In daring step, young activists promote democracy in Sudan

Challenging the ruling party was risky in a country where political dissent is rarely tolerated, the activists said. But they saw a small opening before elections in April, as the United States and European Union pressed the government to ensure a free and fair vote.

Girifna now has a Facebook page with more than 7,000 members, a YouTube channel, and an online radio station. But members have been tear-gassed, beaten, and tortured, the group’s leaders say. “We know they can put us in jail at any time,’’ said cofounder Nagi Musa, 23.

Faced with these challenges, Girifna’s success at conducting voter education and election-monitoring campaigns before the vote was a hopeful sign, suggesting that a lively civil society could emerge in one of Africa’s most repressive dictatorships, the group and its supporters say.

“The government’s harsh crackdown on Girifna’s peaceful organizing activities is a testament to the potential power of youth activism,’’ said Olivia Bueno, associate director of the International Refugee Rights Initiative, an organization that supports human rights advocates across Africa.

Girifna was established two days before the voter registration process was to begin for the country’s first multiparty vote in nearly a quarter-century.

“We were looking forward to the election as an opportunity for peaceful change,’’ Musa said.

Part of Girifna’s mission is to encourage Sudanese to learn about their rights and start demanding them through nonviolent protest. The group is tapping into a history of peaceful dissent: 25 years ago, a dictator was forced to step down after a popular uprising. But Girifna is the first effort of its kind under President Omar al-Bashir.

About 5,000 Sudanese have helped distribute that message, the founders said. Musa closely monitors their safety, raising the alarm by text message or Skype when someone is arrested or abducted.

Ghazi Mohammed Abuzied, 22, joined Girifna on Facebook before the elections and offered to volunteer his time. Like most members, he had never before engaged in any political activity. “I thought: We are in the same fight, we are looking for the same thing,’’ said Abuzied, a chemical engineering student.

Today, he coordinates the movement’s activities in Khartoum. Abuzied said he believes he can help shape the future. “Change will be slow, but we believe it will happen one day.’’

Now Girifna members carry cellphone-size video cameras to their activities so they can post images of the excited crowds on its website, and often of the police interrupting their activities.

The elections, which the International Crisis Group reported were rigged even before voting began, extended Bashir’s rule.

The US State Department said the vote “did not, broadly speaking, meet international standards’’ but that the United States would work with the Sudanese government on the “difficult timetable’’ ahead — a reference to a January 2011 referendum in which southern Sudanese will vote on whether to become an independent nation.

Musa and Abuzied are frustrated that Sudan’s opposition parties failed to provide a unified challenge to Bashir, who is wanted on genocide and war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court.

“Bashir is responsible for killing all around Sudan,’’ Musa said. “Even if the election had been free and fair, he should not even have been a candidate.’’

Three weeks before the elections, a crowd gathered around a Girifna volunteer speaking at a market in Khartoum. The police arrived to stop her from talking, but in a rare display of public defiance the crowd began chanting for the police to let her continue. She was able to finish, and the event continued for more than 40 minutes.

The same would not happen today, Musa said. “After the elections, the atmosphere is very down.’’