Sudanese rights group condemns ruling party over university unrest

Febr 10, 2007 — SHRO-Cairo is gravely concerned about the acts of violence that took place at the Neelain University in Khartoum on Thursday, February 8, 2007. Causing the death of a student and grievous hurt to others, the violence erupted between students supporting the National Congress ruling party and students opposing the party.

The Congress supporters, who controlled the Students Union, prevented the opponents not to perform political activity in the university campus. The latter were accused of “insulting Muslim religious beliefs and sentiments.” The Congress supporters further said they would not allow the opponents to conduct student activities unless they would apologize to the Islamic Movement “for all insults of the Jihadists and the martyrs who lost their lives in civil war in South Sudan.”

The students in dispute resorted to the use of fire arms and other weaponry that caused the death of student al-Mouiz Hassan Mohamed Ahmed (freshman, faculty of law) and the hurting of ‘Abd al-Wahab Khamis, Fadl Khamis Hamad, Omer ‘Abd-Allah, ‘Abd al-Mouiz Idris, ‘Abd al-Rahman ‘Abd al-Latif, and Khalid ‘Abd al-Wahab Mustafa.

The Organization is particularly concerned for the spreading of fire arms amongst civilians and university students, in particular, as well as curtailment of the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly in the institutes of education that should provide, in principle, for the full enjoyment of the freedoms of thought, expression and assembly for all students, indiscriminately.

SHRO-Cairo believes that the regrettable events of the Neelain University were not isolated or casual: These acts of violence must be closely related with the serious lacking in public and academic freedoms, the biased intervention of the Congress Party in student affairs, the deteriorating political climates in the country, the absence of public tranquility, the persistent police brutalities, and the abuses of state powers by the security organs of the State.

Recalling the violence of government supporters at the Ahliya University campus in Omdurman, the Organization condemns the authoritative attitude of government supporters at university campuses, including the recent violence in the Neelain University.

The Organization asks the GONU parliamentary committees to conduct a socio-academic and judicial investigation in close collaboration with the ministry of high education, opposition parties, and civil society groups on these regrettable events to unfold the correlations that explain the situation with a view to provide for a sound plan and effective measures to end campus violence in our universities for good.