Day: November 23, 2021

The Lukluk Community Association for Development (L.CAD), a national non-governmental organization, on Monday, trained about 20 women activists in Kuajok town of Warrap State on how to report all forms of violence against women and girls.

The one-day training examined numerous issues including rape, domestic violence, forced marriage, women’s presentation, and women challenges in both the public and private sectors among others.

Ayei Akol Ayii, L.CAD area manager said the training was to empower women about human rights and their rights in the revitalized peace agreement.

“These women were brought from different groups in Warrap state and trained on how to effectively report security and human rights violations in their working places because some women and girls may have experienced different forms of violence and the lack of technical reports, fear of cultural taboos contributed to women suffering in silence,” he said.

Angelina Aguek Lual, one of the participants said domestic violence occurs even between couples but the training has helped them understand how such cases can be reported.

“Forced marriage is rampant together with forced sexual practice even between couples at home. Women suffer forced sexual intercourse with their partners and men also elope girls unilaterally without parents and girls consent,” she added.

Mary Noya, another participant said, “I learned how to report issues of insecurity like in Tonj, we have bad security situation so we need to have good relations as neighbors and talk to our children to stop killing themselves. This will contribute to improving security in the state.”

William Deng Mayar, the director of religious affairs in Warrap State’s Ministry of Gender, Child, and social welfare appreciated the organization for training the women and assured that the state government is looking into women’s representation as per the revitalized peace agreement.

“As the ministry representative, I appreciate L.CAD and its donors for supporting women’s projects. I have listened to the women. Their issues of inadequate representation is on the governor’s table and should be addressed jointly with parties to the revitalize agreement so that 35% of women affirmative action is implemented” he said.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

The military junta in Sudan has released several high-profile detainees, however lawyers in Khartoum report that several ministers, politicians, and activists are still imprisoned. Omar El Degeir, head of the Sudanese Congress Party, Ali El Sanhouri, head of the Baath party, former rebel leader and political advisor to the prime minister Yasir Arman, and Siddig El Mahdi, a leading member of the National Umma Party, were released yesterday.

Their release follows a political agreement signed in Khartoum on Sunday by Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, leader of the military junta that seized power in a coup d’état on October 25, and Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, to return the country to democratic transition in terms of the Constitutional Document, that stipulates the release of all political detainees. However dozens of people, including ministers, politicians, and activists, are still in detention.

Lawyers from Khartoum reported that a number of participants who were detained during the Sunday demonstrations are still being held at the Mogran police station in Khartoum, while the women were moved to Omdurman Women’s Prison.

In White Nile state, sources in Kosti reported the detention of an employee of the Bank of Khartoum and an activist. In Blue Nile state, the authorities detained four activists on Monday.

Volker Perthes, head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), said in a tweet on that all detainees must be released immediately if the political agreement must be taken seriously. UNITAMS initially welcomed the signing of the agreement on Sunday.

Source: Radio Dabanga

The authorities in Sudan continue to block social networking sites for the fifth day in a row, after restoring internet services after a junta-enforced outage that lasted more than three weeks. Users have told Radio Dabanga that they have to use VPN services to access the blocked networks, especially WhatsApp, Facebook, and Twitter.

They explained that the bypass applications such as VPN consume significant bandwidth, which leads to an increase in the cost of using the internet.

Others, who did not have to use a VPN, complained that the credit they had bought for one month, before the blackout that started on the day of the coup on October 25, has expired, and they had to purchase credit again.

The NetBlocks organisation, which monitors the use of the Internet, said that blocking social media for 29 days limits the public’s ability to participate online, noting that social media is a vital component of a free and just society.

The internet blockade shut down most data traffic in the country following the military coup led by Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan that seized power on October 25. Internet services were gradually restored following court rulings.

Critics and activists cautioned that the blackout is being used as a smokescreen to hide atrocities committed by the army and paramilitary forces in support of the military coup.

Source: Radio Dabanga