Sudan’s security forces on Sunday prevented the ‘No to Oppression against Women’ initiative from organizing a symposium in Gezira State calling for an end to the ongoing war in the country.
In a statement obtained by Radio Tamazuj, the women’s initiative confirmed that the authorities banned the gathering it was preparing to organize on Saturday in Wad Madani.
According to the initiative, by banning them from gathering, the security forces have stripped them of their constitutional right to freedom of expression gained through the long struggle of the Sudanese women.
The initiative further said that the symposium titled ‘Gun down, we say’ is a call to silence the guns and to stop the ongoing war in the country.
The chairperson of the ‘No to Oppression against Women’ initiative, Amira Othman, told Radio Tamazuj that security forces mounted on three vehicles came to the location of the symposium at the bar association’s offices and asked the gathering to vacate the premises before ordering the house closed.
“On Sunday evening as we gathered at the bar association house in preparation for the symposium, a security force on three vehicles came and informed us that the symposium will not take place,” she said. “They told us we do not have permission to hold any gathering and that it will be a security threat to the state. They told us to immediately vacate the house and told the housekeeper to close the door.”
Othman emphasized that they would seek permission from the authorities to organize the symposium.
“We refuse to be silenced. We will go to the authorities and seek permission to hold the symposium,” she vowed. “We will never give up.”