Bashir lashing out!

Over the weekend, President Omar Al-Bashir said his government would not tolerate alcoholic drinkers and brewers in Khartoum. Neither will he listen to the United Nations nor the human right organisations while implementing this policy. "Anybody who drinks alcohol, we lash them. Anybody who makes alcohol, we lash them. Anybody who sells alcohol, we lash them. I don’t care about the human rights organizations or the UN," he told Muslims in Um Dawaban a Khartoum city suburb. He went on to say that the lashes for those found drinking, selling or brewing alcohol would be increased above the normal 40 lashes.

President Bashir speaking in Khartoum

Non-Muslims and a few liberal Muslims in Khartoum however denounced his move saying the speech is risky to the Unity of Sudan. Mr. Hussein a Nuban businessman from Khartoum North said “That is not the first time our president is messing, we did not want our brothers in the South to separate. We are one, only separated by ideologies that are foreign to our country. We all shed blood to resist the imperialist with our brothers from the South, Today our spirit of togetherness has vanished; we are not longer brothers but enemies, Why? Bashir and his associate are causing this rift” The businessman accused the National Congress Party (NCP) leader of not respecting the multi cultural, multi religious and multi-lingual diversity of the country by suppressing the traditions of other faiths such as drinking alcohol. “We cannot be one Sudan with these ideals of Islamic fundamentalism, we need to separate religion from government, Let’s give peace a chance and a Sudan where our religious names, culture, or language don’t qualify us for job, medical care or a share of the national cake” he added.

In Wad Bashir, an area that is frequently searched by national intelligence agencies to trap residents who persistently brew the local alcohol drink, Moses Maring said these laws were a violation of human and citizen rights for the many non muslim residents of Khartoum. “They (the security intelligence agencies) come here every day, some of them also drink but when they don’t have money they arrest the women and put them in jail. Where is the CPA. Doesn't it also apply to us Christians and those of other faiths? We are African and our women brew beer which we drink to relax. Traditionally we have beer parties for centuries and in the new Sudan we need our rights. Why do they force us to follow what doesn’t belong to us”. Moses asked.

According to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 between the Southern rebels the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Omar Hassan Al-Bashir led government in Khartoum, Article 2-4-5; of the agreement says, without prejudice to the competency of any National Institution to promulgate laws, judges and law enforcement agents shall, in dispensing justice and enforcing current laws in the national capital be guided by;

2.4.5.1 Tolerance shall be the basis of coexistence between the Sudanese people of different cultures, religion and tradition;

2.4.5.2 Behavior based on cultural practices and traditions, and not flagrant disregard of the law or disturbing public order shall be deemed in the eyes of the law as an exercise of personal freedom.

2.4.5.4 The judicial discretion of courts to impose penalties on non-Muslims shall observe the long establish legal (sharia) principle that non-Muslims are not subject to prescribed penalties and there remitted penalties shall apply.

The CPA of 2005 also urged the presidency to form a special commission. The commission was to ensure the rights of non-Muslims be protected in accordance with the aforementioned guidelines and not adversely affected by the application of sharia law in the capital. If the President can publicly announce his need to whip people who drink alcohol, clearly the appointed commission has been ignored.

Most non-Muslims are poor in Khartoum and without a formal education. Some lost their husbands during the 24 year civil war. As a result, there is no other business the women can do apart from petty jobs like housekeeping. rubbish collecting, car watching, selling tea by the road side,or brewing alcohol. A tradition widely accepted practice by all the non muslim ethnic groups in Southern Sudan.