Democracy and Freedom are still elusive in Sudan, and its President continues to avoid justice

The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972.

Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile. It lasted for a long 22 years, and is one of the longest civil wars on record. The war resulted in the splitting away of South Sudan six years after the war ended. Roughly two million people have died as a result of war, famine and disease caused by the conflict.

Four million people in southern Sudan have been displaced at least once (and often repeatedly) during the war. The civilian death toll is one of the highest of any war since World War II and was marked by a large number of human rights violations, particularly by the government in Khartoum. These include slavery and mass killings. The conflict officially ended with the signing of a peace agreement in January 2005.

The war is often characterized as a fight between the central government expanding and dominating peoples of the periphery, raising allegations of marginalization. Kingdoms and great powers based along the Nile River have fought against the people of inland Sudan for centuries. Since at least the 17th century, central governments have attempted to regulate and exploit the undeveloped southern and inland Sudan.

Some sources describe the conflict as an ethno-religious one where the Muslim central government's pursuits to impose sharia law on non-Muslim southerners led to violence, and eventually to the civil war. Douglas Johnson has pointed to an exploitative governance as the root cause.

When the British governed Sudan as a colony they administered the northern and southern provinces separately. The south was held to be more similar to the other east-African colonies — Kenya, Tanganyika, and Uganda — while northern Sudan was more similar to Arabic-speaking Egypt. Northern Arabs were prevented from holding positions of power in the south with its African traditions, and trade was discouraged between the two areas.

However, in 1946, the British gave in to northern pressure to integrate the two areas. Arabic was made the language of administration in the south, and northerners began to hold positions there. The southern elite, trained in English, resented the change as they were kept out of their own government. After decolonization most power was given to the northern elites based in Khartoum, causing unrest in the south.

The British moved towards granting Sudan independence, but they failed to give enough power to Southern leaders. Southern Sudanese leaders weren't even invited to negotiations during the transitional period in the 1950s.

In the post-colonial government of 1953, the Sudanization Committee only included 6 southern leaders, though there were some 800 available senior administrative positions.

The second war was partially about natural resources. Between the north and the south lie significant oil fields and thus significant foreign interests (the oil revenue is privatized to Western interests as in Nigeria).

The north wanted to control these resources because they are situated on the edge of the Sahara desert, which is unsuitable for agricultural development. Oil revenues make up about 70% of Sudan's export earnings, and contribute to the development of the country which, unlike the south, does not depend on international aid.

Due to numerous tributaries of the Nile River and heavier precipitation in the south of Sudan they have superior access to water access and fertile land. There has also been a significant amount of death from warring tribes in the south. Most of the conflict has been between Nuer and Dinka but other ethnic groups have also been involved. These tribal conflicts have remained after independence. For example, in January 2012 3,000 Murle people were massacred by the Nuer.

The civil war ended in 1972, with the Addis Ababa Agreement. Part of the agreement gave religious and cultural autonomy to the south. On 6 April 1985, senior military officers led by Gen. Abdul Rahman Suwar ad-Dahhab mounted a coup.

Among the first acts of the new government was to suspend the 1983 constitution, rescind the decree declaring Sudan's intent to become an Islamic state, and disband Nimeiry's Sudan Socialist Union. However, the "September laws" instituting Islamic Sharia law were not suspended. A 15-member transitional military council was named, chaired by Gen. Suwar ad-Dahhab, in 1983.

In consultation with an informal conference of political parties, unions, and professional organizations—known as the "Gathering"—the military council appointed an interim civilian cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Dr. Al-Jazuli Daf'allah.

Elections were held in April 1986, and a transitional military council turned over power to a civilian government as promised. The government was headed by Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi of the Umma Party. It consisted of a coalition of the Umma Party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) (formerly the NUP-National Unionist Party), the National Islamic Front (NIF) of Hassan al-Turabi, and several southern region parties.

This coalition dissolved and reformed several times over the next few years, with Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi and his Umma Party always in a central role. In the meantime in the 1980s the Middle East was undergoing major geopolitical changes that would shape the region into what has become and what resulted in the Arab Spring.

Today the country is pinned down by civil unrest, political and economic instability. President AL Bashir as well as other members of his government are facing indictment by the International Criminal Court (ICC), however it seems that he is the least bothered about these charges. Ever since the announcement of the investigation by ICC proseutors, AL Bashir limited his foreign travels to evade arrest and extradition. 

As we look at the atrocities committed by the regime, we find that Western nations who have once supported Al Bashir as if history is repeating itself, they turning a blind eye yet again not one including President Obama is willing to challenge AL Bashir to bring him to justice to face trial for the crimes he committed. This is most highlighted in a case that has not made any intentional headlines until now, as the family of one family in particular are seeking justice for their loved one. 

This is the case of World Health Organization medical officer and researcher Dr. Edouard Sassoon, an Egyptian born epidemiologist and pathologist, who was at the wrong place, and at the wrong time, which cost him his life in a place where he only went to help others. 

The case surrounding Dr. Sassoon's death started in a most unconventional way, as a result of a cooperative effort began on November 21, 1984 and ended on January 5, 1985 between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the (CIA), the United States embassy in Khartoum, mercenaries, and Sudanese state security forces facilitating the mass migration of Ethiopian Jews out of Sudan. The operation involved the air transport by TEA of some 8,000 Ethiopian Jews from Sudan via Brussels to Israel.

Operation Moses ended on Friday, January 5, 1985, after Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres held a press conference confirming the airlift while asking people not to talk about it. Sudan killed the airlift moments after Peres stopped speaking, ending it prematurely as the news began to reach their Arab allies. Once the story broke in the media, Arab countries pressured Sudan to stop the airlift. Although thousands made it successfully to Israel, many children died in the camps or during the flight to Israel, and it was reported that their parents brought their bodies down from the aircraft with them.

Right after the news of the airlift leaked out, Dr. Edouard Sassoon, an epidemiologist and medical researcher who was contracted by the World Health Organization in 1985 and was working in the Sudan that year; was arrested on January 7, 1985 for suspicion of being an Israeli spy upon the order of Hassan Al Turabi, Sudan’s Attorney General.

When AL Mahdi, Sudan’s former Prime Minister and leader of the Islamist group “The National Umma Party,” learned of Sassoon’s arrest he confronted Sudan’s President Al Nimeiry who was denying news reports of his collaboration with the U.S. and Israeli governments in the airlift of Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

At the time Sudan’s Defense Minister, Abdel Rahman Swar Al Dahab ordered AL Bashir to go see the alleged Israeli spy in Kober prison where he was held. Al Bashir attended several of Sassoon’s interrogations and ordered waterboarding and sleep deprivation for Dr. Sassoon among other forms of torture used on him.

According to former inmates who witnessed Sassoon’s treatment, and later sought asylum in Canada and the U.S., they stated that one day Al Bashir came into the prison and enticed some of the prisoners with extra food rations and other privileges if they did “a good job on this spy”.

As a result, Dr. Sassoon was beaten severely by at least a dozen inmates who stomped on his head, and the rest of his body until he lost consciousness.

According to Abel Menem Hassan AL Sharif, a former military officer imprisoned at Kober with Sassoon, who later sought asylum in Canada; stated that Sassoon was tortured, and killed by the government’s Secret Police on or around February 15, 1985.

Al Turabi, Al Bashir, and Salah Abdellah “Gosh,” a former violent Islamist student at the time held a mid-level administrative position in the government, were present at Dr. Sassoon’s execution.

Gosh later became head of NSIS (National Security and Intelligent Service) 1999, and in 2009 was promoted to become Al Bashir’s Adviser for National Security affairs, and despite not having attended Sudan’s military academy held the rank of major general.

After the execution by hanging, Abdallah ordered the remains to be mutilated: “until nothing is left of him not even the flies can identify him,” he said to the prison’s guards who ordered prisoners to carry out the task. In exchange for their obedience, 20 of the prisoners who took part in discarding Sassoon’s body were released.

Shortly thereafter on April 6 1985, while Nimeiry was on an official visit to the United States in the hope of gaining more financial aid from Washington, a bloodless military coup led by his defense minister Gen. Abdel Rahman Swar al-Dahab ousted him from power. At the subsequent elections the pro-Islamist leader, Sadiq al-Mahdi (who had attempted a coup against Nimeiry in 1976) became Prime Minister again.

The allegation by the regime under which Dr. Sassoon was arrested of being an Israeli spy, was vehemently denied by his family. “Dr. Edoaurd Sassoon was not an Israeli citizen, although he was Jewish, he was never employed by the Israeli government or its secret service, He was a loving husband, a nurturing father, and a dedicated medical doctor serving all of humanity” said Michael Green, a spokesperson for the family in a statement in 1987.

Al-Bashir who joined the Sudanese Army in 1960, graduated from the Egyptian Military Academy in Cairo and also graduated from the Sudan Military Academy in Khartoum in 1966. He quickly rose through the ranks and became a paratroop officer. Later, al-Bashir served in the Egyptian Army during the Yom Kippur War in 1973 against Israel.

In 1975, al-Bashir was sent to the United Arab Emirates as the Sudanese military attaché. After his return home al-Bashir was made a garrison commander. In 1981, al-Bashir returned to his paratroop background when he became the commander of an armored parachute brigade, which he later used to stage the 1989 coup against Al Mahdi, in collaboration with Hassan Al Turabi, the leader of the National Islamic Front (a politically adept organization, and ruthless in its use of violence).

Since 1983, Turabi used his position as Attorney General to push for the strict application of sharia. “Within eighteen months, more than fifty suspected thieves had their hands chopped off. A Coptic Christian was hanged for possessing foreign currency; poor women were flogged for selling local beer.” Mahmoud Mohammed Taha, an Islamic intellectual who had reinterpreted Islamic law in a more liberal direction, apposed the new sharia laws, and had shared a cell with Sassoon, was hanged in January 1985.

In March 1985, the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood was charged with sedition. This came, in part, because Sudan’s former President Al-Nimeiry had grown suspicious of their banking power. This official condemnation of the group proved temporary though as President Nimeiry had lost support of the Sudanese people and the military, and was consequently overthrown. An attempt at democracy followed his overthrow and the organization attempted to use this to their advantage.

In the 1986 elections the Muslim Brotherhood’s financial strength and backing among university graduates still gave them only ten percent of the vote and therefore a third-place position. They made up for this by increasingly gaining support of the military during a time of civil war. The well educated status of their leadership, Turabi was one of the best educated men in Sudan, also gained them prestige.

The National Islamic Front (NIF)changed its name in 1990, and became the National Congress Party, chaired by non other than Omar Al Bashir.

Until today the Sassoon family has not had closure, nor have they been able to give Dr. Sassoon a proper burial in accordance with their Jewish faith and customs. According to Philip Dreyfus, a former colleague of Dr. Sassoon’s widow, Josephine Cattaui-Sassoon, who remained a close family friend and mentor to David (the Sassoons’ son): “The family has engaged a private investigation firm with expertise in such matters, and they are accumulating evidence that the family is hoping to present to the ICC, and file a civil suit against Mr. AL Bashir, Mr. Salah Abdallah, and the government of Sudan.”

After the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Al-Bashir, Gosh supposedly threatened with “amputation of the hands and the slitting of the throats of any person who dares bad-mouth al-Bashir or support” the ICC decision. In May 2009, Gosh was reported to have ordered the closure of the newspaper Al-Wifaq after an editorial called for the death of Yasser Arman, a leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM). Some commentators, however, suggested that the death threat may have eemanated from Gosh’s office in the first place. In August 2009, Gosh was promoted to become the President Adviser for National Security affairs, and his deputy Gen.Mohamed Ellatta took his place to become the head of NSIS (National Security and Intelligent Service).

Despite being accused failing to stop the mass murder of 300,000 people and making a further two million homeless in Sudan, the British government has twice allowed the intelligence chief who was named by the United Nations panel investigating war crimes in Darfur to visit London for medical treatment and secret talks about al-Qa’ida.

A UN panel of experts recommended Sudan’s chief of security and military intelligence face international sanctions in 2004. But Salah Abdallah, a former associate of Osama bin Laden, is being protected by US, British and French intelligence service, according to former US officials.

The full extent of his special treatment was laid bare in November, 2006 when the Foreign Office admitted it had granted him two visas to visit Britain in that year.

Although ministers insisted the visits were for “urgent medical treatment” they admit that he met “UK officials” during his time in London.

Salah Abdallah was flown by the CIA to the agency’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, in 2005. But the visit of the head of Sudan’s secret police to Washington caused such an outcry that he was banned from revisiting the US.

Britain has proved to be more accommodating. In March, 2006 Salah Abdallah visited the private Cromwell Hospital in central London. It is believed he consulted a cardiologist. The nature of his second “urgent medical treatment” in August of 2006 is not known.

On both occasions the man who was Bin Laden’s main contact in Khartoum in the early 1990s spoke to UK officials.

Lord Triesman, the Foreign Office Minister for Africa, described him as “an influential member of the Sudanese government”, and said it was right that the Government raised its concerns over Darfur with him.

Just how influential is detailed in a Human Rights Watch report on Sudan. “Security controls this country,” it says. “The power is in Salah Gosh. He can overrule the army and military intelligence.”

The respected organisation alleged his service was complicit in murderous attacks carried out on Darfuris by the Arab militia known as Janjaweed.

“Sudanese security officials have, for many years, been implicated in serious human rights abuses, including arbitrary detention and torture. Selected security agents are believed to be liaisons with the Janjaweed leaders.”

The UN panel ranked him number two in a list of “identified individuals” who should be held accountable for the Darfur killings. It accused him of “failure to identify, neutralise and disarm non-state militia groups in Darfur”.

Andrew Mitchell, the shadow International Development spokesman, is now pressing the Foreign Office to reveal who, exactly, Salah Abdallah met on his visits. “We need to understand why he wasn’t immediately arrested and sent to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.”

Mohammed Yahya, a Darfur survivor-turned-activist, said: “I have seen members of my family killed as a result of Salah Gosh’s policies.”

Dr James Smith of the Aegis Trust, which campaigns to prevent genocide worldwide, said: “I am staggered that the British government, with full knowledge of his role, arranged for him to have medical treatment in British hospitals.

“Perhaps he is offering titbits of information, but our policy should be to stop terror wherever it happens. History will cast a shadow of disgrace over the British for turning a blind eye to this mass murderer.”

Gillian Lusk, a former deputy editor of Africa Confidential, has followed Salah Abdallah’s career from his days as a violent Islamist student in Khartoum University.

She said: “It seems unlikely that Britain and the US’s ‘intelligence co-operation’ with Sudan’s Islamist regime will bring much of great use in counter-terrorism: Khartoum is expert at running rings around the international community, and the 300,000 to 500,000 people who have died in Darfur have paid the price of this co-operation.”

What is even more staggering is that in 2012 Sudanese authorities arrested 13 people, including the former director of national security, saying they were suspected of plotting a coup. The state-run Radio Omdurman said a “subversive plot” had been uncovered and aborted.

Among those arrested was the former director of National Security and Intelligence Services, Lt. Gen. Salah Abdallah Gosh, according to Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman.

Once a member of President Omar AL Bashir’s inner circle, he was fired in April 2011 for his criticism of the government. In 2011 Sudan crushed pro-democracy protests inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings. Hundreds of protesters angered by painful economic austerity measures were arrested and detained for demanding the ouster of Mr. AL Bashir.

It is conceivable that the strong relationship between both Al Bashir and Gosh had floundered amidst the mounting international pressure for the extradition of both men for their crimes. It is also theorized that Gosh, realizing that sooner or later the ICC or other Western powers, most likely the U.S. will eventually enforce the international arrest warrant, so he decided to carry out the alleged coup in an attempt to save himself from potential prosecution by making a deal with the international community. Exchanging Al Bashir for clemency for himself and his co-conspirators.

Today the family of Dr. Sassoon has retained a private investigator to look into his death, the circumstances under which he was arrested, and are interviewing former State Department officials, World Health Organization (WHO) staff in Africa, and Israeli and U.S. intelligence officials who were either present or familiar with the case, including Sudanese refugees who had sought asylum in both the U.S., and Canada. 

Family spokesman Daniel Epstein did not return our phone calls but in an email he said: "Dr. Sassoon was a kind, loving and caring father, husband, and humanitarian. He was there as a doctor to help others, he was never a member of any government's security apparatus, or intelligence service. He was a civilian and a physician end off, he did not deserve to die in such an inhuman and barbaric way, his murderers must be brought to justice and that is all the family wants." 

Dr. Edouard Sassoon was survived by his wife Josephine Celine Esther Cattaui-Sassoon, who died in 1994, and his son David Edouard Sassoon who is currently living in the UK.