Women and politics in the Sudan

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NDA LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (NDA-LC)

By Dr. Mahgoub El-Tigani

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE NDA LEADERSHIP COUNCIL (NDA-LC)

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By Dr. Mahgoub El-Tigani

SUDAN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION

SHRO, CAIRO CHAPTER

(1) THE NDA MUST CORRECT ITS MISCONCEPTIONS AND RECOGNIZE THE FULL REPRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN ITS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL

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Dear Sudanese around the world,

The struggles of Sudanese women in the striving for nation-building, peace, and democratic rule in Sudan are well-established, since the historic battles when the Sudanese People fought for their national independence throughout the present time which witnesses a fierce battleto overthrow the NIF pariah regime. The Sudanese women have continuously played a significant role in motivating the People of Sudan to fight for public freedom and human rights with bravery and passion.

Many Sudanese women from different parts of our country are highly appreciated for their sacrifices that they have offered for the cause of democracy in Sudan, although information hasn't been made available about them as much as that made of men !

It is true justice, and it is good morals, to solemnly ascertain that the Sudanese women are the mothers of the Sudanese bravery and noble struggle, and that they deserve full political recognition as national leaders as much as they deserve as equal citizens. Social, cultural, and economic recognition of women, must be an integral part of state andsociety in Sudan.

our country faces all types of discrimination against women. Certainforms of discrimination are related to the way many governments and political groups perceive of women. These groups are reactionary, as they allowed themselves to misinterpret Islam and abuse Christianity to perpetuate dehumanizing policies and practises against the women of Sudan.

There is nothing more expressive of such misconceptions, and unjust policies than the existing rule of the NIF terrorist regime, who has committed, in cold blood, the worst sins against Sudanese women inthe name of our innocent religions.

Muslims, Christians, and believers of other faith, our mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters, are heniously brutalized by the NIF criminals that hundreds of thousands of them were subjected to air bombardments and displacement from their peaceful villages, extrajudicial killings in the urban centers even universities, and torture in the ugly ghost houses !

With this unprecedented situation still going on in our country, the NDA must clearly commit itself to the cause of women in a way that should convince them with its serious commitment to their legitimate rights and freedoms.

The NDA commitment must go far beyond the statements thus far exposed in communique' of conferences and annual meetings. The NDA commitment must show itself in practical terms concerning women's representation in its Leadership organs, and in particular its Leadership Council.

When the enlightened women of Sudan, those who are fighting side by side with Sudanese men, are sincerely empowered to participate in the NDA political activities without discrimination, and in consistency with itscommitment to international human rights norms, including the "International Agreement to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women", the Sudanese people and the whole world will then be convinced that the NDA is living up to its word and that a New Sudan is breaking the centuries' chains of reaction and underdevelopment !

THE NDA LC MUST CONTINUE RECOGNIZING THE

MEMBERSHIP OF USTAZA: FATIMA AHMED IBRAHIM

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Dear Sir/ Madam:

Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim is one of the most renowned Sudanese women leaders. She started her political career early in the 1950's as a school girl, when she and a few other Sudanese leaders stood for the right of Sudanese women to free the education from and against the colonial authorities.

Since that time, Fatima continued the struggle in the national and the international arenas until this very moment to defend the rights of the Sudanese people for democracy and full enjoyment of human rights.

As a strong fighter for civil freedoms, Fatima contributed to the establishment and growth of the Sudanese Women Union (SWU), which managed with a consistent movement of nationalist striving to achieve most of the rights Sudanese men and women have enjoyed with respect to private law reforms of divorce and child custody, the recognition of women's rights to work and compete with men in all professions, and the right of women to vote and participate in the political life of the country.

For the new generations, including some political leaders who have been deprived of the opportunity to witness Fatima and the Union's struggles against the anti-democratic systems of rule that ravaged our country for many consecutive decades, these accomplishments might not be fully appreciated. But for millions of Sudanese People in and outside Sudan including intellectuals, men and women all over the world, these Sudanese achievements were unprecedented in the third world countries, in general, and the modern history of African and Arab regions, in particular.

It is because of this brilliant record of political striving for the rights of the Sudanese people that the United Nations awarded Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim as a leader of the (SWU), the United Nations Prize for Human Rights, a most distinguished recognition by the International Community to the life-time struggle of the Sudanese leaders.

The United Nations recognition came in a time of great suffering for Sudanese People all over the globe. The SWU restored the true image of our nation and gave the right message to the world which lost faith in Sudan Government under the NIF terrorist rule with all its atrocities and "bad deeds". The UN Prize meant a new faith in the Sudanese status and role in the process of international peace, democracy, and cooperation.

The selection of Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim for the membership of the NDA Leadership Council by the Sudanese Women's Forum (SWF) in Cairo (an alliance of women representing the Umma Party, Democratic Unionist Party, SPLM/SPLA, SWU, NOB, and USAP), came as a decision favoring the political conditions of the NDA abroad.

The SWF was fully recognized by the NDA. Its decision was taken to the late General Fathi Ahmed Ali, Deputy President of the NDA, who placed it in the agenda of the NDA meeting in Asmara 1996. The NDA Leadership Council decided to adopt the recommendation of SWF and Fatima was recognized by the NDA LC as a National Personality in the Council.

Accordingly, the NDA Leadership Council must continue recognizing Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim as a Member of the Council, in her capacity as a National Personality, in accordance with the NDA Council's decision of Asmara 1996. It should also consider the issues that Fatima and other Sudanese women raised to the NDA which include:

(1) Amendment of the Asmara Agreement concerning women's rights.

(2) Full representation in the NDA Leadership Council for all Sudanese women's leaderships (trades unions, political parties, and women's independent organizations such as the Sudanese Women's Union, the Ramadan Martyer Family League, etc).