Proposed motion to Lamebth UNISON branch committee in July

Emergency Motion on Sudan

This branch notes that:

1. Months of mass protests, sit-ins and square occupations in Khatoum and all major cities of Sudan finally removed the brutal dictator Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir from the Presidential Palace on 11 April.
2. Bashir had ruled Sudan since 1989 with an iron fist, suppressing all independent parties and trade unions, imposing a supposedly Islamic constitution which trampled on women’s rights, plunging the country into endless wars in Darfur, South Sudan, etc. and killing thousands of dissidents. Eighty per cent of the population lives on less than US$1 per day and nearly 2.5 million children are suffering from severe malnutrition.
3. The revolutionary movement has inscribed on its banners “Freedom, Peace, and Justice!” and “Revolution is the People’s Choice!” Young people and women have been at the heart of the movement, with a campaign called “No To Women’s Oppression”. When the security forces attacked racial minorities on the demonstrations, the crowd chanted back, “We are all Dafuris!”
4. At the heart of the movement stand the trade unions, organised primarily in the Sudanese Professional Association, which have launched several highly successful General Strikes on 5 and 13 March that were crucial in toppling the regime.
5. The military high command, using the racist and murderous Janjaweed, infamous for their genocide in Darfur and now incorporated into the security services, decided to attempt to crush the revolution at the end of Ramadan on 3 June, killing over 100 unarmed, peaceful protesters, dumping many bodies into the Nile.
6. On Sunday 9 June, the opposition launched a campaign of civil disobedience and an indefinite general strike “until a completely civilian administration is declared on national TV”. Already this has led to a new round of killings, deportations and imprisonment of leading activists, including trade union leaders.

This branch resolves:

1. To write to the TUC and ILO, calling on them to instruct trade unions to boycott all work, e.g. loading of cargos, that will benefit the illegitimate Sudanese regime, and to intervene strongly to demand trade unionists and civilians are not sacked, beaten up, deported or killed for taking pro-democracy and trade union actions.
2. To ask the General Secretary and NEC to take action in solidarity with the Sudanese trade unions (the Sudanese Professional Association) and the democratic opposition (the Alliance for Freedom and Change), including demanding the government refuse to recognise the Transitional Military Council, and to use all in their power to bring about a fully civilian transitional regime.
3. To seek to work with Sudanese members of our union and Sudanese community organisations in the UK to provide political and material solidarity for the Sudanese revolution.