Slain student buried in Khartoum; Darfur Association calls security statement ‘racist’

Thousands of people attended the funeral of the student who was shot dead on Tuesday afternoon during a demonstration at the University of Khartoum. A large crowd tried to accompany the procession with the body of Darfuri student, Ali Abakar Musa Idris, to his final resting place at the Sahafa Shereg cemetery in Khartoum on Wednesday morning. People shouted slogans such as “Bashir is a killer, Belcampo was right”, and “Killing a student means killing a nation”, multiple sources told Radio Dabanga. The security forces had rejected the transferral of the body to the house of Idris’ uncle in Omdurman, the sister-city of Khartoum, after which he would be buried at the Hamed El Nil cemetery nearby, allegedly to avoid a much larger crowd of mourners. Instead the body was ritually bathed inside the morgue, and transferred from the morgue to the Sahafa Shereg cemetery via a route arranged by the police and security forces The sources said that it was very difficult in this way for the mourners to reach the graveyard in Khartoum on time. After the burial, police and security forces beat the mourners inside the cemetery, dispersing them by force. ‘Racist statement’ The Darfur Students’ Association described the statement issued by the Khartoum State Security Service on the activities of Darfuri students as “racist”. The statement, released on Tuesday, prohibits Darfuri students to organise any activity, meeting, or demonstration, as they may be affiliated with the Darfur armed rebel movements. In response, the Darfur Students’ Association released a statement on Wednesday, received by Radio Dabanga. The students’ statement says that regardless of their background, students are students. “They are civilians, regardless of their ties to any political institution. Why does the Security Service not prohibit students of opposition parties like the National Umma Party, the Democratic Unionist Party, or the Sudanese Communist Party to organise activities? Why are the student adherents of the ruling National Congress Party who beat us at the university, not sent to the areas of military operations?” The Darfur Students’ Association considered the statement of the Khartoum State Security Service an “outright directive to make the Darfur university students a legitimate target for the police and the security services to persecute.” “This is threatening the security of the Darfuri students, also at other universities in Sudan, in case they would decide to stage a demonstration or arrange a public meeting against the atrocities that have happened and are happening in Darfur.” Photo: The body of Ali Abakar Musa Idris being released from the morgue in Khartoum (alrakoba.net) Link: Video recordings of the funeral procession (alrakoba.net) Related: ‘Darfur students affiliated with armed movements’: security (12 March 2014) University of Khartoum suspends classes after death Darfur student (12 March 2014) ‘Limited riots at university’: Khartoum police (11 March 2014) One dies as troops fire on Darfuri students in Khartoum (11 March 2014)