March 29, 2024

Sudan’s “new” national security law

Below is an unofficial translation of the most controversial aspects of the “new” National Security Act that the ruling NCP rammed through the Sudanese Parliament earlier this week. At first glance Section 50 (E) (“Detention or arrest of any suspected person for a period not exceeding thirty days provided that his or her family is […]

Bits & pieces

I’m trying to stay offline as much as possible at the moment as I’m in self-imposed lock-down-drafting mode for the book. But a couple of things I can’t overlook. 1. Doha First, a useful post from Julie Flint over on the Making Sense of Darfur blog about Doha, serving to remind me that I never […]

Negotiating the election

In the face of a threatened boycott of the 2010 elections by Sudan opposition parties, the Sudan Tribune has an interesting report on what U.S. envoy, Scott Gration, has said to his interlocutor in the Sudanese government, Ghazi Salah Al-Deen, during his current visit to Khartoum. I haven’t seen another source on this yet, but […]

Good result: Turkey buckles

A quick update on a previous post. According to AFP, the Sudanese state media is reporting that Bashir has called Turkish President Gul to say he doesn’t have time to go to attend the Organization of the Islamic Conference scheduled for tomorrow. As the Sudan Tribune tells the story, Taha told Bashir that Israeli and […]

New security commission: A face-saver for Gosh, or something more sinister?

In the ‘one to watch’ category, is a meeting that took place in Khartoum last week of a new governmental body called the National Security Consultancy Commission. The Sudan Tribune reports Bashir saying that the commission’s work is “to develop its work and seal coordination among them [the existing security agencies]”.  The first meeting was […]

We are failing these women

When I was in Khartoum earlier this year, I went to the courtroom where Lubna Hussein was being tried under the Public Order Offense laws for wearing trousers. As readers of this blog will know, the public scrutiny of Lubna’s case was such that the court eventually backed off sentencing her with a flogging, and […]

Bashir’s campaign goes online

Check it out: http://www.albashir.sd/e/index.php As part of preparations for his bid to renew his Presidency in the upcoming “democratic” elections of 2010, Bashir has taken his campaign online (complete with a dove of peace floating above his name). Note though, the target audience. Firstly, while Khartoum has a high rate of internet usage, the bulk […]

More background on Gration and the WaPo article

A few people have asked me questions about Gration’s interactions on his latest Sudan trip, especially with respect to some parts of Stephanie McCrummen’s Washington Post article since I posted on it this morning. I thought it could be useful to share my responses: Stephanie wrote: During a stop in El Fasher, capital of North […]

Bureaucratic idiocy

This is a diary entry from when I was in Sudan last month that I haven’t had a chance to post before now . . . It ‘s a nice counterpoint to the logistical ease of travel I experienced on the Gration trip a couple of weeks later. 24 August, 2009 Well – it’s been […]

Security provided by those who need their security provided . . .

A couple of days ago I did a post on the village of Ain Siro, where I was last weekend. Before I went, there had been some news reports of fighting in the area, and when I was there people said that Chadian rebels had been trying to get in. They also reported being angry […]