Civil Society and Democratization in the Arab World. Annual Report. 2004
Published July 2005

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Sudan

Capital : Khartoum

Date of Independence : 1/1/1956

Area : 2505810 Km

Population (in millions) : 40.2 (est. 2005)

Rate of Population Increase : 2.71% (est. 2005)

Ethnic Groups : 52% Africans, 39% Arabs, 6% Biga,

2% Foreigners, 1% other

Religious Groups : 85% Muslims (Sunna), 15% Christians and others

Illiteracy : 40%

No. of Provinces : 26 states

Polity : Republic

Head of State : Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir

No. of Political Parties : 20

GDP (in millions)ppp : $76,190 (2004)

GDP per Capitappp : $1,900 (2004)

Overview
 

Sudan is the largest country in Africa. It gained its independence in 1956 after some 80 years of British colonial rule. The Southern part of Sudan (below the 13^th parallel) is about one million square kilometers which is almost equal to the size of Egypt. It’s inhabitants number about 10 million, most of whom are Christian and animist black Africans. The Anyanya movement representing the ethnic groups of South Sudan have struggled with the Arab Muslim central government in North Sudan since independence, demanding a reasonable measure of autonomy, which they failed to get. This, together with the persistent effort of the central government in Khartoum to transform an ethnically and religiously diverse country into an Arab and Islamic state, led to the outbreak of a civil war which lasted for the next 47 year with a period of relative peace between 1972 and 1982 when the South was granted considerable autonomy under the accords of 1972. But in 1983 that peace was shattered when General Jafar Numeiri in a military coup removed the democratically elected government in 1969, and decided to restrict the South’s autonomy and impose Islamic law (Shari’a) in the region. Although Numeiri was overthrown in 1985 successive governments in the North refused to accede to the demands of the South and so the war continued up to the present day, claiming a total of up to 500,000 lives.

The present Islamic government of General Omar al-Bashir, which ousted the democratically elected government of Sadik al-Mahdi in 1989, ruled by means of an alliance between the military junta and Muslim clerics led by Hassan al-Turabi leader of the ruling National Congress Party and Speaker of the National Assembly. The Bashir / Turabi alliance declared Sudan an Islamic Republic, and insisted on imposing Shari’a (Islamic Law) on the South. But tensions within the alliance over the distribution of power eventually led in 1999 to the arrest of Turabi and his detention. In 2002 international mediation efforts proposed a “one country, two systems” plan, in which the central government in the North would accept a secular system in the South. By the end of 2003 the proposed plan had not yet been endorsed by both sides but clear signs indicate that it will be in early 2004.

1. Political Rights and Civil Liberties.

1. The Executive, Political Parties and Elections. Sudan has an authoritarian government in which power is in the hands of the President and his party since he came to power in a coup supported by the fundamentalist National Islamic Front led by Hassan al-Turabi. The Revolution Command Council of National Salvation (RCCNS) is the supreme legislative and administrative body with al-Bashir as its chairman. The major political parties remained for the most part marginalized from the political process. But as serious negotiations with the South began by years end the opposition became more vocal in their demand for inclusion, and the government was agreeable in order to legitimize its expected agreement with the Southern forces.

The Sudan has 20 officially registered political parties. President Omar al-Bashir’s National Congress/National Islamic Front (NC/NIF) won 340 out of the 360 seats of the National Assembly in the deeply flawed presidential and parliamentary elections held in 2000, which were boycotted by all major opposition parties. The EU declined an invitation by the Sudanese government to monitor the elections fearing that if it accepted it would be bestowing legitimacy on a patently dictatorial regime. Of the 360-seat Parliament 90 seats are for appointees of the President and 25% of seats are reserved for women, professional syndicates, and trade unions. In the last (2000) Presidental elections, Omar al-Bashir ran against former President Numeiri and three other relative unknowns and won 86% of the vote.

2. The Judiciary, Trials, and Detention. The judiciary is influenced by pressures from the executive although on occasion courts displayed a degree of independence and overturned on appeal decisions of lower courts in favor of the government. The judicial system is based on the principles of Shari’a (Islamic jurisprudence) comprises four types of courts: regular courts, military courts, state security courts and tribal courts; these last being mainly in rural areas and handle family concerns and problems arising from conflict over water and other agricultural rights. A Supreme Constitutional Court oversees the constitutional validity of laws. The Constitution provides for prompt open and fair trials but this is often not observed in practice. By law an accused may be detained for 3 days without charge, which can be extended to 30 days, and up to 3 months in security cases. Regular courts provide some measure of due process safeguards, but not so in military and state security courts. Criminal law is based on Shari’a which provides for flogging, amputation (for theft), and stoning (for adultery); and family Courts follow the edicts of Shari’a.

Persons arrested by the security police have often been held incommunicado for long periods in unknown locations without access to lawyers or family members. There can be no appeal from such arrests which can in practice last for indefinite periods. But in general, however, arrested persons are released after a few days without charge; but if the alleged offence is political the detention period can be quite long. Arbitrary arrests are commonplace and the security forces and associated militia known as the Popular Defense Forces, have a free hand and have been responsible for serious abuses including extra-judicial killings and disappearances. Prolonged detention and torture are not infrequent.

2. Civil Society and the Freedom of Association. While the Constitution provides for freedom of association the currently imposed emergency law severely restrains this right. In February 2002, for example, students in the Technological Science College in Khartoum were suspended for human rights activities involving the organization of a symposium in defense of women’s rights, and for attending a conference on democracy. In November of the same year the University of Khartoum was closed indefinitely when students protested the attacks on dormitories by pro-government militias.

There are no independent trade unions. According to the Trade Union’s Act, the Sudan Workers Trade Unions Federation, which includes about 800,000 members, is the only legal worker’s organization; all other unions are banned. The International Labor Organization (ILO) has registered its objection to the Act, as incompatible with the right of free association. Professional syndicates have usually been the main force pushing for democratizing, but this year witnessed little activity on their part.

2. Freedom of Speech and the Media. The Constitution provides for freedom of expression and of the press “as regulated by law.” In practice, though, these rights are severely restricted. In January 4, 2004, security policy forcibly suppressed a peaceful Khartoum University student demonstration protesting worsening socio-economic conditions. Intimidation and frequent suspension of newspapers has inhibited open discussion of political issues. Journalists practice self-censorship to avoid government harassment and the closure of their papers. The situation, however, has lately eased a bit. There are presently about 9 main daily newspapers which reflect a variety of political views. Several newspapers also reprinted articles from the international press that were critical of the government. But the degree of press freedom remains restricted and subject to arbitrary governmental coercive action. In February 2002 the editor for the daily Khartoum Mirror was fired for implying that the government was implicated in slavery. In September of the same year the issues of three papers were seized and a journalist arrested for criticizing the government’s withdrawal from the peace talks in Kenya. In 2003 the government intermittently closed several newspapers, including al-Awan, al-Ayam, al-Azminha, al-Sahafa, al-Watan and the Khartoum Monitorall for publishing articles that were deemed offensive in some manner. Kola Beuf a Sudanese author living in the United States was tried in absentia and sentenced to death by a Shari’a court for blasphemy in a book she wrote on the mistreatment of black women by the Arab Muslims.

On the positive side, the law was amended in 2004, disallowing the imprisonment of journalists on crimes associated with publications, relying instead on fines. The government owns and controls all the broadcast media, which invariably reflect only the government’s views. Television has a permanent military censor to monitor all broadcasts, particularly the news. Satellite dishes are restricted on the ground that the Western media is biased against both Islam and the Sudan. The offices of the Qatari Jezeera TV station in the Sudan were shut down, and remain closed at year’s end, for airing a program on the conflict in Darfour, West Sudan. The director of the station was detained incommunicado for 7 days before being released. There is no widespread record of restrictions on access to the internet; but on July 6, 2004 an opposition site www.sudaneseonline.com was blocked by the Sudanese authorities on grounds that it threatens the national security.

5. Freedom of Religion. Islam is the state religion and the Constitution stipulates that Sudan is an Islamic state, and that all legislation should be based on Shari’a. Seventy five percent of the Sudanese are Sunni Muslims living mostly in North Sudan. The people in the South are mainly Christians or animists adhering to indigenous beliefs. Although the Constitution provides for freedom of religion the government severely restricts this right in practice. The government places heavy restriction on all non-Muslim forms of worship. Christians, in particular, are severly discriminated against since they are perceived as a blemish on the purity of the Islamic state. Religious groups must register to be recognized and permitted to worship legally. Thus withholding registration of Christian and other non-Muslim groups made it impossible for them to practice their faith publicly, and all attempts to do so subjected these groups to penalties and harassment. While license to build mosques are granted readily the building of churches is extremely difficult and is more often than not denied outright. Moreover, Christian schools and centers suffer occasional harassment and destructive activities by state Islamic militias. Although the government is Islamic it also imposes restrictions on the religious freedoms of certain Muslim groups who seem to have links with the opposition.

6. Women and the Marginalized. Sharia severely restricts the participation of women in public life. However, they have the right to vote and run in elections. There are 29 women in the 400-seat Parliament; and there are two female ministers, plus two state ministers, and one as governor of a district. Women face discrimination in matters of marriage, divorce, inheritance and other family concerns, as mandated in Shari’a. Women may be prosecuted under vague statutes that criminalize "indecent or immoral acts" or "attire that aggravates public feelings." Public Order police also harass women in the streets if deemed to be immodestly dressed by governmental standards. The President in January 2001 denounced the “International Convention on Eradication of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women” and stated that Sudan would not sign it because it “contradicted Sudanese values and traditions.” Displaced women from the South were vulnerable to harassment, rape and sexual abuse. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is widespread in the North. It is estimated that 90% of girls in the North have undergone FGM and suffered as a consequence severe health problems. The government does not support the practice and has disseminated information against its ill effects.

It is hardly to be expected that the present regime will ever seek to implement the democratic value of gender equality when al-Bashir proclaims (Jan. 26, 1995) "How do you expect us to introduce equality when inequality is the will of God?"

There are about 55 parliament members from South Sudan in the 400-seat Parliament, and 30 Christians in the Council of Ministers, which is an advisory body to the government.

The Marginalized in Sudan. Two major areas and their peoples have been, for years, marginalized by the central government in Khartoum: The peoples in South Sudan, and in Darfour (in West Sudan).

The demographic structure of the Sudan is one of the most fragmented in the world. It comprises 597 tribal communities that speak 150 languages and dialects. Of these the inhabitants of two major regions have suffered from marginalization, discrimination and neglect by the Central Government in Khartoum: (a) The inhabitants of Southern Sudan; and (b) The peoples of Darfour in Western Sudan.

(a) The People of South Sudan. The South and North are distinct ethnic groups that have entirely different social, religious and linguistic cultures. The South is clearly African while the North is Arab.

Southern Sudan is inhabited by three major tribal groups. The first is the Nile Group which comprises three tribes: the Dinka tribe (3 million) is which the largest ethnic group in the Sudan; the Nuer tribe which resides in the upper region of the river Nile and extends into Ethiopia; and the Shalak tribe, which is the smallest of the three and is settled along the western bank of the White Nile from Kaka in the north to lake Noo in the South. The second group is the Hametic Nile Group, which includes the tribes of Bari, Mendari, Tubasca, and Turkala. The third is the Sudan Group, and its major tribe is the Zandi, which is settled on the west bank of the Nile along the South and South-West borders of the Sudan.

The civil unrest in the South actually began prior to Sudan’s independence from British / Egyptian rule in 1956. With the advent of independenceunder the first civil government of Ismail El-Azhari, the people of South Sudan anticipated more equitable treatment. But this was not to be. Successive Sudanese governments attempted to resolve the unrest in the South by forced assimilation of its African ethnic minorities through persistent attempts to Arabize the population and impose Islamic Shari’a. The South resisted then took up arms. Since then, and for the last 47 years, the people of South Sudan have been engaged in a protracted war with the Central Government in Khartoum, which claimed to date more than half a million lives. Arab/Muslim religious extremism and intolerance of the Basheer/Tourabi government (since 1989) continue to fuel the war, though by years end, there was significant international mediation and pressure on both sides that promise an early cessation of hostilities in 2004, to be followed hopefully by a final settlement.

(b) The People of Darfour. The people of Darfour suffered, as did those in the South of Sudan, from neglect and marginalization by the central government in Khartoum. Their living conditions suffered further from harsh climatic conditions that caused desertification, destruction of livestock, and famines. The successive military regimes in the Sudan since its independence have never ceased to launch campaigns to Arabize the people of Darfour who though mainly Muslims are not Arabs, but derive ethnically from African tribes. This combination of governmental repression and abysmal living conditions drove the tribes of Darfour to revolt. The government responded with a wide military campaign to quell the insurrection and so an armed conflict ensued in which the Sudanese army and government–supported militia committed serious abuses and crimes against the people of Darfour including the razing of numerous villages. As a result, as many as 3000 unarmed Darfour civilians were killed, more than 600,000 were internally displaced, and an estimated 100,000 refugees fled to neighboring Chad. At years end international efforts were being made to force the Sudanese government to desist in order to avoid a human disaster on genocidal scale.

II. Prospects for Democratic Change

The government’s human rights record remains very poor despite some improvements in some areas. The Sudanese cannot change their government peacefully. Security forces and government militias continue to act with impunity, harassing and killing opposition elements, and arresting and detaining people incommunicado for extended periods. The Sudanese are a dynamic politically active people who solely, through the pressures generated within their civil society, managed to topple two military dictatorsIbrahim Abboud (in 1964) and Jafar Numeiri (in 1985). It is therefore probable that an end to the fighting in South Sudan and Darfour will see the beginning of a marked improvement in the democratization of the regime, as the state can no longer justify emergency rule and its present paralyzing grip on civil society.