Urgent Call to Denounce Sudanese State Violence

Our Sudanese allies have come together to denounce the violence perpetrated by the Sudanese government.  Below you will find their message and petition. Please sign and circulate widely amongst your respective networks.

September 2013 saw hoards of people taking to the streets of Sudan in protest, sparked by the government’s lift on fuel subsidies in the already impoverished country.  Sudanese police and intelligence forces shot more than two hundred people dead.  The fact that the authorities’ guns were aimed at people’s chests and heads indicates that the aim was to "shoot to kill."  

On Monday October 21st Elsafie DafAllah and Hyatham Karar will hold a hunger strike in front of the White House (October 21st-25th).

 The goal is to pressure the Sudanese government to respond to the following demands: 

·       Immediate release of political detainees and stop of arbitrary arrests;

·       Bringing those responsible for the killing of protesters to court;

·       Respecting freedom of press and media expression in Sudan. 

Synchronously, families of detainees joined the call to hunger strike in Sudan.  One of them is the mother of Mohamed Boshi.  Boshi has been detained for over a month and his mother's request for visitations rejected.  Wives of detainees are also joining. Sandra Farouq, wife of Amjad Farid (detained since September 30^th) has stated on Facebook that she is on a hunger strike until her husband is released.  Another Tagreed Awooda, wife of Muhaid Saddiq (detained since Sep 23) has taken the move to hunger strike (One blogger talks about her decision to join the strike here).  The total of those on hunger-strike (including non-Sudanese) is forty-three. 

Anyone can still join the strike, even after the five-day window.  What matters is keeping the demands alive and drawing attention to the atrocities of the Sudanese government since it came to power in 1989.

To follow up on updates about names and participants, please visits this website or track #Strike4Sudan on Twitter. You can also watch this video on the topic.  

We urge you to sign the petition and speak out against this violent state repression.

We thank you for your support.