Sudanese demonstrate worldwide against alleged mass rape in Tabit

On Tuesday, members of the Sudanese diaspora with went out in mass demonstrations in several countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, Norway, Sweden, and Israel, to denounce the alleged mass rape of 200 women and girls by government forces in Tabit village in North Darfur on 31 October. Various political, social, and cultural groups, and joined by the Sudanese refugees in east Chad, the demonstrations coincided with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The protest asked those with a universal conscience to act with one voice to demand the formation of an independent, impartial and transparent investigation committee by the UN Security Council, far from Unamid and the Khartoum regime. They also appealed for a halt to violence against women and war in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile. The demonstrators handed executive authorities and the legislatures of the various countries memoranda calling and demanding for the implementation of those demands on the ground as soon as possible. Sweden Ayman Adl Amin, one of the organisers of the demonstration in Sweden told Radio Dabanga that civil society organisations in Sweden, the alliance of opposition forces, the association of the people of Darfur and Nuba Mountains in solidarity with Swedish organisations and the heads of Swedish parties went out in a protest rally in front of the Sudanese Embassy in Sweden. Amin said the aim of the protest is to draw the world’s attention after a long silence about what happened and continues to happen in Darfur, denouncing “Unamid, the UN, and the Khartoum regime’s participation in murder and mass rape in Darfur”. He added that the demonstration called for the formation of an independent committee to investigate the crime of mass rape in Tabit. Norway In Oslo the capital of Norway, the Sudanese went out in a rally organised by the Sudan Human Rights organisation in Norway in collaboration with organisations of the association of the people of Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile. Fakhruddin Ibrahim El Tahir, one of the organisers of the rally told Radio Dabanga that the demonstration headed to the Norwegian Parliament and Foreign Ministry where they handed a memorandum with their demands to the parliamentary official for women’s affairs and the Assistant Secretary for African Affairs. The memorandum also asked the Government of Norway and the European Parliament to act to arrest Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir and hand him over to the International Criminal Court. USA In the USA, in a memorandum submitted to the UN Security Council, demonstrators demanded the need to send an independent investigation team from the UN that has nothing to do with Unamid or the Khartoum regime. They also called for the provision of support and compensation for the victims of the Tabit village incident, as well as the re-formation of Unamid so as to perform its tasks. Motasem Ahmed Saleh, the head of media committee of the rally in America told Radio Dabanga the protesters demanded that the perpetrators of the crimes of Tabit should be taken to justice, and that Al Bashir to be arrested and handed over to the International Criminal Court. Chad In eastern Chad, the Sudanese refugees went out in mass demonstrations demanding the human rights organisations, the UN and the Security Council to exert pressure on Khartoum to stop the rape, killing, robbery, and arson in Darfur. Ibrahim Direig, the Omda of camp Goz Amer told Radio Dabanga that the Sudanese refugees expressed deep concern about Tabit. On Tuesday, during the celebration of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the National Chadian Organisation for reception of refugees, Goz Amer refugees also demanded an impartial International Committee to investigate the crime of Tabit and to bring the perpetrators to international justice.Main photo above: Protesters in New York – See below for pictures of protests agross the world (Radio Dabanga Correspondents)New York, USA:Paris, France:Oslo, Norway: Tel Aviv, Israel:Related: Darfur displaced concerned about Unamid exit, demand replacement (24 November 2014)Worldwide protests, social media outrage grow for Darfur rape claims (23 November 2014)Sudan: ‘Exit Unamid not owing to mass rape investigation’ (21 November 2014)Khartoum escorts reporters to Tabit for inquiring on mass rape (20 November 2014)’Time running out for probe into Darfur rapes’: former Unamid spokesman (17 November 2014)