Ex-Sudanese Sudanese President Nimeri dies

     While surfing the net and reading news, my eyes wore caught By the a news RSS feed reader titled Sudanese President dies, it was Ex-Sudanese Sudanese President Gaafar Nimeri, he passed away at the age of 79. Gaafer Nimeri was most famous for being the first Sudanese president to implement the Islamic sharia law in Sudan, on the other hand he was also known to have ordered the execution of Mahmoud Mohamed Taha Co-founder of the Sudanese Republican Party. I will update this post with more information and thoughts about what he did and what were the consequences of what he did. For now I wish for the people who are interested in this post to read more about his history on the links below.

for now here are some links

BBC World

Reuters

Washington post

Microsoft decided no more MSN Messenger for Sudan. Why?!

Microsoft Corporation has decided to turn off it MSN messenger services in Sudan. this move could lead to lots of Sudanese resident not being able to talk to there relatives abroad. MSN massager is popular in Sudan and lots of Sudanese people rely on it to communicate between there families and friends. To be honest I was shocked by this news but most of all I was very sad, why because this move is no different than what the Sudanese government does when it wants to censorship some sites or a program. Sudan is a country that has been ravaged by war for over 25 years this led to so many Sudanese people living abroad, these so-called Diaspora leaving abroad have many ways to communicate with each other, but as new generation of Sudanese people started to use the Internet they started to communicate using the Internet, so lots of these Diaspora are communicating with their loved ones and families and friends using Microsoft messenger. Now as far as I know this move was done by Microsoft because of the sanctions that are imposed on sudan. I have several questions concerning this decision. dose Microsoft things that the Sudanese government is secretly using Microsoft messenger to attack Sudanese citizens in Darfur (i am being sarcastic here). I am a big fan of Microsoft , I love most of their products and i use a lot of them but this action  is just out of context ,  this sort of  action is done by regimes that do want to censorship site and program from their citizens such as Sudan and china and this list goes on but not Microsoft.

 

I hope that Microsoft knows that Most of the people who use Microsoft messenger are just Ordinary Sudanese People Who love Microsoft messenger And therefore use it. Now I don't know what will happen next maybe Yahoo messenger will stop it service or maybe other messengers will also stop their service or maybe the next time we will see Hotmail stopping its service because after all Hotmail belongs to Microsoft. I believe we are in an age where information technology is democratizing the world. Lots of Sudanese people learn about the outside world through channels and the Internet they don't learn about the outside world through the Sudanese national television.

Speaking of the Sudanese national television there is a joke about it, a famous joke about it, a joke that while I'm typing this I cannot stop laughing when I'm thinking about it.This joke is popular in the Middle East.so many people know about it, in fact you might have heard about it.

The joke is

If a wife is somehow angered by her husband she would lock him inside a room and inside the room she would put one thing, that would be a television and she will open the television to one channel that channel would be the Sudanese national channel. i guess you would know why. if you do not know why i  recommend you to asking a Sudanese person what he thinks of the national television

Hint: People in Sudan don't watch the Sudanese national television

  people in Sudan learn about the outside world by watching channels such as  alarabia or Al Jazeera or BBC but they also learn about the outside world through websites that shows them that the outside world really knows about what is happening inside Sudan. This I believe can create a bond of understanding between the Sudanese people and outside world, now I don't want to picture this as Sudan being a country in another planet but some of the news channels that are in Sudan do not portray what is really the opinion of the World About what is happening in Darfur or what is happening in Sudan as a whole. As for this move I hope that Microsoft would reconsider its banning of its service in Sudan because after all I really want to talk to my friends back home.

Article in the same topic: Sudan tribune

Sudan: 17 parties calls on a New Government

The National Alliance which is lead by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Umma Party had lead a group of 17 Sudanese political parties, under the banner of The national alliance demanding the Sudanese government to step down and calling for the establishment of a transitional government that would lead the country to the next phase of the Compressive peace Agreement, which is the election phase in the agreement.The demand is for the government to completely step down of its current position and the reestablishing of a national transitional government that would take in charge of the nation until the next election dated February 2010.

Sudan National Assembly Parliament

The national Democratic Alliance also known as National Alliance was formed in 1989 with the objective to oppose the present led government of National Congress party. Ever since it establishment the national Democratic alliance has been pushing for more reforms in Sudan in terms of Human right,democratization of press and the fair distribution of Wealth and power in Sudan. I believe that the The National alliance action led by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Umma party requesting the government to step down preparing for the election in 2010, would not only put more pressure on the current government to reconsider it position and it policy toward the current situation in Sudan, but it will also straighten the national alliance position in the national assembly hall concerning the new law on journalism that i have written about in my blog (click here to read about it). i hope this put more pressure on the law maker not to release the law and more pressure on the current government to reconsider it policy.I firmly believe in Sudan and it potential and i know it takes time, time that we need to use in building a better and bright future for Sudan and for our generation and the next generation. feel free to shear you thoughts and comments on this article or this issue.

News article in the same topic: Sudan Tribune

Technorati Tags: Sudan,Election

Old meets New Sudan: Did these Sudanese know Sudan would come to this point in history.

i wonder did they thought this would happen to Sudan,  a civil war that outlasted many civil wars in Africa. A Darfur crisis that is raging day after day. what more.!!

STOP Censorship: Sudan Government tries to issue law on journalism

The Sudanese Government started a move last week to issue a law on journalist to require them to register themselves with the government media regulator so that the government would monitor them if they misuse there power as journalist. if this law was to be passed it would grant the government the power to deny licenses and invoke strong regulation as to what journalist can write.this news was broadcasted last week on Sudan national tv after the law was being discussed in the national congress hall in Sudan.

Article on the Law from All Africa

The Sudanese press has been subject to restrictions since the National Islamic Front gained power in 1989, with officials arguing that censorship was necessary for national security.

However, controls were tightened after February 2008, when some journalists accused Khartoum of supporting Chadian rebels that attacked the Chad capital, Ndjamena.

a government that dose not accepts criticism from it own citizen is a government that should not exist.

one of the news commentator on Sudan tv stated that a journalist time shouldn't be commuting from court to court but to write news that interest the people. this gives you a inside view as to what happens to some journalist who step on the red line.

In November, more than 70 Sudanese journalists protested against these curbs imposed by the country’s security service. Police detained 63 protesters, releasing them the same day. In response, 11 Khartoum newspapers suspended publication for 24 hours.

There is still people inside of sudan fighting this new law but they also have limits to what they can do

Parliamentary member Farouk Abu-Issa, head of the National Democratic Alliance,
who calls the bill “unjust, repressive and vague”, says that he and other independent deputies presented a “good democratic draft of [a] press law”, but this was ignored by parliament.

After all this new law should be rethought about and reconsider because of it power to Censorship journalist and there right to state there opinion and thought. this law is coming in a time which Sudan need journalist who speak the truth and state what is right without any strict regulation. Sudan is entering a new phase in the peace process and that phase is the election phase and the need for journalist stating news without restriction is crucial.please feel free to shear you thoughts and correction on this article or this issue. if you have any suggestion as to what we can do to protect there right and our right feel free to comment

STOP Censorship: Iran blocks facebook site.

    

 Iran blocks face book site preparing for election!!!!. facebook official reply by stating

"We are disappointed to learn of reports that users in Iran may not have access to Facebook," the company said in a statement.

     As a person from Sudan i was really outrages at the blocking of YouTube site in Sudan before, and i am really angry at the prospect of them blocking facebook in Sudan.i was outrage when i hear a Sudanese comment on facebook stating to not to put any content or comments against the government of Sudan on facebook because he is afraid that facebook would be blocked by the Sudanese government in Sudan. Government should be afraid of it citizen not the other way around. on this i say one thing when a government block sites that are like YouTube or facebook it send a signal that they are a weak government that is afraid of it people opinion and the prospects that they might have.

     but why am i saying this here where the title is Iran blocking facebook in iran. well the story goes back to over 10 years ago when the current Sudanese government start pointing out at people to wear the hijab even thought the Sudanese national dress would cover a woman who wish to cover herself to the fullest. because of this move lots of Sudanese ladies start to stop wearing Sudan national dress and wear the hijab even thought the Sudanese national dress cover a lady from head to toe and it is beautiful . so BYE BYE Sudanese culture, have you hear of a government that destroy the interest in it people to wear there own national dress.

(Image Source)

please do note that Iran also has the same concepts that is used in Sudan, the way they wore the hijab is similar of that to Sudan, i don't disagree on wearing the hijab, i only wish to point out that the tob is also a mean to cover a woman body and it is our national dress. after all it is part of the culture.the so called current government pointed out Iran way of wearing the hijab as an example, now they might even point out Iran blocking of facebook and fallow the same processes in blocking site and the communities in these sites.even one of my friend told me that she was denied entering her university campus because she wasn't wearing the hijab. i wonder if a Sudanese lady who was wearing the tob (Sudanese national dress would be allowed  to enter her university campus by any chance. The concepts that many of these government have is that when they block a specific site such as youtube or facebook it would not let people inside there state to know about what going on outside in the world, what a preposterous way of looking at things. many of these government think that we still live in an age where they can lie to the public and the public doesn't have any source of information but them and there media stations. with all of this globalization of information,transportation and finance the prospect of blocking everything from outside will not bear fruitful result but even fire back.  in today's world a person who lives in a country such as Sudan could be wearing a shirt from Egypt, using a cell phone from Finland, riding a car from the Japan and wearing a jeans from the state. i wish that these government start to think of the similarities that we have with other countries accept the deference's that we have. the world is one we all live in it.please feel free to shear you thoughts and correction on this article or this issue.

REACH an inspiration but i feel it is not complete!!!

 

Is there part 2 !!!

Sudan Population census decided but dose everyone agree!!!!

Here we go again with the debates!!!!!

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Recently Sudan population census has been decided to be around 39,154,490 but it seems that there is a lot of controversial issues arising from this census.

a very informative Article From Sudan Tribune states

The total of Sudan’s population is 39,154,490, with 8,260,490 living in the south, 21 percent of the national population, Central Bureau of Statistics head Yassin Al-Haj Abdin announced today in a press conference.

Khartoum’s population is estimated at 5,074,321 followed by South Darfur state at 4,039,594; Al Jazeera state is in the third place with 3,575,280 followed by North Kordofan with 2,920,992.

According to the announced census result, some 520,000 southern Sudanese are living in the north.

     It was said that alot of sudanese political activist are rejecting this census and pointed out that it is not reliable. Sudan First Vice President Salva Kiir stated that he was “unhappy and unsatisfied with the census results”.

The National Congress Party (NCP) official Ibrahim Ghandour responded quickly to Kiir saying that the election law has determined that constituencies will be based on population.

     this debate seams to continue while other political parties such as the Umma party or the Democratic Unionist Party are on the observation seat. of course this is not the first time the NCP and the SPLM are in the arena for the other parties to watch the ferrous debate. now what really made my head spin is that the news of this population census is not widely found on the net, even not  talked about in Sudan national TV as if it was meant to be that way. i am really grateful to Sudantribune for there articles and it is wonderful to at least find reliable information on the net. but the main job should be for the Sudan national TV to talk about these issues not to just over pass it and forget about it and not mention anything about it expect on the news broadcast. of course the census can lead to lots of changes in the compressive peace agreement because it is a key factor in the distribution of power and wealth according to population.

     As the debate continues on this issue there is an important factor this is surfacing up in the news and that is there is a need for trust between parties in Sudan. this trust doesn't come easily and i know that, but i believe in order to enforce this trust the two side that are playing the major roll in this CPA should work together more constructively not assuming that each party is an entity by it self. i believe the first step to having this trust is including the Sudanese people in the debate by the means of media sources that normal Sudanese citizen receive there information from. i guess Sudan TV has to rethink again about what they need to broadcast about to us not what they want to broadcast about to us.  so here i end it,please feel free to shear you thoughts and correction on this article or this issue.