From the Editor

Mahgoub El-Tigani, SHRO-Cairo President

Since its inception in December 1991, SHRO-Cairo continues to voice with reliable information and

History and Memory - Khalid Kodi

authenticated reports the deep grievances and the grave concerns of the Sudanese at Home or in the Diaspora about the Sudanese society and State. The major guidance of the Organization has always manifested itself in terms of international human rights norms irrespective of any discrimination by gender, religion, political affiliation, ethnicity, economic status, or social preference.

The Cairo Branch of Sudan Human Rights Organization (SHRO-Cairo) continues on its own right with no stoppage or intermittence to participate in human rights activities with unwavering dedication to the human rights of the People of Sudan.

It is therefore expedient to initiate the Editor’s opening statement of the SHRO-Cairo site in the International Internet with a few paragraphs from our first publication, The Sudanese Human Rights Quarterly, Issue No. 1, the summer of 1995. That has been profoundly consistent in theory and application from that day to the present time.

There are many good reasons for the Cairo Branch of Sudan Human Rights Organization (SHRO-Cairo) to publish the Quarterly. Prominent among these reasons is the need to preserve the fruits of SHRO-Cairo tireless efforts in gathering and meticulously analyzing information pertaining to human rights violations in the Sudan. The Organization is convinced that the best method of preserving such data is to record it in the form of publication, instead of allowing such traumatic events to be transmitted in passing as oral anecdotes and hearsay.

It is extremely imperative that the horrendous violation of rights and brutalization of the Sudanese citizen be recorded and preserved in some kind of publication, so that it becomes a living evidence of such events and their circumstances to be passed on from generation to generation. Indeed, it would be tantamount to criminal neglect not to undertake such a task, for, after all, “God exposes what you try to conceal.”

The Cairo Branch of Sudan Human Rights Organization (SHRO-Cairo) recognizes the necessity of monitoring and gathering data and evaluating its vital activities regarding both the theoretical and applied aspects of human rights. This is a practical way of training its members and strengthening their application of the human rights movement at the local, regional and international levels.

Far apart from their historical value that would become obvious in the near future, the documentation of such activities serves to motivate and raise the morale of these members who undertake them. It attests to the fact that their efforts have not gone in vain but have had practical results and been appreciated by their own people as well as those who sympathize with them. It also serves to attract more members and therefore more cadres that become available to carry out the campaign that, of necessity, has to be continuous.

Committed to the defense and protection of human rights in the Sudan, SHRO-Cairo is determined to consolidate its ties with all human rights organizations. Together with them, We urge States and relevant organizations to bring all possible pressure to bear on the Sudanese regime to cease its systematic violations of the rights of its citizens. That it must submit to the will of the Sudanese People by respecting and guaranteeing their full rights and freedoms in compliance with their Public Will and the internationally recognized human rights norms.

The SHRO-Cairo site in the International Internet was placed as one of our Organization’s top agenda. SHRO-Cairo Board of Trust, Executive Committee, and members at large convey our deepest gratefulness to the unrelenting support that has been received from inside Sudan through our SHRO-Cairo groups and the generous Sudanese in the Diaspora to make of this site an established reality.

We are deeply indebted to all human rights organizations for their continuous support to the cause of human rights in our country and the encouragement they continue to offer to SHRO-Cairo. We extend with full respect and appreciation our best greetings to all human rights activists, supporters, and sympathizers all over the world. Special gratitude is expressed to the generous support of the U.S.-based Endowment for Democracy to our SHRO-Cairo human rights and democracy programs.

There are many Sudanese activists who helped a great deal to boost our human rights activities in and out Sudan. We mention with great affection the late Professor Mohamed Omer Beshir, the founder of the Sudan Human Rights Organization, and the late Dr. Abdel-Wahab Sinada who was a prominent trade unionist as well as an international human rights activist. Special regards are due Ustaz Farouq Abu Eissa, Secretary General of the Arab Lawyers Union, and the SHRO President, Dr. Amin Mekki Medani, Chair of the historic meeting that established our active Organization at the AOHR office space in Cairo.

This SHRO-Cairo independent site has been diligently designed and brought to life by the artistic talent of Dr. Marlyn Tadros in close collaboration with the SHRO-Cairo team. Our team included the SHRO-Cairo Secretary General Ustaz Mohamed Hassan Daoud, Board Member Ustaza Zeinab Osman, SHRO-Cairo Friend Dr. Hassan Abu Zaid, and a large number of human rights activists including this editor.

It is a great pleasure to express our deep appreciation to the sisterly initiative and the close follow up of Dr. Marlyn concerning the design and establishment of this humanitarian activity.

We are indeed happy that our site is finally coming through!

Welcome to the SHRO-Cairo site in the International Internet!