On April 30, 2010 in Washington DC, human rights activists and members of the Sudanese diaspora held demonstrations and a protest march to condemn the ongoing genocide and violence in Darfur, and the fraudulent elections that led to the “re-election” of Omar Al-Bashir.  Al-Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war criminal charges.  Damanga had publicized this event as “Say No to Sudan’s Stolen Election.” Damanga’s Executive Director Mohamed Yahya also provided an article on this subject to the Salem News, entitled “First African American president to Promote Injustice in African Country.”

The event was to allow Sudanese from all over the United States to come to Washington D.C. to demonstrate their rejection of Sudan’s fraudulent, rigged election and to call upon the US administration not to legitimize the regime led by the indicted war criminal Al-Bashir.   Sudanese traveled from across the East Coast from Boston to Richmond to congregate in Washington DC to express their views on April 30, 2010.

Along with the Sudanese diaspora that attended, a broad range of organizations were involved in the April 30 Washington DC demonstration and march including Damanga, Voices for Sudan, Southern Sudan Project, Africa Action, Darfur Women’s Action Group (DWAG), Nubia Project, My Sister’s Keepers, Institute for Religion & Democracy, Our Humanity in the Balance, and Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.).

The demonstration began at Lafayette Park across from the White House, then proceeded in a march to the U.S. Department of State to deliver a statement to the U.S. Secretary of State.  (See Adobe Acrobat PDF file of joint statement to the U.S. Department of State.)

Speakers included:

— Mohamed Yahya, Damanga
— Jimmy Mulla, Voices for Sudan
— Fakiri Taha, Nubia Project
— William Bol Gai Deng, Southern Sudan Project
— Nuraddin A. Abdulmannan, Nubia Project
— Adam M. Ahmed Yahya, member of the FUR Solidarity
— Mohamed Altayib, Member of the Sudanna organization
— Muhammad Al-Hassan, a candidate in this year’s election
— Nasredin Hajam
— Niemat Ahmadi, Darfur Women’s Action Group (DWAG)
— Gloria White-Hammond, My Sister’s Keepers
— Meryl Zordanki, Africa Action
— Shaza Abdulla
— Faith McDonnell, Institute for Religion & Democracy
— Terry Nickelson, Our Humanity in the Balance
— Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)

Damanga’s Executive Director Mohamed Yahya expressed the concerns and voice of many, speaking of his disappointment and sense of betrayal by the Obama administration on the issue of Darfur and Southern Sudan.  At Lafayette Park near the White House, Mohamed Yahya asked how President Obama could allow his representatives to preside over what has been repeatedly reported as a fraudulent election, with a candidate indicted by the ICC for war crimes.   Mohamed Yahya voiced his concerns also in an article published by the Salem News, entitled “First African American president to Promote Injustice in African Country.”

At Lafayette Park, Mr. Muhammad Al-Hassan, one of the candidates who ran for office in the recent Sudanese elections spoke.  Mr. Al-Hassan confirmed the frequent reports of election fraud that had occurred in the recent Sudanese “elections.”

Other Sudanese speakers echoed his concerns, with stories and narratives of their own.  “William” Bol Gai Deng of the Southern Sudan Project came from Richmond, Virginia and spoke about his struggles working as an African slave in Sudan, and the struggles of Sudanese people to receive equal dignity and human rights throughout Sudan.  He spoke of how those who would get “paid” were sometimes promised a “cow” for each year’s wages, equivalent to 50 U.S. dollars, and even then such “wages” were withheld from them.  Mr. Deng also stated how he sought equality and liberty fairly for all Sudanese people, with laws that were not dependent on any single religious views, but treated all people equally.

He and other Sudanese speakers spoke of the ongoing violence, genocide, and killings in Darfur.  They expressed their concerns about the expectations that Sudan will soon be divided into two countries, and what that would mean for their people, and they hoped that someday Sudan would be a united nation with human rights, justice, and dignity for all people.  Nuraddin A. Abdulmannan expressed concern that a divided Sudan would lead to a northern Sudan that could host extremists that could become a new haven for terrorism to threaten not only Africa, but also the world.

Meryl Zordanki and Faith McDonnell spoke of their commitment to human rights for the people of Darfur and Sudan, and their own experiences and disappointments with the latest widely reported fraudulent election results.   Terry Nickelson spoke of the need for people to come together and take responsibility for human right atrocities in the world and not be dependent on the predictable disappointments of governments willing to compromise on basic human rights.

While marching from the White House to the U.S. State Department, the protesters carried signs stating “Freedom for Darfur,”  “Stand with People of Sudan,” “Justice and Human Rights for Darfur,” and “Peace Begins with Justice in Sudan.”  They chanted “Al-Bashir to the ICC,” “We Reject Rigged Elections,” and “Justice, Justice for Darfur,” as they marched to the U.S. State Department headquarters.

At the front of the U.S. State Department headquarters, the group requested that a representative of the U.S. State Department accept their statement.  Mohamed Yahya, Jimmy Mulla, Niemat Ahmadai, Rev. Gloria White-Hammond, and Jeffrey Imm spoke.

Mohamed Yahya urged State Department Secretary Hillary Clinton to hear their concerns about Darfur and Sudan, and he led the protesters in protest chants at the U.S. State Department.

Gloria White-Hammond traveled from Boston to speak in front of the U.S. State Department with the Sudanese diaspora and human rights protesters.  Reverence White-Hammond spoke of her own travels to Darfur and the need for Americans to recognize the essential human rights challenge that Darfur genocide and the latest “elections” represented to peace and human dignity.

Jeffrey Imm spoke to the law enforcement and security officers that surrounded the U.S. State Department headquarters entrance, and urged them to realize that the crisis in Darfur is both a human rights and a law enforcement crisis, comparing the situation in Sudan with the election of Al-Bashir to the election of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany.  Imm also stated that having an indicted war criminal leading a nation that was continuing genocide was also an international law enforcement issue as well.

Niemat Amadi spoke of the need to remember the continuing crisis of women in Darfur and the abuses that women continue to suffer every day in Sudan.

Jimmy Mulla thanked all those who traveled from different areas to represent the “voices” of the Sudanese diaspora and others that seek freedom and our universal human rights for Darfur and for all of Sudan.

Photographs:

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The Joint Statement to the U.S. State Department read as follows:

April 30, 2010

To the US Secretary of the State, Madame Clinton
U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW, Washington, DC 20037

Dear Madame Secretary:

As concerned members of the Sudanese community and its civil society, we are writing to express our grave concern about the recent Sudanese national elections. We come together today as diverse Sudanese leaders from all over the world to say we reject the rigged and fraudulent election and urge the U.S. government not to legitimize the victory and rule of the indicted war criminal Omar al-Bashir over our people in Sudan.

We welcome the recent statement by the U.S. State Department spokesperson that these elections will not bring the Government of Sudan redemption or legitimacy, as well as statements that Sudan’s elections did not meet international standards. However, we urge you to ensure that these declarations are committed to and applied by leaders at all levels of the U.S. government. U.S. policy toward Sudan must be based on a commitment to human rights and justice for all the people of Sudan. The lack of serious measures from the international community and the US in particular have emboldened al-Bashir’s government to continue its manipulative tactics in oppressing the people of Sudan.

We appreciate the United States’ efforts to help resolve Sudan’s multiple crises. Sudan’s national elections were one of the important milestones laid out in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 with U.S. support. As Sudanese, we all hoped that a free and fair election could transform the country to a democratic nation, if all Sudanese people could participate in a secure environment free from oppression, fear and intimidation. However, these elections fell far short of fulfilling this dream. Instead, the elections were characterized by political repression and countless irregularities both before and during the election process that made the elections in both North and South Sudan far from free and fair or credible.

Sudan’s leading National Congress Party (NCP) manipulated the process, using all state organs and the state capacity to provide unfair advantage to its campaigns. Security blocked other political parties’ attempts at campaigning, organizing, and accessing the media. As a result, most other political parties boycotted the presidential contest and many other races.

It was also impossible for the Darfuri people to participate in the election process in any meaningful way. As stated by the European Union observer team, which withdrew from the region, the security situation was not conducive for elections to take place in Darfur. The lands of many Darfuri victims have also been occupied by Arab nomad settlers who were introduced to the area by the government of Sudan in exchange for taking part in the fighting and destruction in Darfur. This, combined with the fraudulent census and registration process, allowed for the intentional exclusion of countless Darfuris from the voting process.

With many of our families still on the ground, we are well aware that the security situation in our home region Darfur remains tense and volatile for the nearly three million displaced persons and refugees who have been driven from their homes and are still facing constant threats to their survival. Humanitarian access also remains blocked in many areas of Darfur, such as in the region of eastern Jebel Marra where aid groups that were forced to withdraw in February have
not been able to return. Attacks on civilians including rape and various forms of sexual violence against girls and women remain frequent and unaddressed. The abduction of aid workers and peacekeepers presents a huge challenge for the protection of civilians and provision of life-saving aid. The grave situation of committing heinous atrocities, forcibly displacing and replacing the original inhabitants of Darfur by Arab nomads from other countries for resettlement, combined with fraudulent census, will unequivocally jeopardize any endeavor of future peace process.

It is also important to note that, while many in the international community are well acquainted with difficulties in the implementation of Sudan’s CPA and the ongoing conflict in Darfur, residents of the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, Eastern Sudan and Nubia regions also face grave threats to life and liberty. The fate of popular consultations in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile remains unknown and the non-implementation of the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement (ESPA) leaves the grievances of the people unresolved and creates a potential for conflict. We recognize the challenges of dealing with al-Bashir’s regime, which has long specialized in divide-and-rule tactics and benefitted from intermittent focus by the international community on North-South issues and on Darfur. However, addressing the urgent situation in Darfur and the implementation of the CPA simultaneously is critical for the future of the entire country. The international community must recognize the urgency and hold the government of Sudan accountable for its actions in both regions.

Given the critical situation in the South with the referendum quickly approaching, we urge the U.S. to take serious measures to ensure that the oppression and irregularities of this election process are not repeated during the referendum. The people of the South must be able to exercise the right to decide their future.

The U.S. must also work with other U.N. Security Council member states to ensure better protection of civilians in Darfur by a more effective UNAMID peacekeeping force. It must also continue to push for an inclusive and genuine peace process that will address the root causes of  the crises in Darfur and other areas of Sudan such Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, Eastern Sudan, and Nubia Region. The United States must proactively support justice for victims of the
genocide in Darfur and continue to urge the execution of ICC arrest warrants for all those wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Madam Secretary, we call for your leadership in ensuring the U.S. takes serious and concrete steps to hold the Sudanese government accountable for respecting the human rights and democratic will of the people of Sudan. This begins with recognizing and working hard with international partners to address the abuses and irregularities that denied the Sudanese people free and fair elections.

Cc: President Obama

Sincerely,

The undersigned Civil Society and Community Leaders:

Mohmed Ahmed Eisa, Darfuri Activist/ Human Rights laureate, Boston. MA
Jimmy Mulla, President, Voices for Sudan, DC
Fakir Taha Jaweesh, Nubia Project, VA
Niemat Ahmadi, Darfur Women Action Group, DC
Nasma Abdalla Mohamed, Darfuri Activist, Washington, DC
Nagi Idris, Activist, VA
Nuraddin A. Manan, President Nubia Project, VA
Adam Yahya, President, Fur Solidarity of North America, Richmond VA
Parake Madout, Southern Sudanese Activist, Washington DC
Mahmed Daoud, Kush Movement, KM
Salah Abu Gabar Elhaj
Chair, Sudanese Democratic Alliance, VA
Mohaned Alhassan M H, Presidential Candidate /National Reform Party TX
Izzelddin Hohamed Alhassan, National; Reform Party TX
Nagi Iddris Nubia Project
Khalid Grase, Nubia Project, MD
Amal Allagabo, General Secretary, Darfur Women Action Group, VA
William Deng, President South Sudan Project, Richmond VA
Mohamed Mahmoud, Chair, Sudana, VA
Dr. Mahmoud Braima, Darfur Association of North America, Louisiana
Ahmed Adam Ali, President Darfur Association of Colorado, Denver
Mahdi Elkhalifa, Umma Party, VA
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Darfur Association of Dallas, TX
Darfur Association of Houston, TX
Darfur Association of Arizona
Darfur Association of Nebraska
Mr. Mansour Ahmed-, F Secretary-General- Fur Cultural Revival (Portland, ME)
Mr. Mohmmed Yahya, Director -Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy
Adam Abakar, Darfurian Association of Utah,
Mr. Bakheit Shata, Darfur Community Organization (Omaha, Nebraska)
Mohamed E. Suleiman, Darfur’ Self Reliance Education, San Francisco Bay Area
Abdeljabar Seddik, Western Sudan Aid Relief in the USA Inc TX
. Darfurian Urgent Action of USA
. Care Unit for Unity and Development, Atlanta, GA

Activists
1. Dr. Adam Omer Lincoln, NE
2. Kamaldine Fort Wayne IN
3. Khalid Hanhdal Houston TX
4. Abdelrahim Khamis Houston TX
6. Adam Babiker Houston TX
7. Taragi Mustafa Ontario Canada
8. Basmat Ahmed Stone Mountain GA
9. Ezeldin Yahiya Dallas TX
10. Ismail Omer Dallas TX
11. Mohamed Hassan Omaha NE
12. El Gouzuli Sheruf Manhattan NY
13. Nusaiba Abbas Houston TX
14. Ahmed Yahya Stone Mountain GA
15. Hawa Ahmed Stone Mountain GA
16. Adam Abdullah Tucson AZ
17. Yahya Harun Dallas TX
19. Abdel Jabbar Seddik Dallas TX
20. Bakri Jumaa NJ
21. Abdo Ashoor Des Moines IA
22. Elsadiq Ashoor Des Moines IA
23. Mansour Ishaaq
24. Makki Makki Houston TX
25. Mohamed Haroon Dallas TX
26. Sulieman Awadallah Houston TX
28. Ibrahim Abdelrahman Houston TX
29. Elsadiq Jibril Houston TX
30. Abdel-Raziq Ibrahim Houston TX
31. Adam Mohamed Houston TX
32. Dr. Ismail Abdlla Baltimore MD
33. Jumaa Haree Manhattan NY
34. Alm Eldeen Adam Manhattan NY
35. Hassneen Sluman Fort Wayne IN
36. Ibrhim Adam Phoenix AZ
37. Salah Noreen AZ
38. Ahmed Elshikh Dallas TX
39. Elkhalee Shegfat Ph PA

European Diaspora
Mohammadain Mohamad Ishag, President -Darfur Culture Organization, Belgium
Ahamad Omar Ishag -Darfur Community Belgium
Mustafa A. Ali Dinar
Darfur Union, the Netherlands
Ahmed M.