Sudanese community rallies against military rulers

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This article was published 10/07/2022 (1239 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Members and allies of Winnipeg’s Sudanese community gathered outside the Manitoba legislature Saturday afternoon to rally against a military regime ruling Sudan.

Protestors called for freedom, justice and democracy in the North African country, which fell under military control after a violent coup last October.

Pro-democracy protesters in Sudan have since accused regime-backed security forces of killing more than 130 people and imprisoning countless others.

On Monday, coup leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan announced the military would relinquish control to a civilian government, but Mohammad Ali, who helped organize the rally in Winnipeg, remained skeptical.

“Every day, they are killing people,” he said. “That is what we are suffering. We need freedom. We need a democracy government ruled by the people.”

Ali formerly worked as an engineer at a Sudanese airport but was unjustly imprisoned, he said.

He fled the country in 1989, living in Russia and Libya before immigrating to Canada in 2004 and becoming a Canadian citizen. He remembers his home country as a place rife with torture, starvation, resource exploitation and limited freedom.

Since 2019, Ali has hosted at least eight rallies in Winnipeg to unite the city’s Sudanese community and draw attention to their plight. He still has family in Sudan and cannot overlook the horrors there, he said.

“We are Sudanese-Canadians… We need support of Canadian government and community,” he said. “(There are) massacres every day, so that should be stopped. So, we’re trying to make our voice reach out and express how we are feeling. That is what we want.”

Roughly 50 people attended the afternoon rally. Many carried signs and took turns leading chants, alternating between English and Arabic.

A few in the crowd wept, their voices cracking as they shouted pleas for government intervention.

Darrell Rankin, former leader of the Communist Party of Canada’s Manitoba branch, attended as an ally and friend to Ali. The pair have known each other for 15 years, he said.

Rankin spoke at the rally, criticizing the Canadian government and calling for solidarity among Canadians.

“All these people are united against these regimes now,” he said, gesturing to the crowd around him. “You can see the passion that people have and the compassion for the people who have suffered.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca