Pulitzer Center Untold Stories

Canadian journalist recounts days leading to expulsion from Sudan

Heba Aly, for the Pulitzer Center

Heba Aly traveled to Sudan on a Pulitzer Center grant

By Wasil Ali, The Sudan Tribune

February 8, 2009 (WASHINGTON) – Sudanese national security forces expelled a Canadian-Egyptian journalist, Heba Aly, just days after she made an inquiry about domestic arms production.

Aly, a freelance reporter for several news organizations including the Bloomberg News; IRIN, the UN humanitarian news service; Public Radio International; and the Christian Science Monitor worked in Sudan since June 2008.

Speaking with Sudan Tribune, Aly recounted the difficulties she experienced as a foreign journalist and the fears she felt in the days leading up to her expulsion.

Sudan: A Second Darfur?

By Heba Aly

A delegation from the northern Sudanese village of Selem visits the mayor's office to complain of services in their village. July 2008.

It's a flashy headline, but a question that some people are legitimately asking themselves. Could there be a rebellion in the north, as there was in Darfur, to the west?

The answer depends on who you ask.

Sudanese: 'What Arab-African Rift?'

Heba Aly, for the Pulitzer Center

In Sudan's Arab north, Arabs marry, go to school, and work side by side with Africans from Darfur. The divide portrayed in the West means little to people here.

Dongola, Sudan -  Ask Abbas Adam Ibrahim whether he is Arab or African, and he does not quite know how to respond. "Both," the Sudanese man says, after slight hesitation.

Mr. Adam comes from the Fur tribe, of Darfur – commonly understood to be an African tribe, under persecution by Sudan's Arab-dominated government.

Last month, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor indicted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur, saying "evidence shows that al-Bashir masterminded and implemented a plan to destroy in substantial part the Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa groups, on account of their ethnicity."

But for Sudanese Arabs and Africans coexisting peacefully outside Darfur, these racial distinctions are not so clear. ...

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Learn more about Heba Aly's project in Sudan

Sudan: "Because we are peaceful, they neglect us"

By Heba Aly

TAITTI - Beads of sweat run down Rajaa Tag's face, as she crouches in the dark mud room that serves as her bathroom in a small village in northern Sudan. Her young son is screaming wildly - he hates being washed. She holds the small, malnourished boy in one hand, resting him against her hip, and washes him with the other. "It's ok. It's ok," she insists to him gently.

Sudan: The Road North

By Heba Aly

I had been in Sudan one week when I set off up north to see just how widespread neglect in Sudan really is. One of the reasons behind the problems in Darfur, of course, is long-standing marginalization of the area. Darfurians are mostly black Africans and the government is dominated by Arabs.That is often portrayed as part of the reason for their neglect. Other ethic groups - Christians and animists in the south and the Beja in the east - have also complained of marginalization. But nobody ever hears about the Arabs in the north. I guess the assumption is that they are in good hands, since many government ministers come from the far north. I went to see just how true that assumption is.

Sudan: Popcorn, poems and protest

By Heba Aly

For days, there has been talk of a million-man protest that was to take place today on the streets of Khartoum, in opposition to the International Criminal Court prosecutor's decision to pursue the Sudanese president for genocide and crimes against humanity. Police, journalists and UN had been awaiting the massive rally, which was to put all the other protests that have taken place almost daily to shame.

From what I've heard, 10 people showed up.

Sudan: Just another Darfurian's story?

By Heba Aly

A Darfurian refugee in eastern Chad, Jan 2008.

When I decided to come to Sudan, I specifically chose not to focus on Darfur in my reporting because I felt it was already widely covered in the media (unlike other areas of Sudan). Everyone already knows about this, I told myself, let's look at something else. Even as a journalist, sometimes I focus too much on the logical reasoning (ie. "Is this really news? Haven't we already heard this before?") and forget that most basic instinct of wanting to hear and understand another human being's experience and suffering.

So the other day, I took the opportunity to just hear someone's story. I sat down with a Darfurian for a cup of tea and the story of his life. It was a powerful reminder that no matter how much you've heard about a conflict, or how much you think you already know, a personal story can always move you and remind you just how lucky you are.

So here is his story:

Sudan: The Ocampo Affair

By: Heba Aly

The move by the International Criminal Court to have Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir arrested for crimes of genocide and war crimes in Darfur has been all the rage in the past few days, both in the International press and here in Sudan. Endless opinion pieces in Sudanese newspapers have denounced the move. Daily, people who support the president have protested outside embassies who support the ICC, calling the decision "racist" and "unfair".

They say the ICC is holding Sudan to a higher standard than say, the US, which they see as also responsible for their actions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine. It sounds much like the anti-US sentiment I have heard in other parts of the Arab world. One man called those American actions genocide too - I'm not sure he understood what the word means. Sometimes, I think these people have been given lines to rehearse and say to the media, and the extent to which they understand and believe in what they are saying is questionable ...

Sudan: Here We Go!

By Heba Aly

I arrived in the dusty Sudanese capital Khartoum three weeks ago – after more than 30 hours of travel, two nights of airports and planes and way too many screaming babies.

Khartoum is not what I expected – much more alive and developed. The sun is as hot as everyone warned, but it is more than manageable with enough water and occasional escape to fanned or air-conditioned areas. There are many paved roads, but still enough sand to get in your eyes on a windy day.

People are kind and the city is really safe – despite everyone’s perceptions of Sudan as a violent place. As a young woman, I walk around alone at night and no one bothers me. Speaking Arabic – albeit with an Egyptian accent – gets me quite far here.

By far, the most destabilizing thing about being here is the apparent disconnect between life in Khartoum and what is happening in Darfur. People just live their lives as usual. No one even seems to talk about it, notice it, care that it exists. In fact, some deny that it does – at least to the extent of catastrophe that is portrayed in the Western media.