Hassan al-Turabi | |
|---|---|
حسن الترابي | |
 Al-Turabi in 2015 | |
| Secretary General of thePopular Congress Party | |
| In office 1999–2016 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Ibrahim al-Sanousi |
| Speaker of theNational Assembly | |
| In office 1996–1999 | |
| President | Omar al-Bashir |
| Preceded by | Mohamed Al-Amin Khalifa |
| Succeeded by | Ahmed Ibrahim Al-Tahir |
| Foreign Minister of Sudan | |
| In office 1989–1989 | |
| President | Omar al-Bashir |
| Preceded by | Hussein Suleiman Abu Saleh |
| Succeeded by | Sid Ahmad al-Hussein |
| Attorney General ofSudan | |
| In office 1978–1982 | |
| President | Gaafar Nimeiry |
| Secretary General of theNational Islamic Front | |
| In office October 1964 – 1999 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1932-02-01)1 February 1932 |
| Died | 5 March 2016(2016-03-05) (aged 84) Khartoum, Sudan |
| Political party | Popular Congress Party (1999–2016) |
| Other political affiliations |
|
| Spouse | Wissal al-Mahdi |
| Relations | Sadiq al-Mahdi(brother-in-law) |
| Alma mater | |
Hassan al-Turabi (Arabic:حسن الترابي,romanized: Ḥasan al-Turābī; 1 February 1932 – 5 March 2016) was a Sudanese politician and scholar. He was the alleged architect of the1989 Sudanese military coup that overthrewSadiq al-Mahdi and installedOmar al-Bashir aspresident.[1][2] He has been called "one of the most influential figures in modernSudanese politics"[3] and a "longtime hard-line ideological leader".[4] He was instrumental in institutionalizingSharia (Islamic law) in the northern part of the country and was frequently imprisoned inSudan, but these "periods of detention" were "interspersed with periods of high political office".[5]
al-Turabi was leader of theNational Islamic Front (NIF) (which later changed its name toNational Congress Party in the late 1990s[6]), a political movement that developed considerable political power in Sudan while never obtaining significant popularity among Sudanese voters. It embraced a "top down" approach toIslamisation by placing party members in high posts in government and security services. al-Turabi and the NIF reached the peak of their power from 1989 following a military coup d'état, until 2001, as whatHuman Rights Watch have called "the power behind the throne",[7] head of the firstSunni Islamist movement to take control of a state.[8]
al-Turabi oversaw highly controversial policies such as the creation of the "NIF police state" and associated NIF militias that consolidated Islamist power and prevented a popular uprising, but according to Human Rights Watch committed many human rights abuses, including "summary executions,torture, ill treatment,arbitrary detentions, denial of freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion, and violations of the rules of war, particularly in the south".[7] Turabi was a leader of opposition to theAmerican–Saudi "coalition forces" in theGulf War, establishing in 1990–1991 thePopular Arab and Islamic Congress (PAIC), a regional umbrella for political Islamist militants, headquartered inKhartoum.[7]
After 1996, al-Turabi and his party's "internationalist and ideological wing" saw a decline in influence in favor of more pragmatic leaders, brought on by the imposition of UN sanctions on Sudan in punishment for Sudan's assistance toEgyptian Islamic Jihad in their attempt to assassinateEgyptian PresidentHosni Mubarak. al-Turabi was out of power beginning in 1999, leading a splinter group of the National Congress known as thePopular National Congress.[9] He was imprisoned by Omar Al-Bashir on 17 January 2011 for nine days, followingcivil unrest across theArab world.[9][10] He died in 2016 without facing trial for his role in the 1989 coup.[1]
al-Turabi was born on 1 February 1932 inKassala,[11] eastern Sudan, to aSufiMuslim sheikh, and received an Islamic education,[12] before coming toKhartoum in 1951 to study law and joined theMuslim Brotherhood as a student.[13] He graduated from Khartoum University School of Law in 1955 and also studied inLondon and at theSorbonne inParis in 1962, where he gained aPhD.[12] He became a leader of the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1960s.[7] He is a descendant of a famous 17th-century religious sheikh, Hamad al-Turabi.
Turabi's writings, rhetoric, sermons, and public pronouncements have often been described asprogressive,theologically liberal,[14] "moderate and thoughtful",[3] but his time in power was notable for harshhuman rights violations.[14] The diplomatAndrew Natsios explained these contradictions by claiming that he took more moderate positions when being interviewed byEnglish andFrench-speaking interviewers when compared to his speeches to his fellowIslamists.[3]
al-Turabi's philosophy drew selectively from Sudanese, Islamic, and Western political thought to fashion an ideology for the pursuit of power.[15] al-Turabi supported Sharia and the concept of an Islamic state, but his vision was notWahhabi orSalafi.[15] He appreciated that the majority of Sudanese followedSufi Islam, which he set out to change with new ideas.[15] He did not extend legitimacy to Sufis,Mahdists, and Islamic scholars, whom he saw as incapable of addressing the challenges of modern life.[15] One of the strengths of his vision was to consider different trends in Islam.[15] Although the political base for his ideas was probably relatively small, he had an important influence on Sudanese politics and religion.[15]
His views on the role of women in society were relatively progressive.[15] al-Turabi had his greatest success in recruiting supporters from the educated and professional classes in urban areas.[15] He attached fundamental importance to the concept ofshura (consultation) andibtila, his view of modernity, which he believed should lead to a more profound worship ofGod.[15] Religion was regularly tested by the reality ofibtila.[15]
As aSunni Islamist, Turabi's ideas differed in some ways from traditional Islamic ideas, such as in his lack of reverence for professional Islamic scholars. Rather than theulama (class of Islamic scholars) being restricted to educated Islamic scholars, he stated that "because all knowledge is divine and religious, a chemist, an engineer, an economist or a jurist are all ulamas." In fact, in an Islamic democracy, which Turabi maintained he was working towards,
ideally there is no clericalulama class, which prevents an elitist ortheocratic government. Whether termed a religious, a theocratic, or even asecular theocracy, an Islamic state is not a government of the ulama.[16][17]
al-Turabi originally espoused progressive Islamist ideas, such as the embrace of democracy, healing the breach and expanding the rights of women, where he noted:
The Prophet himself used to visit women, not men, for counseling and advice. They could lead prayer. Even in his battles, they are there! In the election between Othman and Ali to determine who will be the successor to the Prophet, they voted![18]
He told another interviewer, "I want women to work and become part of public life" because "the home doesn't require much work anymore, what with all the appliances". During an interview on al-Arabiya TV in 2006, al-Turabi describes the wordhijab as not a face veil but a cover or diaphragm put in a room to separate between men and the Prophet's wives, whereasniqab is just an old Arab habit. Hijab literally means "barrier" and he said it was "a curtain in the Prophet's room. Naturally, it was impossible for the Prophet's wife to sit there when people entered the room". The Prophet's wives sat behind it when talking to males because they were not allowed to show their faces.[19] He opposed the death penalty forapostasy from Islam and opposedAyatollah Khomeini's death sentence fatwa againstSalman Rushdie. He declared Islamist organizations "too focused on narrow historical debates and behavioral issues of what should be forbidden, at the expense of economic and social development".[20]
al-Turabi also laid out his vision forSharia law that would be applied gradually instead of forcefully and would apply only to Muslims, who would share power with theChristians in afederal system.[citation needed]
In contrast Natsios writes that when in power,
one of the pieces of national legislation he pressed for was thatapostasy be punished by the death penalty, a position he has since disavowed. When he talks about women's rights, he is referring exclusively to Muslim women, whose honor and virtue will be protected within the context of Sharia law, ... Christian or non-Muslim women may be treated as property without rights or protection.[21]
In 2006, out-of-power again, al-Turabi made international headlines issuing afatwa allowing Muslim women to marry non-Muslim men, and allowing alcohol consumption in certain situations, in contradiction to historicalSharia law.[22][23][24][25] He also embraced human rights and democracy in "a hundred-and-eighty-degree turn" of his views.[26] One critic of Turabi complained to an American journalist in Khartoum of Turabi's ideological reversal, saying, "it is said in the daily papers and in the discussion centers here in the university that Turabi killed Ustazh Mahmoud", (i.e. liberal Sudanese clericMahmoud Mohammed Taha, hanged in 1985), "and now he’s stealing his ideas."[26]
Early in his career, al-Turabi took control ofIslamic Liberation Movement under the name of the Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood.[15] In 1964 he became secretary-general of theIslamic Charter Front (ICF), an activist movement that served as the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, and was elected to parliament in the mid-1960s.[15] He headed theFront of the Islamic Pact and theParty of the Islamic Bloc from 1964 50 1969.[15] Following themilitary coup in 1969,Gaafar Nimeiry jailed al-Turabi for seven years.[15] Released in 1977, al-Turabi becameattorney general in 1979 and then Nimeiry’s foreign affairs adviser in 1983.[15] Nimeiry put him back in prison in 1985; the new military government released him later the same year.[15] al-Turabi established theNational Islamic Front (NIF) in 1985 as a replacement for the ICF.[15] al-Turabi held several ministerial positions in government of the democratically electedSadiq al-Mahdi, which the NIF joined in 1988 as a coalition partner, but he was never comfortable with this arrangement.[15]
On 30 June 1989,a coup d'état by GeneralOmar Hassan al-Bashir began a process of severe repression, including purges and executions in the upper ranks of the army, the banning of associations, political parties, and independent newspapers and the imprisonment of leading political figures and journalists.[27] From 1989 until 2001, Turabi served as what observers have called the "intellectual architect",[28] or "the power behind the throne",[7] sometimes officially as leader of the NIF and sometimes as speaker of the parliamentary assembly.[7]
While there is a "pervasive belief" in Sudan that Turabi and the NIF actively collaborated with the coup-makers who called themselves the "Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation", in fact the RCC-NS banned all political parties following the 1989 coup and arrested Turabi, as well as the leaders of other political parties, and held him in solitary confinement for several months.[2] Before long however, NIF influence within the government was evident in its policies and in the presence of several NIF members in the cabinet.[2]
Alleged human rights abuses by the NIF regime includedwar crimes,ethnic cleansing, a revival ofslavery,torture of opponents, and an unprecedented number of refugees fleeing intoUganda,Kenya,Eritrea,Egypt,Europe andNorth America.[29]
In 1994 a report issued byHuman Rights Watch/Africa, conducted by Gáspár Bíró, a Hungarian law professor and the United Nations' special envoy to Sudan in 1993 found the Sudanese government to be practicing "widespread and systematic torture" of political detainees.
Once uncommon in the Sudan, torture was now widespread, especially in the south. Non-Muslim women were raped, their children taken from them; paper bags filled with chili powder were placed over men's heads, and some were tied to anthills; testicles were crushed and burned by cigarettes and electric current, according to a 1994 report by Human Rights Watch/Africa.[30]
On 26 May 1992 al-Turabi was attacked at theOttawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport inCanada by SudaneseKarateBlack belt master,Hashim Bedreddin Mohammed. He attacked al-Turabi by using twoknifehand strikes to knock down Turabi, whose head struck the pavement[31] putting him into a coma. Hashim was aSufi in exile and an opponent of the National Islamic Front Islamist regime in Sudan and had won a karate world championship in 1983. He attacked al-Turabi in a rage when he saw him. ASomali man pushed Hashim away with a trolley which weakened the blow that could have otherwise killed al-Turabi.[32] al-Turabi was hospitalized for 4 weeks with constant black outs.[33] After al-Turabi was knocked out, Hashim assumed he was dead and departed. al-Turabi suffered from severe injuries, the use of his right arm was lost for a while, he had slurred speech and required the use of a cane.[34] Hashim was supported by exiled Sudanese in Canada who launched the "Friends of Hashim Campaign" to support his attack on al-Turabi. One said "most Sudanese would appreciate what Hashim did". They called for an end to Islamist policies and a return to secularism.[35]
Al-Qaeda's leaderOsama bin Laden moved his base of operations fromSaudi Arabia to Sudan around 1991 reportedly at the personal invitation of al-Turabi, and stayed until 1996 when he moved toAfghanistan. Bin Laden moved to Sudan after conflict with the Saudi government over their granting of permission to the United States to station troops in Saudi Arabia during theGulf War againstSaddam Hussein. Bin Laden believed he should lead the fight against Saddam usingAfghan Arab forces. al-Turabi granted bin Laden a safe place from which to conduct jihadist activities; in return, bin Laden agreed to help the Sudanese government in roadbuilding and to fightanimist andChristian separatists inSouthern Sudan. While in Sudan, bin Laden is reported to have married one of al-Turabi's nieces.[36]
Other violent groups al-Turabi invited and allowed to operate freely includedAbu Nidal Organization, (which reportedly had killed more than 900 people in 20 different countries)Hezbollah, andCarlos the Jackal, (posing as a French arms dealer at the time). Carlos had converted fromMarxism toIslamic extremism.[37] (Sudanese sanctuary was not unconditional as it later allowed French intelligence to kidnap Carlos the Jackal while he was undergoing an operation on his right testicle.")[38]
al-Turabi founded thePopular Arab and Islamic Congress in 1990–1991. Meeting here were several Islamic groups from around the world, including representatives from thePalestine Liberation Organization,Hamas, theEgyptian Islamic Jihad, theAlgerian Islamic Jihad, andHezbollah. In late 1991 or 1992 al-Turabi sought to persuadeShiites and Sunnis to put aside their divisions and join against the common enemy.
In August 1993, Sudan was placed on the United States' list ofState Sponsors of Terrorism following the1993 World Trade Center bombing in February. TheU.S. State Department notes that "five of 15 suspects arrested" following the bombing were Sudanese.[39]
Two years later an assassination attempt was made on then Egyptian PresidentHosni Mubarak byEgyptian Islamic Jihad organization, many of whose members were living in exile in Sudan.[40] Evidence from the Egyptian and Ethiopian governments implicated the Sudanese government[40][41][42]
The debacle led to a unanimous vote in the United Nations to impose stiff economic sanctions on Sudan. The Sudanese representative denied the charges, but the Sudanese delegation was already in disfavor, having been implicated only two years earlier in a plot to blow upUN headquarters.[42]
Rather than disassociate himself from the plot, al-Turabi praised the attempted killing and called Mubarak stupid:
The sons of the Prophet Moses, the Muslims, rose up against him confounded his plans, and sent him back to his country...I found the man to be very far below my level of thinking and my view, and too stupid to understand my pronouncements.[43]
International sanctions took effect in April 1996 and were accompanied by a "general withdrawal of the diplomatic community" from Khartoum. At the same time Sudan worked to appease the United States and other international critics by expelling members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and encouraging bin Laden to leave.[44]
In March 1996,national elections were held for the first time since the coup,[45] and al-Turabi was elected to a seat in theNational Assembly, where he served as speaker during the 1990s.[4] This was his first instance of holding a political position with some consistency.[citation needed] During the "last few years of the 1990s", his influence and that of his party's "'internationalist' and ideological wing" waned "in favor of the 'nationalist' or more pragmatic leaders who focus on trying to recover from Sudan's disastrous international isolation and economic damage that resulted from ideological adventurism".[46]
After a political falling out with PresidentOmar al-Bashir in 1999,[47] al-Turabi was imprisoned based on allegations of conspiracy before being released in October 2003.[48] Arrested again in 2004 for allegedly being part of a plot to overthrow the government,[49] he was released on 28 June 2005.
In 2004 he was reported to have been associated with theJustice and Equality Movement (JEM), anIslamist armed rebel group involved in theWar in Darfur, whose leader,Khalil Ibrahim, was previously a follower of Mr. al-Turabi.[50] al-Turabi himself has denied any association. Turabi spent 16 months in prison from 2004 until 28 June 2005, during which time he spent several weeks on ahunger strike.[50]
After the JEMattacked Khartoum and Omdurman[51] on 10 May 2008,[52] al-Turabi was arrested on the morning of 12 May 2008, along with other members of his Popular Congress Party (PCP). He said that he had expected the arrest, which occurred while he was returning to Khartoum from a PCP gathering inSennar.[48] He was questioned and released without charge[53] later in the day, after about 12 hours in detention.[54]
Presidential advisorMustafa Osman Ismail said that al-Turabi's name had been found on JEM documents,[54] but he denied that al-Turabi had been arrested, asserting that he had merely been "summoned" for questioning. al-Turabi, however, said that it was an arrest and that he had been held atKobar Prison.[48] According to al-Turabi, he was questioned regarding the relationship between the PCP and JEM, but he did not answer this question,[51] although he denied that there was a relationship after his release;[48] he also said that he was asked why he did not condemn the rebel attack.[54] He said that the security officers questioning him had "terrified" him[51] and that, although they claimed to have proof against him, they did not show him this proof when he asked to see it.[48]
Salva Kiir Mayardit, the First Vice-President of Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan, said that there had been no discussion about arresting al-Turabi at a presidency meeting on the previous day and that there was no security report implicating him. He alleged that al-Turabi was being used as ascapegoat.[52]
In an interview on 17 May 2008, al-Turabi described the JEM's attack on Khartoum as "positive" and said that there was "so much misery inDarfur, genocidal measures actually". He also said that the JEM attack could spark more unrest.[47]
On 12 January 2009, al-Turabi called on Bashir to surrender himself to theInternational Criminal Court for the sake of the country, while holding Bashir politically responsible for war crimes in Darfur.[55] (He later changed his position and opposed Bashir turning himself in.[56]) He was then arrested on 14 January[55][57] and held in prison for two months (until 8 March)[58] at theKobar Prison before being moved toPort Sudan prison.[59] During this time members of his family expressed concern about his health and his being held insolitary confinement at least some of the time.[57]Amnesty International also released a statement about al-Turabi's arrest on 16 January, describing it as "arbitrary" and politically motivated. Noting al-Turabi's advanced age and his need for medication and a special diet.[55] The Sudanese Media Centre reported on 19 January that al-Turabi would be put on trial for his alleged assistance to the JEM.[60]
On 8 March, he was released only days after theInternational Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant againstOmar al-Bashir.[61] On 11 April 2009, the PCP called for the creation of a transitional government to lead Sudan to the planned2010 election, and al-Turabi suggested that he would not stand as a candidate due to his advanced age; he emphasized the importance of leadership coming from younger generations and said that he did not have enough energy to run.[62] In April al-Turabi was stopped atKhartoum International Airport and prevented from travelling to Paris for medical tests despite having obtained permission to travel from the interior ministry.[58]
al-Turabi announced on 2 January 2010 that the PCP had designated his deputy,Abdallah Deng Nhial, as its candidate for the 2010 presidential election.[63] al-Turabi was again arrested in mid May 2010, but was released on 1 July 2010.[64]
On 18 January 2011, security forces arrested al-Turabi inKhartoum, presumably due to the recent instability ofSudan’s politics. al-Turabi commented on the recent price rises in Sudan stating it could result at a "popular uprising" if the unrealistic rises were not reversed. He added that the government should take lessons from the recentTunisian Revolution.[65]
On 5 March 2016, Turabi died at a hospital in Khartoum at the age of 84.[66][67] He was believed to have died of a heart attack. Turabi's funeral was held the next day, with several thousand mourners in attendance, and he was buried at Burri Al-Lamab, a cemetery in eastern Khartoum.[68][69]
According to the Political Handbook of the World 2011, the NIF was renamed as the National Congress (NC) in 1996 (2011, 1356). Other sources report that in November 1998, the NIF renamed itself the National Congress (NC).
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)Al-Mahdi noted that leader of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Hassan al-Turabi changed his mind on surrendering Bashir to the Hague-based court from supporting it to opposing it
