The Arrest of Haroun

As I See It

Adel El-Baz

“Can a hand whose sword is raised against you be equal to a hand whose sword has bereaved you?” 

1

My anger over the arrest of Mawlana Ahmed Haroun was not as great as my sadness over the state of the country and what has become of it. The reason is that the state has sunk to such a deplorable low. We are dealing with a state that has lost its sense of the people, of the law, and of justice, and has even lost its grasp of basic political calculations, as we shall see.

2

In any rational state, whenever a major or minor political decision is to be made, the relevant authorities open their political account books and ask a series of questions: What are the motives behind the decision? What is the appropriate timing? What gains will it bring? What reactions, effects, and potential repercussions might it trigger? And what messages is such a decision intended to convey?

Then, based on precise answers provided by the relevant agencies in their various fields of expertise, a political assessment is conducted before the decision is finally issued.

For two days, I tried to find an answer to any of the questions above, but my confusion only deepened. I began asking friends whether any of them had answers to these questions, but none could provide one. I therefore turned to my imagination, trying to envision the reasons that might have prompted those who made this decision to take it.

3

Let us begin: What are the motives behind this decision? Mawlana Ahmed Haroun is under detention. Is he prohibited from making statements to the media? On what charge is he being detained, and under which provision of the law?

On November 24, 2019, a ruling concerning Haroun was issued and signed by the President of the Constitutional Court, Dr. Wahbi Mohamed Mukhtar. It stated:

“The Court has accepted the constitutional petition filed by Abdullah Al-Safi Al-Fadni on behalf of Ahmed Haroun against the order issued by the Transitional Military Council for his precautionary detention and confinement in Kober Prison since mid-April 2019, without any charge or crime. The competent authorities, namely the Public Prosecution, have been directed to commence legal proceedings against the constitutional petitioner within two weeks of the ruling; failing that, he must be released immediately.”

Accordingly, Mawlana Ahmed has spent seven years in detention without a single charge being brought against him under any provision of Sudanese law.

Those who made this decision must surely be aware of this fact. Even the International Criminal Court has not submitted a request to the Sudanese government, since the fall of the Salvation Regime, demanding Haroun’s surrender. This is because the alleged crimes committed in South Kordofan do not automatically fall within the scope of the referral made by the UN Security Council under Resolution 1593. In principle, therefore, Resolution 1593 alone is insufficient to grant the Court jurisdiction over separate crimes committed in South Kordofan.

One wonders how many individuals wanted for war crimes have been granted amnesty, some of whom have even been welcomed back into the national fold!

4

Let us assume that all this is nonsense and that he is indeed wanted for prosecution. Why, then, did the authorities leave him free to move about for all that time, from the moment he left prison until the courts resumed operations in Khartoum, despite knowing his whereabouts as well as they know the hunger in their own stomachs?

These are the very same authorities that mobilized people and rallied volunteers to fight. They knew that he was constantly moving, day and night, between military formations, boosting the morale of the fighters. Did they know nothing of all this? Did they turn a blind eye and a deaf ear until they heard his voice on a podcast, then suddenly sprang into action to throw him back into detention?

As the poet says:

“When hardship strikes, I am the one they summon; But when the feast is served, Jundub is the one they call.”

And how many Jundubs we have these days!

5

So, the motive behind the arrest has nothing to do with the law. But let us assume there were other motives: why was this measure taken now, and immediately after a media interview that caused such an uproar and stirred public debate?

Did that interview contain any insult to the government, its policies, or its figures? Certainly not. Mawlana is far too sensible to do anything that might harm the state, a state whose defense has cost thousands of martyrs their lives.

Only recently, Mawlana was bidding farewell to the military formation known as Al-Naba Al-Yaqin (The Undoubted News), which comprises thousands of fighters deployed to the battlefields in the dense forests of Blue Nile State to prevent the Janjaweed from advancing from Sali to Damazin.

Meanwhile, idle politicians were lounging around the corridors of the Peace Rotana Hotel, desperately pleading with those in power for a few dollars. They were neither part of the fight nor involved in the mobilization!

6

What will the fighters whom Haroun has mobilized to defend the state say as they advance and achieve victories, now that they are approaching Al-Nuhud, while their leader has been thrown into the depths of prison simply because he spoke out?

Does this make any sense? Their hands are on the triggers, while their leaders’ mouths are gagged?

Is this really the right time to make such a decision, whether on the basis of political or military calculations? My God, when will Judgment Day come?

So, there are no objective motives behind this decision, no connection to the law, and no military or political calculation that could justify it.

Well, then, why was this decision taken in the first place, and why now?

Ask the grapevine!

To be continued.