Author Archives: Abu Faris

Cry Freedom!

By Abu Faris | Published: December 8, 2009

Sudanese opposition groups, both Northern and Southern, vowed over the weekend to stage a mass demonstration at the Parliament on Monday, despite a last minute ban issued by the Sudanese regime.

Eyewitnesses reported thousands of heavily armed policemen took up positions in the capital from early Monday morning hours in an apparent bid to curb the protests.

The bulk of the parties which signed up to take part in the rally include those signatories to the Juba declaration last September in a conference hosted by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM).

The parties are protesting the delay in passing crucial laws including the national security and referendum bill. A memorandum is set to be delivered to the national assembly.

Below are some photographs of the aftermath of that demonstration in which many peaceful demonstrators were beaten down by police using iron reinforcement rods.  Amongst many arrested were the Secretary General of the SPLM, Pagun Amum, and his deputy in the North, Yasir Armun.

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Posted in Democracy, Freedom of Expression, Human Rights, International Affairs | 1 Comment

Opposing UN Defamation of Religions Proposal

By Abu Faris | Published: November 27, 2009

In a Geneva meeting that concluded on October 30th, Pakistan, on behalf of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and Nigeria, on behalf of the Africa Group, proposed a binding treaty amendment to the ICERD (International Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1969, an existing international treaty on racism) concerning the defamation of religion.

Meanwhile, in New York on October 29th, Syria, on behalf of the OIC, along with Belarus and Venezuela, proposed yet another General Assembly resolution “combating defamation of religions.” The resolution lends credibility to the proposal of a binding treaty and continues to provide international cover for domestic anti-blasphemy laws in countries like Pakistan and Sudan.

The United Nations has continuously passed non-binding resolutions on defamation of religions since 1999. However, for the first time ever, a UN body has now proposed a binding treaty to combat the defamation of religions.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Enter The Clowns

By Abu Faris | Published: November 24, 2009

If confirmation was needed, the recent decision of the Sudanese President, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, not to travel to Copenhagen for the UN climate change summit “in retaliation” for Danish cartoons depictions of the prophet Muhammad underscores the widely-held view that the Sudanese Islamist regime is packed with thugs, crooks and terminally dim buffoons.

The Sudanese head of state faces an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) last March accusing him of orchestrating war crimes in Darfur. Despite making several trips in the region, Bashir has so far avoided all states that have ratified the ICC statute.

However the threat of arrest is not what deters the President. At least not according to the loud-mouthed Sudanese ambassador to the UN, Abdel-Mahmood Abdel-Haleem. The ambassador is a man known for living in a hallucinogenic atmosphere of hyperbole on a planet far, far removed from reality. Speaking to BBC World’s Hardtalk,  Abdel-Haleem became characteristically over-excited:

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Posted in Farce, International Affairs, Islamism, Misc | Leave a comment

Brothers in Arms

By Abu Faris | Published: November 22, 2009

Much time has been understandably spent in recent weeks exposing the links between Anwar al-Awlaki and international jihadi terrorism. Of considerable interest then should be the extensive links that can also be shown to exist between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Brotherhood – an organisation that likes to dub itself a “moderate Islamist” group, committed to exclusively democratic and peaceful political reform, far removed from the terrorism and extremism of other Islamists.

It is public knowledge that the Brotherhood’s British arms, the Muslim Association of Britain and the Young Muslim Organisation, have previously promoted al-Awlaki. He was the main speaker at the latter organisation’s “Remaking of a Great Nation” fundraiser for “the people of Iraq” back in June, 2003. The MAB website address being prominently displayed on the posters for the same.

However, the connections between al-Awlaki and the Muslim Brotherhood are far deeper than his speaking at their events in the UK. Writing in the Washington Post, Susan Schmidt commented that:

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Posted in Islamism, Terrorism | 6 Comments

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