A Bloody Red Saga: media

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Friday, July 6, 2012

Sudan Protests XVII


By the Wad Nubawi Mosque today

Post will be updated during the evening.

Friday again. That means prayers and in this case, more protests.

Directly after Friday prayers in Khartoum, people started to gather. Some imams even encouraged people to protest. In Wad Nubawi, NISS surrounded the mosque and shot teargas and rubber bullets. People were trapped inside the mosque for a couple of hours. Doctors on spot set up temporary work stations to treat the wounded and residents in the area brought food. Some reports claim that live ammunition has been used and that a protester called Otaiba was wounded in the leg after he was hit by live ammunition.

Burning tear gas and rubber bullets in Wad Nubawi

This week's gas fashion within NISS includes a type of burning gas which was frequently used around Wad Nubawi mosque. Many were hurt but the doctors' committe released a statement saying that they've been ordered not to help injured protesters.

The crew of AlArabiya was arrested by NISS and later released.

Update: It now seems confirmed that NISS detained the Aljazeera reporter and camera man. The reporter was released after an hour but the camera man (Yassir Suliman) was brought to an unknown location and is currently still held. Both their phones were taken.

More here:

- Reuters, Sudan police teargas protesters after prayers

- Al Arabiya, Sudan police teargas protesters in an attempt to quell anti-government demos
- Aljazeera, Protesters "attacked" by police in Sudan
- Aljazeera, Sudan Protests

For updated info on Twitter, follow:
@girifna @superMojok @BSonblast @TheDooda @HamidMurtada

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Sudan Protests XI

Sitting behind a screen, all safe and well, has made me (and I guess many others out there) feel extremely powerless. I want to do so much. I want to be out there in the streets with all brave Sudanese, bake some cookies for them, make them happy and encourage them to continue their struggle. I want to tell everyone that they can do this; they can make Bashir leave and put him to justice as he should have been a loooong time ago. They can withstand the police and the NISS, all without violence. They can do it, simply based on their love for their country and for each other. They can do it with that wonderful humour and friendliness that is so characteristic for the Sudanese people.

I've felt powerless, but today I actually feel that I've done something. Me and my husband (who is Sudanese) was interviewed by Swedish Radio P3 News about Sudan, our experiences and thoughts about what's going on at this moment. And when I get back home, I see that #SudanRevolts has hit the frontpage of one of Sweden's biggest newspapers. Finally the Sudanese people gets some attention from this part of the world!

Here's the web-article from the radio interview.

I hope, with all my heart, that this will be the end of a horrible era filled with violence, war, genocide, torture, discriminations and corruption. And I hope it will be the beginning of a new one, based on democracy, human rights and freedom. I hope every Sudanese soon will feel safe in their own country and among each other. I hope I can go back with my family and show my son how awesome his second home country can be.

Update: It's only 8 PM here but I can hardly keep my eyes open. Been a long day and the little man has kept me busy with babbling, hand clapping and pooping. So, I'm going to leave the writing for today and do my best to disconnect my brain from revolutionary thinking. Some links to provide you with updated info about #SudanRevolts:

- Reuters, Police quell student protest in East Sudan: witnesses
- AhramOnline, Sudan activists call for Tahrir-style million-man protest
- Aljazeera, Sudan using protests "to silence dissenters"
- Alarabiya, U.S. condemns crackdown on Sudan anti-government protests
- SudanRevolts, A Statement from the Broad National Front to the Youth of Sudan
- Foreign Policy, The Sudanese Standup
- Sudanese Online, Statement on the latest developments of the protests in Sudan for public dessimenation
- Sudanese Online, Omer al-Bashir: Take a Look over Your Shoulder
- Sudanreeves, Sudan: Desperate for Regime Change Over Many Years

Friday, June 22, 2012

Sudan Protests VI - Sandstorm Friday

This post will be continuously updated during the day.

The sixth day of protests got the name Sandstorm Friday (#SandstormFriday) and people are being urged by activists to hit the streets after prayers. There are reports of heavy security presence around mosques in Khartoum, Omdurman and Khartoum North and only time and a good amount of nervous teeth grinding from where I sit, will tell how this day will end. This picture is from outside Wad Noubawi's Mosque in Omdurman after prayers:

Police told the protesters at Wad Noubawi's Mosque that they would refrain from beating, then used batons and fired tear gas. Police are reportedly surrounding the area and NISS are combing the streets to pick people up. "It's an ambush" a tweet says. Meanwhile, the protests are spreading, mainly in Omdurman (at 2 PM) it seems.

Youth movement "Sudan Change Now" urges international media to cover the protests and shares this:

Around lunch there were unconfirmed reports of police firing live ammunition at protesters in Sennar, a town in South-East Sudan.

Update: One person was hit in the leg with a bullet and was taken by a civilian to a hospital in Omdurman. Protests also broke out in Wad Madani in the afternoon.

During the afternoon the protests have continued without pause, just like the mass arrests, police brutality and injuries. In al-Amlak (Bahri/Khartoum North) the situation has been intense and there have been unconfirmed talks about deaths. In Wad Nubawi (Omdurman) the police dispersed the protesters, who later came back with renewed force: heavy clashes, arrests and injuries. In Khartoum 3 the situation has been dramatic where no one is supposedly able to get either in or out and with burned car tires all over the place. In al-Daim a police station was burned down.

This video is from Mohamed Naguib this evening.

There are reports of live ammunition and mass arrests as well as police using tear gas that causes instant unconsciousness. I will try to get this confirmed.

Among the Friday arrests are: @M_Izzelden (a girifna member and Sudanese tweep) together with Amira and Amani Osman. Photographer Mohammed Altoum and NUP activist Erwa Sadiq. In addition @simsimt @Arch_Asaad and @ZiyadMoutasim seem to be missing as they last tweeted some 6 hours ago (it's now 11 PM, GMT +2 here in Sweden).

Last update for today:

@Arch_Asaad, @ZiyadMoutasim and @M_Izzelden was released in late evening. @simsimt is still missing. @Arch_Asaad said: "I was held at Buri Daraysa police station, all Buri detainees r supposed 2b there but Usamah (simsimt) was never brought #SudanRevolts."

@simsimt is seen as an important part of #SudanRevolts and Twitter is running warm with concern for his safety. @OmarMahgoub is also missing.

More here:
- Aljazeera, Student-led #SudanRevolts enter sixth day
- Sudan Tribune, URGENT CALL to Media and Activists
- AFP, Sudan food protests widen
- The Guardian, Sudan's ageing regime has few answers to the latest wave of protests
- Voice of America, Student-Led Protests Spread Across Khartoum
- Chicago Tribune, Sudan austerity protests spreaed after Friday prayers
- Reuters Africa, Hundreds of Sudanese join austerity protests after prayers

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Sudan Protests III

Tuesday morning, protests started at Ahlia University in Omdurman, where protesters clashed with police and National Congress Party (NCP) students, who fired tear gas and assaulted unarmed protesters with weapons. The campus was evacuated. Update: At the Faculty of Agriculture in Shambat (Khartoum North) and Faculty of Education (Omdurman), two branches of University of Khartoum, protests broke out and faced similar treatment as students in Ahlia University. Some 24 students were reported arrested from Shambat and taken to a police station where they were released on bail later on. For the third time in two days, police raided and surrounded the female dorms in University of Khartoum. Tear gas was fired against the students.

Protests also broke out in Al-Kalakla Al-Gubba in Khartoum and Al-Kadaro Complex of Juba University in Khartoum North, as well as Atbara market, Shendi and Atbara. Update: During early evening, protests started in Omdurman Market. Police used tear gas and tried to disperse the protesters. Some were arrested.

Activists have reported unprecedented violence by the police. No deaths have been reported so far.

Media has been largely censured and the dailies Al-Ahdath, Al-Watan and Al-Jarida were ordered by the NISS not to distribute their Sunday prints on Sunday without given a reason. Same thing happened yesterday. The weekly Al-Midan (a weekly by the opposition Sudanese Communist Party) has been ordered not to publish for a month. "They want to kick us out of the market. It is a bad thing for the freedom of expression in Sudan," Al-Jarida's editor-in-chief, Osman Shinger, told AFP.

But Sudanese students have not been beaten down by the censorship and took their protests against austerity, high costs of living and the end of the president Omar al-Bashir's reign online. News has been spread mainly on Twitter.

AFP bureau chief in Sudan, Simon Martelli was arrested this morning while covering the protests at Sudan University. This is what he wrote yesterday. Martelli, who is British, was brought to an unknown location. The embassy wasn't notified.

@girifna calls on all citizens of Sudan to take to the streets on June 30^th (the day that president Bashir took power 23 years ago) and celebrate the final anniversary of NCP's reign.

Update: The activists that were arrested at HAQ yesterday were released at 3 AM this morning.

The video shows today's protests at the South section of Sudan University. The riot police are waiting for the students to come out.