ويكيليكس : سودانيزأونلاين فى مراسلات السفارة الأمريكية

اReference id aka Wikileaks id #112959  ? 
Subject Kajbar Video Symbolizes Suffering Of Darfur And The Sudanese People As A Whole
Origin Embassy Khartoum (Sudan)
Cable time Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:31 UTC
Classification CONFIDENTIAL
Source http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/06/07KHARTOUM983.html
References 07KHARTOUM711
History
Time unknown: Original unredacted version, leaked to Wikileaks
Thu, 1 Sep 2011 23:24: Original unredacted version published, with HTML goodies
Extras ? Comments
VZCZCXRO2024
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0983 1721431
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 211431Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7681
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
Hide header
C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 000983

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

FOR AF/SPG, EB
PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR AFR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2017
TAGS: PINS [National Security], PHUM [Human Rights], PAO, SCUL [Cultural Affairs], KDEM [Democratization], PGOV [Internal Governmental Affairs], PREL [External Political Relations], SU [Sudan]
SUBJECT: KAJBAR VIDEO SYMBOLIZES SUFFERING OF DARFUR AND
THE SUDANESE PEOPLE AS A WHOLE

REF: A. KHARTOUM 711
B. KHARTOUM 968

Classified By: CDA Fernandez, for reasons 1.4 (a) and (d)

¶1. (C) SUMMARY: On June 14, police killed four
demonstrators protesting the construction of a dam near
Kajbar (reftel) . Several days later, a ten minute video of
the dead and wounded from Kajbar appeared on the Internet. On
June 20, in the Sudanese independent daily "Al-Ayaam,"
Murtadi Al-Ghali, a professor of journalism at the University
of Khartoum, reflected on watching the Kajbar video,
comparing the documented images from Kajbar to the unseen
atrocities in Darfur. Unlike Iraq or Afghanistan, videos
documenting battle scenes or the resulting dead or wounded
rarely originate from Sudan. Although the Kajbar incident
may have resulted in few casualties, the video may become a
symbol for the suffering of the Sudanese people and the
brutality of their government. END SUMMARY.

¶2. (U) On June 19, video footage of the dead and
hospitalized from Kajbar appeared on the popular video
sharing site "YouTube." The video provides footage of
corpses with gunshot wounds to #########, bullets removed from
bodies, bleeding survivors, and onlookers vowing revenge and
claiming that the dead were shot from behind. Preliminary
analysis from locally engaged staff indicates that the video
is authentic and corresponds to the incident in Kajbar .

¶3. (U) On June 20, in his regular back page column, "The
Issue," Murtadi Al-Ghali reflects on the themes of
occupation, emigration, and martyrdom while watching the
Kajbar video with several colleagues. (Note: Although he
does not name the video or its original website, Ghali's
description of the film corresponds to the YouTube video.
The link for this video has been sent to the Sudan Programs
Group. End note.) Ghali describes the experience as creating
"one of the worst days that I've ever experienced." Upon
seeing the bloodshed, one of Ghali's colleagues states that
Sudan is still under occupation. Ghali then writes that the
image of one young boy's corpse from Kajbar reminds him of a
famous image of a martyred Palestinian youth. He then states
that the image of the Sudanese boy is even more painful and
tragic than that of the Palestinian. Another colleague
asserts that viewing the film makes him want to emigrate.
Ghali then infers that the video provides proof that the
protests were nonviolent. He argues that no family would
knowingly take its young son to a violent protest. He
poetically describes the innocence of the boy, the pain of
the family, and the need for justice.

¶4. (U) Ghali ends his column comparing the Kajbar tragedy to
Darfur. He writes, "We have learned from this misfortune the
depth of the Darfur tragedy, and the depth of cruelty of the
Sudanese reality that we live in from painful moment to
painful moment." He calls for accountability for those who
instigated the violence, and for all who perpetrated the
crimes to watch the film and remember the images of the dead.


¶5. (C) COMMENT: In this column, Ghali touches upon many
sensitive themes for the Arabic speaking world including
occupation, emigration, and Palestinian suffering. What is
exceptional is not the issues in and of themselves, but the
fact that Ghali uses them not to condemn the West, but his
own government. In another rare rhetorical move, Ghali also
argues that the suffering of the Sudanese people, as embodied
in one Sudanese boy, is greater than that of the
Palestinians. When compared to other issues facing Sudan,
the four casualties and overall Kajbar dam issue may at first
appear to be minor or insignificant. Nonetheless, the power
of this video to symbolize the suffering of the Sudanese
people and the brutality of its government may resonate for