(Please circulate widely)
We the undersigned, request your kind and urgent support for our campaign against the ban on the freedom of expression, by the Government of Sudan (GOS).
In one of its measures against the freedom of expression, the government of Sudan, on July 6th 2004, represented by its National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC), the major Internet service provider in Sudan, blocked access from Sudan to the web site: (sudaneseonline.com); a well known site among Sudanese both inside and outside the Sudan.
The site is owned by Bayan IT Inc. and run from the State of Arizona in the United States by its CEO, the Sudanese engineer Bakri Abubakr. It has been launched in 2000, and has a number of internal sites with useful information about Sudan, as well as up-to-the-minute news It also has an online discussion board, where both opponents and supporters of the GOS policies have equally been posting their opinions free from censorship.
The discussion board has lately been a site for vigorous campaigns against the Sudan government torture practices, illegal detentions, the mass killings and human rights abuses carried out in Darfour region in western Sudan and various other issues of concern to human rights activists and freedom supporters. Some discussion board members have lately posted open criticism to the Sudan Airlines Company for its ever-deteriorating services.
The reason provided to engineer Bakri Abu Bakr from National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC), for the ban of the site was that it was an order from Internal Security Apparatus, who claimed the site has “direct threat to national security!
It is worth mentioning that the Internet company (sudanet) the only non-government service provider has also banned the site. Subscribers to either service cannot legally access the web site from inside Sudan.
As the web site owner and administrator, engineer Bakri Abubakr is currently visiting Sudan for family reasons, he has requested a written notice of the ban from the authorities, but was not provided with one.
The decision to ban access to Sudaneseonline.com web site can only be seen as part of the government’s anti-human rights practices, including its measures against the freedom of expression, be that through printed journalism or online platforms.
We strongly urge you to support our campaign to put pressure on the Government of Sudan to lift the ban on sudaneseonline.com, and allow free access to the site from Sudan.
Please send your names, affiliations and any attached messages to
Adil Abdel Aati
[email protected]
Tel. +(48) 697 694 159
Campaign representative
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