رسالة إلى الأطباء

A Message to Fellow Doctors
Greetings and love to my brothers and sisters, medical doctors all over Sudan
I feel that this message is necessary for this critical time our nation is going through
Firstly, allow me to recount an important historical background. Early 2011, I resigned from the presidency of Sudan Doctors’ Committee, and the main reason was that I felt that my role was fulfilled at that phase to the point that I had nothing more, new or useful, to contribute. That main reason was also accompanied by a realization that the times of group-oriented demands, isolated from the general demands of the entire population, are over, for two reasons:
The first reason: is objective, since the entire country was entering a new phase—the post-secession phase (i.e. the secession of south Sudan). It was thus expected that the government will be unable to meet our demands at the time, as doctors; especially the raising of salaries.
The second reason: is related to the mentality of the Sudan national congress government itself. The government was, and still is, against any independent trade union activity, or say any trade union work outside the domain of unions created by the government itself, in order to domesticate certain trade groups instead of helping them secure their rightful demands. That is why the government saw us – the Sudan Doctors’ Committee – as an illegitimate body, and saw our mere existence as an insult and challenge to its authority. The government therefore saw that acknowledging our demands will be equal to encouraging the rise of other independent groups of similar kind, which is precisely what it has been working against since it came to power. Due of the above we felt that the continuation of the committee mode of operation will be fruitless, and will only lead us to losing battles. Based on this conclusion I presented my opinion to the membership of the committee along with my resignation.
Nonetheless I continued to participate, with opinion and efforts, in what would keep the committee coherent and able to embark on new horizons of work. Hence I participated with others in establishing the Sudan Doctors’ Union, which emerged through the efforts of Sudan doctors’ committee, the specialists’ committee, and the committee for the restoration of the doctors’ union, in solidarity with our support base of physicians.
That was an important historical background to recount before speaking about the here and now, which is the existence of what is left of Sudan under a regime that failed to keep the country’s unity or providing security to a large section of its citizens. In addition, the regime failed in providing the means of dignified livelihood to the people, which made the majority of the population – and the doctors are a good example in this – either emigrants or seeking migration. The regime also failed in exercising wise politics with the issues of political conflict, through dialogue and negotiation, and so it used the law and force to suppress freedoms and punish dissenting voices. The disagreeing citizen has then become faced with a limited set of options: either to take up arms; be a permanent guest of brutal detention houses; emigrate with desperation; or remain passively inside the country and deal with painful feelings of disappointment, defeat and depression.
This was the reality of the Sudanese people for a long time, until recent developments in the story made the situation even worse. The economic conditions deteriorated to measures that the corrupt government itself became unable to manage the country’s economy without making highly controversial decisions that increase the suffering of the vast majority of the population beyond tolerable measures. That was the point when the majority of the population came to bluntly face the reality of the existence of a government completely isolated from its people; a government whose figures have kept luxurious wealth and disproportionate power to themselves while the people suffered; a government that is not up to the minimum level of responsibility required to solve the problems it created by its own greed, except for enacting measures that carry more woes to the people. At that point the people revolted, without a need for any political figure or entity to incite or lead them.
Dear brothers and sisters, medical doctors all over Sudan: Under such conditions I would like to assert that we doctors have a duty to attend to, according to our conscience, our patriotism, our record of positive work for the public good, as well as our record of progressive struggle.
Based on that, I call upon you to take on the following:
1- The assembly of doctors in every hospital in Sudanese cities, and the formation of committees that coordinate with the doctors’ union, for a unified strategy.
2- The start of daily and continuous sit-ins and demonstrations, inside the hospitals, to assert our rejection of the conditions which the country has reached, and our demand for a regime change.
3- The assembly of field teams, and hospital teams, to respond to emergencies, to aid the affected people from the protests which are going to continue, apparently, in the coming days.
4- What we can see from the reality of the recent violent response of the government, to the nonviolent protests, is that the final and decisive battle against this regime is civil disobedience. We hope for doctors to lead that movement. That can happen if we establish workshops in all hospitals to study the topics coordinated by the central body, which is the doctors’ union, through its branches, while the union should also coordinate with the other active groups among the people. In these times it is a sacred duty for the doctors to be there for their people through support and work in the hospitals. That way you, doctors, can be a corner stone for the Sudanese political struggle, and particularly the civil disobedience. Let the hospitals be your camps, forts and clubs. That way you will be in position to make the right decisions regarding the best responses to each situation that will arise.
God be with you, and love and respect to you
Ahmed Al-Abwabi – former president of the Sudan Doctors’ Committee
September 28, 2013
(translated by: gussai sheikheldin)