Dictator of the Month: May, 2005Dictator of the Month: May, 2005
| Omar
Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir
Take me to the picture gallery Fact Sheet Name: Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir
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Biography
Early Life Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir was born on 01 January 1944 to a working class family in Hoshe Bannaga, in rural Sudan, where he completed his primary education. Some years later, al-Bashir's family moved to Khartoum, where he completed his secondary education, working part time in an automotive garage. Upon completion of his secondary education, he enrolled in the military academy as a pilot. He graduated the military academy in 1967 and subsequenty served in the Western Headquarters from 1967-1969 followed by the paratroopers between 1969-1987. He went on later to attain a Masters of Science in the Military Staff College in 1981, followed by a Masters of Military Sciences in Malaysia in 1983 and a fellowship of the Sudan Academy of Administrative Sciences in 1987. Background of Sudan What is now known as Sudan was under British control between 1898 and 1956; the territory's name was Ango-Egyptian Sudan. Northern and Southern Sudan were controlled separately, partially because of the ethnic differences in the areas; Northern Sudan was, and still is composed mainly of Muslims, while Southern Sudan was and is populated by Black Africans and Christians. The partition of the two regions was even complete enough that special permission was required to travel between the two regions. This policy continued until 1947, when the British opened the "border" and ceased the partition of the country. The integration was not well received by the Southern region, who felt that they would be dominated by the North, and tensions eventually escalated into a mutiny of a southern military unit on 18 August 1955 in Turit, which eventually developed into a full-blown civil war. Finally in 1972 the war ended with a peace accord signed in Addis Ababa, where the South was granted legislative autonomy; the death toll of Southern Sudanese at the end of the war is estimated at between 750,000 and 1,500,000. The next 10 years showed no major re-inflammation of the conflict, although tensions continued to exist in the country. The South was not entirely satisfied with the peace accords, as full sovereignty was not granted. Meanwhile The then-President of Sudan, Numeierie began a campaign of islamisation of the country and began gradually eroding the guarantees to the South; eventually negating the peace accord entirely in May 1983. By September 1983 the North attempted to annex southern oil fields to the North and proclaimed Islamic Law in the country. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLM/A) were formed and civil war ignited once again. Now with three rival factions in the South, the civil war raged on in the country for more than two decades causing more than 2 million Sudanese deaths. Rise to Power Al-Bashir was put in command of the 8th Brigade fighting the rebels in Southern Sudan in 1988. On 30 June 1989, al-Bashir, with Islamic fundamentalist backing in the country, led a successful coup d'état against the then-president of the coalition government of Sudan, Sadiq Al-Mahdi, who had been in power since 1986. Partially the coup was demanded due to the government's "soft" handling of the civil war in the south and the need for more decisive action by the government to control the situation. Al-bashir quickly abolished the parliament, banned political parties, eliminated free press, and began to islamicize Sudan, stepping up assaults on the rebels in the South. On October 16, 1993 al-Bashir was appointed president of the country, and he won presidential elections in 1996. He later declared a state of emergency in the country in December 1999, which resulted in his consecration of absolute power for himself by disbanding the Legislature and suspending the constitution. He also split with Islamic fundamentalist and speaker of parliament Hassan al-Turabi, having him jailed and purging al-Turabi's supporters from his cabinet. He ran for president again in 2000, claiming a wide majority of the vote, however results should be put into perspective because voting did not occur the South and opposition groups boycotted the election. Parliament was re-instated in February 2001 but the state of emergency in the country still stands. Al-Bashir has described as ruthless and his pro-government militia forces or Janiaweed have been accused of committing horrible atrocities against the civilian population of Southern Sudan, with more than 4 million having fled as refugees from their homes. International groups have described the pogrom against the Southern Sudanese as genocide, and torture, rape and murder are commonplace. Conditions in the South are deplorable, as the war raged on for 12 years withour pause, with basic services extremely limited and agricultural and industrial production extremely weak; starvation has been at times widespread, and only with massive foreign assistance were the factions in the South able to maintain their efforts against the North due to assistance from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda (of whom it is said they are conspiring to topple the Sudanese government) and the United States. Al-Bashir is also accused for allowing slave trade to thrive in the country, with widespread reports of loyalist forces kidnapping southern women and children for use as slaves and concubines; treatment of these "civilian prisoners" is said to be deplorable and cruel. Although Al-Bashir has publicly spoken against the practice of enslaving civilian captives, to date very little action has materialized. Al-Bashir is known to have harboured Osama Bin Laden, and relations with the United States have been poor; the US and other countries currently have embargoes and trade sanctions in place against Sudan and the state find itself somewhat isolated in the world community. Sudan is listed by the US as a nation that actively supports terrorist organizations, which is a claim that al-Bashir categorically denies, and it should be noted that he did assist in pressuring Saddam Hussein in Iraq to allow weapons inspectors into the country after the 11 September 2001 attacks. Due to extremely heavy international pressure, al_Bashir has agreed to work towards a settlement of the re-partition of the country, and on 09 January 2005, a peace accord was signed with Southern Sudan which will eventually lead to a referendum in the South in 2011 as to whether the state's partition will be permanent. Another uprising in the western region of Darfur flared up in 2003. This was reportedly quelled by government troops, but not without expense of thousands of civilian deaths. It is rumoured that the rebels in Darfur are still operating in the country, and allegations of genocide in this region against civilians are now surfacing. What is especially disquieting is that al_Bashir has been hesitant to allow foreign organizations into the region, including humanitarian aid; therefore the scope of the situation there is largely unknown. Personality Al-Bashir is described as a pleasant man at public events and cheerful and popular within the inner circle of military leadership. He is also described as being very organized, in favour of the military hierarchy and of high intelligence. Despite the list of accusations levied against him, he centainly can be lauded for his ability to stay in power for more than a decade and a half with a considerable number of countries against his rule and even directly conspiring against him personally. http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/sudan1.htm http://www.dehai.org/archives/dehai_news_archive/aug04/0513.html http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/sudan.htm http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Zeroes/Omar_al-Bashir.html http://www.sudan.net/government/biography/bashier.html http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/spla.htm http://www.sudan.gov.sd/English/prime_ministers_1954.htm#Hassan%20Ahmed%20Albashir http://www.splmtoday.com/modules.php?name=Splm&page=cvlwar§=1 http://www.splmtoday.com/modules.php?name=Splm&page=cvlwar§=2
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