protect the regime, “not play cards with them”.

Unpopular

Nafie is arguably one the most disliked officials among Sudanese people. Well-known for his provocative speeches and statements in which he publicly scoffs Sudanese opposition at large, he is also credited for displaying contempt for any calls for political reform or change in Sudan.

“Lick your elbow!”, an expression he once used to ridicule what he believes is the opposition's inability to overthrow the regime became a remarkable reminder of his ill-mannered and disrespectful attitude towards the Sudanese. During the June-July protest movement of last year, dubbed on social media as #SudanRevolts (See Global Voices Online's special coverage of #SudanRevolts), protesters nicknamed one of the Friday protest days the “Elbow Licking Friday”, in an act of defiance and to challenge Nafie's assumptions.

In early 2012, a young student activist walked into a discussion panel held at University of Khartoum, which Nafie was addressing as a guest. Standing a few feet from Nafie, the activist delivered a speech, in which he harshly criticized Nafie for corruption and other wrongdoing. A video of the incident was uploaded on the Internet, and went immediately viral, viewed by hundreds of thousands online, making the activist an idol among Sudanese for standing up to the fearsome Nafie.

The activist was subsequently arrested and spent a month in prison before he was released without charge.

Bitter disappointment

It is no wonder then, that for a man with such qualities, so to speak, and such history, the US invitation came off as surprising, if not quite shocking, to many Sudanese who suffered and continue to suffer from Nafie's and Sudan government's ill-fated record of oppression, brutal human rights violations and crimes. The non-violent youth movement Girifna (translates to “We Are Fed Up”) wrote a strong-worded Open Letter to US President Barack Obama, describing Nafie's invitation as a “big mistake”.

The letter went on explaining the miscalculations the US government makes by succumbing to the regime's propaganda machine that portrays the ruling National Congress Party as the sole guarantor of peace and stability in Sudan, before concluding:

The Sudanese people yearn for and believe in an alternative: democracy, justice, accountability and peace. If the US government is interested in helping the Sudanese people achieve this alternative, it must not stand in our way. Talking to this regime is one thing, but legitimizing it is a mistake.

The youth movement also launched an online campaign on Twitter, urging those concerned about Nafie's invitation to voice their objection to US government and officials, using the hashtag #NafieTheButcher. Many responded.

@TheDooda: Shame on @StateDept @USEmbassyKRT @BarackObama for inviting #NafieTheButcher for “talks”… He has blood on his hands, literally! @girifna

Azaz Shami, a Sudanese journalist and activist explained on Twitter that “whoever made the decision to invite Nafie is unforgivably unacquainted with Sudan complexity”, as having him “will do anything but bringing peace”:

@sudanesedream: #NafieTheButcher z nastiest NCP member who enjoy insulting #Sudan ese pple. he isnt representing us @AmbassadorRice @BarackObama

@MuzanAlneel: I am v. happy about the invitation of #NafieTheButcher to USA, maybe finally it'll be clear that America is no friend of the people of Sudan

@yasirya7ia: Lesson learnt, no matter how bloody your hands are, you are still welcome in the US
Cc @BarackObama
@AmbassadorRice
#NafieTheButcher

Khalid Ewais, a Sudanese activist, renowned novelist and journalist at Al Arabiya TV, asserted [Ar]:

@KhalidEwais: واشنطن ترتكب خطأً أخلاقياً وسياسياً بالغاً وفادحاً بدعوتها مساعد الرئيس السوداني، نافع علي نافع، أحد “جزاري” نظام البشير، لحوارٍ معها !

Washington commits a moral mistake and grave and fatal political one by its invitation to the Sudanese President adviser, Nafie Ali Nafie, one of Bashir's regime “butchers” for dialogue!

The real deal?

The question that begs itself for many in Sudan however, remains whether the US invitation to Nafie and his delegation is a fit of enthusiastic albeit misguided diplomacy, or rather a thought-out policy shift in which the US considers the current regime in Sudan an ally, despite its public pro-democracy rhetoric.

Tortured Sudanese Female Journalist Speaks Up

Usamah Mohamed — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 20:31:12 +0000

Attacks against journalists and human rights activists seem to have intensified recently in Sudan as shown by the horrific abduction and torture of a Sudanese female journalist by National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), Sudan's notorious security apparatus. Sumaya Ismail Hundosa, 34, was abducted from near her house on October 29, 2012, later to be found thrown inside a mud pit in a remote area in Khartoum on November 2, five days after her abduction.

The journalist was tortured for writing articles criticizing Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. She was severely beaten up until she subsequently lost consciousness, had her head shaved because her hair ‘belongs to the Arabs', and was iron-shocked on several parts of her body. She was called a slew of racist insults by her captors, including whore and slave for belonging to Darfur, a region in western Sudan that's also witnessing a decade-long, raging conflict.

Several human rights groups strongly condemned the attack on the journalist, including the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists and Cairo-based Al-Karama [ar], who issued calls to Sudanese authorities to investigate the attack.

Burns on Hundosa's arm caused by iron-shocking. She was iron-shocked on her stomach, back and other parts of her body!

Shock and outrage

As the details of Hundosa's unprecedented torture unfolded, Sudanese netizens largely responded with shock and outrage, showing sympathy and solidarity with the journalist.

Journalist Reem Shawkat tweeted a photograph of Hundosa's shaved hair, while expressing her support [ar]:

حلقو ليك شعرك يا سمية هندوسة و لكن لبستي تاج الشرف #السودان -يسقط جهاز عدم الانسانية و عدم الوطنية

@ReemShawkat: They shaved your hair, Sumaya Hundosa, but you wore the crown of honor. #Sudan – Down with the apparatus of inhumanity and lack of patriotism.

@nsaeed, on Twitter, pointed out to his fellow Sudanese that if they do not take action against such violations, it is going to be everyone's turn:

متى سيفهم المواطن السوداني أن ما يحدث لأمثال #هندوسة و #جليلة وارد حدوثه لأي مواطن في أي لحظة؟ كان حلقو لأخوك بل راسك #حرفياً

@nsaeed: When will the Sundanese citizen understand that what happens to the likes of Hundosa and Jalila can possibly happen to any citizen at any moment? If your brother's head is shaved, moisten your own!

Award-winning Sudanese cartoonist Khalid Al-Baih drew an expressive cartoon bemoaning Sudanese women's prestigious status in the past as compared to now, under the current regime in Sudan.

Khartoon! by Khalid Al-Baih

The cartoon illustrates two women, one who looks prestigious in a traditional garment (thoub), and refers to the old days, and another who looks bare-headed, humiliated and sitting behind bars, in reference to the treatment women are getting nowadays. The Sudanese woman is symbolized as “عزة” (transliterated, Azza), which means “glorious” in Arabic. It is a common female name in Sudan and is a semi-official national personification.

Hundosa, who gradually moved from print journalism to online journalism, came to Sudan from Egypt where she has been living since 2003, to spend Eid Al-Adha with her family. Following her horrific ordeal, she left Sudan immediately for fear for her life. Back in Egypt, she recounted her ordeal with the NISS in a detailed, first account 27-minute video testimony [ar] on YouTube. The video was recorded by a committee to protect journalists of Egypt's Journalists Syndicate.

The journalist also wrote an Open Letter to President Omar Al-Bashir [ar] that was highly circulated online, holding him accountable for bringing her offenders to justice and ensuring that no one can commit such horrendous acts with impunity in the future.

Race and identity, revisited!

The unequivocal racist attacks against Hundosa by her torturers provoked discussions online about the role of race and identity in Sudan's modern politics and society.

Amr Abbas, on Twitter, mockingly remarked:

سمية اسماعيل هندوسة تجلد، يحلق شعرها، تصعق بمكوة وتجلد بالسياط ليس لانها كتبت عن البديل لكن لانها غرباوية فى بلد العروبواسلاميين

@amrmohabbas: Sumaya Ismail Hundosa is flogged, hair-shaved, iron-shocked and whipped not because she wrote about the alternative, but because she's gharbawiya in the country of the Arabo-Islamists

“Gharbawiya” is a woman who hails from western Sudan, but the term is often used derogatory as a racial slur.

A Sudanese blogger who maintains a blog called “Sudanese Dream“, wrote a bitter blog post titled: “من هم العبيد الجدد؟” [ar], which translates to, “Who are the new slaves?”. She asserts:

ان ما يحدث الان في السودان هو اكثر سوءاً من عهد امتلاك الرقيق مع اعادة تعريف للعبودية ،

What happens now in Sudan is worse than the slave owning era with a redefinition of slavery,

The blogger observes that racism is still rampant among ordinary Sudanese who sometimes practice it with relative ease. She then addresses the more structural racism within the context of state violence, pointing out that many political detainees who originate from west and south Sudan testified to have been discriminated against and received racist insults during detention. She gives the discriminatory ill-treatment of female detainees like Sumaya Hundosa and Jalila Khamis as another pointer. She then dismisses arguments of ethnic purity before concluding:

عليه ؛ كلنا عبيد يا ريس ، كلنا عبيد يا جهاز الامن.

نحن العبيد “السودانيين” نتقبل حقيقة كوننا عبيداً ، فما بالكم ايها المستعربون؟

Thus; we are all slaves, Mr. President, we are all slaves oh Jihaz Al-Amn (security apparatus)

We the slaves “The Sudanese” accept the fact of being slaves, what bothers you, the Arabized?

The issue of identity is a recurring theme of debate among Sudanese youth. Known blogger and Global Voices long-time author Amir Ahmed (better known online as ‘Sudanese Thinker') has written in the past about ending Sudan's identity crisis. Another blogger, Moez Ali, presented a critical view of the whole “Sudanese Identity” question.