Source 2: Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan, http://bashirwatch.org/#china
Omar al-Bashir's Presidency:
With south Sudan being denied their independence, Sudan quickly spiralled into a vicious civil war. At the time. Bashir was a highly regarded military leader (as seen in source 2), who suppressed the south during his tour. 21 years after the fighting broke out (1989), Bashir staged a coup where he seized power, and has since remained President 25 years later. This military background has heavily influenced Bashir’s approach to presidency, and his career has been defined by war. Hassan al-Turabi, once Bashir's mentor has said, “he is a military person who has been in power awhile and he wants to assert military power.” (BBC, 2011). BBC is a reliable primary source as it is one of the leading news outlets in the world, and it’s known for it’s accuracy and authenticity. Bashir’s reign was not only militaristic, but theocratic.
“The political ideology of the Islamic movement in Sudan is based on Islamic law and jurisprudence and the idea of an Islamic state.” (Britannica, 2013). The Encyclopedia Britannica highly respected resource, is very accurate and has minimal bias present. Bashir immediately began fulfilling his religious beliefs and political ideologies of an Islamic Sudan, and in 1989-1999 he achieved this by implementing Islamic (shari'ah) law reforms. This religious and political ideology was heavily influenced by Turabi’s ideals on reform and renewal, and by external nationalism and socialism campaigns. Although ultimately, “because the Qur’anic text, and not the people, [being] the ultimate founding power and standard applied in evaluating people’s actions, then the practises of the ruler [Bashir], the legislative, and the judiciary are finally bound by the shari’ah” (Britannica, 2013) rather than Turabi’s innovative reforms.
Even influenced, “the mandates of shari’ah are extremely harsh compared to modern western standards. They infringe on many modern principles of human rights, religious freedom, and equality of all above the law.” (DiscoverTheNetworks, 2005). This organisation has a highly educated team behind it, who share extensive knowledge on a range of political systems implying that it’s a reliable, accurate source. This harshness and brutality is often associated with the punishments inflicted for offences against God. These include, amputation of limb for theft, imprisonment/amputation/death for highway robbery, 80 lashes for false accusations of adultery, 100 lashes or stoning for adultery and the death penalty for apostate. The death penalty methods are more tortuous than humane and include decapitation, burning, drowning, stoning, crucification or impaling.
Shari’ah laws are sexist, with punishments/laws differing depending on ones gender. “Woman are treated as deficient in intelligence, morals and religion, and must therefore by protected from their own weakness.” (DiscoverTheNetworks, 2005). This ‘protection’ includes male relatives being the legal guardians of women and laws ensuring modesty in the women’s dress (see source 3) and behaviour. Male superiority is reiterated through the laws which state; that daughters will inherit only half the family assets a son is entitled to, in the case of murder or high inconvenience, women receive half the compensation, in the courts a women’s testimony is worth half of a males, men are able to wed four wives, yet women are only allowed one husband and divorce is extremely difficult for a women to apply for, let alone be granted, when in comparison it is very easy for men. Shari’ah law doesn’t just discriminate against women, but also other religions.
“Discrimination on the basis of religion is fundamental to the shari’ah.” (DiscoverTheNetworks, 2005). Only Muslims are considered as full citizens within the Islamic State, which in Sudan translates to only the northern population. Jews and Christians, in the south, are defined as ‘dhimmas’, which loosely translates to permitted to live/protected. Although this protection only applies if the Christians remain unarmed, pay a toll (jizya), understand their inferior and poor place in Sudan's society and if they respect their superiors (Muslims). The Islamic law does not tolerate other religions, leaving the tribal and spiritual members of the south and Darfur unprotected.
Like the Anglo-Egyptian condominium, Bashir focuses Sudan’s finances and resources on developing the north. To do this, he exploits the bountiful oil field in Darfur and south Sudan, and the nomad’s grazing land, crippling the regions economy.
“The political ideology of the Islamic movement in Sudan is based on Islamic law and jurisprudence and the idea of an Islamic state.” (Britannica, 2013). The Encyclopedia Britannica highly respected resource, is very accurate and has minimal bias present. Bashir immediately began fulfilling his religious beliefs and political ideologies of an Islamic Sudan, and in 1989-1999 he achieved this by implementing Islamic (shari'ah) law reforms. This religious and political ideology was heavily influenced by Turabi’s ideals on reform and renewal, and by external nationalism and socialism campaigns. Although ultimately, “because the Qur’anic text, and not the people, [being] the ultimate founding power and standard applied in evaluating people’s actions, then the practises of the ruler [Bashir], the legislative, and the judiciary are finally bound by the shari’ah” (Britannica, 2013) rather than Turabi’s innovative reforms.
Even influenced, “the mandates of shari’ah are extremely harsh compared to modern western standards. They infringe on many modern principles of human rights, religious freedom, and equality of all above the law.” (DiscoverTheNetworks, 2005). This organisation has a highly educated team behind it, who share extensive knowledge on a range of political systems implying that it’s a reliable, accurate source. This harshness and brutality is often associated with the punishments inflicted for offences against God. These include, amputation of limb for theft, imprisonment/amputation/death for highway robbery, 80 lashes for false accusations of adultery, 100 lashes or stoning for adultery and the death penalty for apostate. The death penalty methods are more tortuous than humane and include decapitation, burning, drowning, stoning, crucification or impaling.
Shari’ah laws are sexist, with punishments/laws differing depending on ones gender. “Woman are treated as deficient in intelligence, morals and religion, and must therefore by protected from their own weakness.” (DiscoverTheNetworks, 2005). This ‘protection’ includes male relatives being the legal guardians of women and laws ensuring modesty in the women’s dress (see source 3) and behaviour. Male superiority is reiterated through the laws which state; that daughters will inherit only half the family assets a son is entitled to, in the case of murder or high inconvenience, women receive half the compensation, in the courts a women’s testimony is worth half of a males, men are able to wed four wives, yet women are only allowed one husband and divorce is extremely difficult for a women to apply for, let alone be granted, when in comparison it is very easy for men. Shari’ah law doesn’t just discriminate against women, but also other religions.
“Discrimination on the basis of religion is fundamental to the shari’ah.” (DiscoverTheNetworks, 2005). Only Muslims are considered as full citizens within the Islamic State, which in Sudan translates to only the northern population. Jews and Christians, in the south, are defined as ‘dhimmas’, which loosely translates to permitted to live/protected. Although this protection only applies if the Christians remain unarmed, pay a toll (jizya), understand their inferior and poor place in Sudan's society and if they respect their superiors (Muslims). The Islamic law does not tolerate other religions, leaving the tribal and spiritual members of the south and Darfur unprotected.
Like the Anglo-Egyptian condominium, Bashir focuses Sudan’s finances and resources on developing the north. To do this, he exploits the bountiful oil field in Darfur and south Sudan, and the nomad’s grazing land, crippling the regions economy.