RALLY - Say No to genocide against Nuba Nation in Sudan

Melbourne’s Sudanese community will protest Saturday August 20 against a little-known massacre of people from the Nuba Mountains region of southern Kordofan in Sudan. Nuba community leader and Shepparton resident Haroun Kafi said today that “the conflict in the Nuba Mountains hasn’t been in the mainstream media because the government of Sudan has prevented journalists and UN staff had been prevented from accessing the Nuba Mountains.”

In mid-June, the Sudan Armed Forces (northern army) invaded the Nuba Mountains region and began ethnically cleansing the area. Witnesses have described aerial bombardment and execution-style killings of ethnic Nubans. The fighting is still going on.

Kafi said that “tens of thousands of Nuba people have been forced to flee their villages. Now, people are hiding in caves with all the dangers of venomous snakes and dangerous animals.

The UN estimates that some 73,000 Nuba have been displaced, but the former deputy governor of South Kordofan, Abdel Aziz el-Hilu, estimates the figure is closer to 500,000.

“President al-Bashir’s genocide against the Nuban people must be stopped. We don’t want a repeat of the massacres carried out in the 1990s,” said Kafi.

“The Nuba community calls on the international community to condemn the killing of civilians and the jailing of peaceful protesters and send humanitarian aid to the people who have been displaced.

“We think the Australian government also needs to take a stand and cuts diplomatic ties with the Sudanese dictatorship,” said Kafi

The details of the protest are:

RALLY - Say No to genocide against Nuba Nation in Sudan

Saturday 20 August, 1pm