June
26, 2001
Dear Sudanese
Colleagues and Friends Human Rights, Peace, and Democracy Groups
We are greatly
honored in the SHRO-Cairo Board of Trust and Executive Office with the
massive support and deep concerns you have all most appreciatively expressed
in the media, with direct contacts, and the other communication avenues
in solidarity with our Humanitarian Group.
We sincerely affirm
that SHRO-Cairo will continue to stand firmly in the front line of the
human rights struggles for the full recognition and realization of international
human rights in The Sudan.
We have closed
our office in Cairo with full respect to the instruction of our good
hosts, the Egyptian authorities, to close the office. We take this opportunity
to renew our thanks and regard to their cooperative personnel that in
10 years of continuous hospitality to our human rights organization
allowed this Sudanese group to carry out humanitarian activities for
the Sudanese citizens in Egypt.
That cooperation
further indicated the mutual understanding and friendship between the
SHRO-Cairo Sudanese Civil Society Organization and the Egypt's authorities.
We look forward in confidence to continue this mutual cooperation in
the near future.
Our great appreciation
goes to the People of Egypt and their knowledgeable and humanitarian
Civil Society groups especially the human rights and democracy organizations,
centers, and institutes. SHRO-Cairo is indebted to all of them for the
high quality brotherhood and friendship that ecumenically linked our
shared concerns for a world free of hate, prejudice, sexism, religious
intolerance, or discrimination.
The humanitarian
activities we shared with these Egyptian groups as they stood righteously
in support of the Cause of the permanent and fair peace, regular democracy,
and consistent human rights activities in Sudan were purely founded
on the love of our Peoples and Nations to the natural rights and freedoms.
We will remember these purposeful works that will continue to enlighten
our Civil Societies with international human rights, forever.
SHRO-Cairo greatest
allegiance, love, and concern are dedicated, as always, to the People
of Sudan, our mothers, fathers, wives, daughters, sons, brothers, and
all other national kin of our country. They have continuously supported
up to this moment the SHRO-Cairo Organization since its inception in
December 1991.
That was a historic
meeting hosted by the Egypt-based Arab Organization for Human Rights
and personally led by Dr. Amin Mekki Medani, a distinguished SHRO founder,
leader, and educator. SHRO-Cairo will continue to disseminate for the
Sudanese the knowledge available on the international human rights norms
- the Constitution of unity, equality, justice, and development that
our society struggles for, without any discrimination or patronage.
The Organization
placed with the honor and the pride all energies and activities in the
service of the Sudanese throughout these years. The services centered
on the provision of humanitarian support to our dear citizens who were
forced to flee the Homeland under all forms of political persecution,
ethnic cleansing, religious intolerance, and the suppression of rights
and freedoms by the Government of Sudan.
The Sudanese influx
to Egypt was a search for safety and political asylum in Egypt, the
sisterly neighbor of Sudan. The influx did not stop because the atrocities
of the Government of Sudan that caused the massive displacement, brain
drain, and professionals' drift off the Homeland were never stopped.
Most recently,
Omer Bashir promised to apply amputations and other severe punishments
on our People who are gravely hit by the famine, drought, civil war,
and the non-democracy non-humanitarian policies and practices of his
dictatorial single party rule. SHRO-Cairo strongly condemns this ruthless
announcement that antagonized the serious effort to insure peace and
democracy and the dignity of the Sudanese.
We urge the International
Community to increase the pressure to abolish the notorious September
Laws. The NIF rule renewed implementation of such amputations and the
other harsh punishments on many poverty-stricken citizens while "high-esteemed"
offenders freely moved in close collaboration with the ruling junta.
Our humble services
in the Cairo Office were directly offered to the good and innocent Sudanese
sisters and brothers who suffered the gross human rights violations
of the Government of Sudan. These heinous crimes against humanity included
the ongoing air bombing of the innocent children, women, and elderly
citizens by the Bashir regime.
Sudan Government
continues to commit extra-judicial killing and forced displacement of
the indigenous population of the South and Nuba Mountains, abuses of
Sudan oil and other vital resources for warfare, acts of religion persecution,
and the PDFs enslavement of our citizens as the government-militias
most notorious scourge. These unprecedented ill practices were fully
documented beyond any doubt by SHRO-Cairo and are internationally condemned.
Sudan Government
unlawfully inflicted arbitrary arrest and trial on the NDA Democratic
Opposition leaders as well as other opponents, in addition to savage
tortures and security brutality in universities and schools. Sudan Government
equally committed other crimes against humanity that since June 1989
were never investigated. These included the extra-judicial killings
of the officers and soldiers of the Sudanese Armed Forces in the holy
month of Ramadan (April 1990).
The wrong doers
of this horrific massacre, besides the other atrocities, should be put
to trial before a newly established independent Judiciary of the Sudan,
not the regime's politically selected courts. Sudan Government must
insure immediate unconditional release of the NDA leaders. Government
should guarantee full freedom of expression and assembly to the NDA
parties.
We call upon China,
Talisman, and all the other oil investing companies to stop their activities
at the present time to help the process of peace making and the comprehensive
political solution of the political crisis of Sudan. This Organization
asks Sudan Government to stop the war, cancel all Police State laws
or practices, and create the climates conducive to the fair and permanent
comprehensive solution of the political crisis.
The NIF recklessly
developed and has largely expanded Sudan's crisis through adoption of
the poorest unscholarly backward interpretations of religion the country
ever experienced in modern times. The ruling party authoritatively applied
that reckless indoctrination to conquer Sudanese society with a meaningless
"non-civilization" illusion. SHRO-Cairo advises government
to stop all laws legislated under these persecution climates that in
essence antagonized the real meanings of the good life.
SHRO-Cairo condemns
in the strongest terms possible the negligent attitude of Sudan Embassies
in Lebanon and Egypt towards the needs of Sudanese displaced citizens
who are seeking political refuge via the UN refugee service. The Sudanese
Embassies are mandated by Sudanese Law to assist our citizens where
they might be located. Not only that these Embassies tragically ignored
the urgent needs of our citizens in Egypt and Lebanon.
These Embassies
actually worked against the rights of Sudanese citizen abroad in non-diplomatic
security-oriented ways that further reflected the non-democratic, inconsiderate,
and non-humanitarian nature of the current rulers of Sudan and their
top officials.
Dear Sudanese,
Colleagues and Friends, Human Rights, Peace, and Democracy Groups
SHRO-Cairo will
increasingly collaborate with all human rights organizations over the
globe, through the International Internet, and all available means of
communication to support Sudanese struggle for democratic freedoms and
human rights.
The SHRO-Cairo
that our dear sister, the late Sudanese artist Al-Ustaza Horiya Hakim,
Member of the Board and Executive Committee, supported with personal
donation together with hundreds of our citizens in Egypt. That the Sudanese
supported from inside Sudan with unrestricted support will continue.
The SHRO-Cairo
that the US Endowment for Democracy, the Swedish Foundation and many
other groups supported with generous donations. That the Arab and African
national and regional human rights institutes, centers, and conferences
and United Nations concerned parties supported to enhance the Cause
of human rights in our country will continue.
The SHRO-Cairo
that built in a decade the most valuable national, regional, and international
contacts and connections to voice, defend, and protect the rights of
the Sudanese at Home and Abroad will never cease to exist.
The closure of
the SHRO-Cairo office generated an urgent humanitarian need for thousands
of our Sudanese citizens in Cairo of whom great many are victims of
the Sudan Government's war and other crimes. These are citizens whose
requests to find asylum in the United States, European countries, and
Australia hinge on the letters of recommendations among other factors
that facilitate the assessment of cases before the United Nations Refugee
Office in Cairo.
SHRO-Cairo appeals
to the Egyptian authorities to kindly consider the possibility of reopening
our office in Cairo to cater for the humanitarian needs of our citizens
for whom no other Sudanese organization is available in Egypt. We urge
all human rights organizations and democracy groups, as well as the
NDA Opposition, to support this humanitarian request.
The insurance of
refugee services to our citizens in Egypt is top agenda. SHRO-Cairo
has already campaigned for the insurance of similar rights to our Sudanese
citizens in Lebanon. We are confident that the Egyptian authorities
that have consistently shown decent appreciation of our citizen's needs
in Egypt would appreciate this objective request.
Board of Trust
and Executive Office, Organization's membership and active groups in
the Sudan, We have a mission to accomplish for which SHRO-Cairo was
established to achieve. We solemnly pledge to continue our Mission for
which we issued this appeal to have your kind support and sisterly cooperation.
Mahgoub El-Tigani
President, SHRO-Cairo
=====================
CC.
Mohamed Osman El-Merghani,
NDA President and the NDA Leadership Council to kindly support this
Appeal to Reopen the SHRO-Cairo Office to Serve the urgent needs of
our Sudanese Refugees in Egypt.
Human Rights and
Democracy Groups in Egypt
United Nations
Refugees Office, Geneva, Cairo and Beirut
