By Najla Karrar...
From the dispersal of the sit-in to Al-Burhan\u2019s dialogue\u2026 Nabil Adib: Where does justice stand when law intersects with politics?
There are questions that must not be allowed to fade with the passage of time, nor be buried beneath the rubble of war, nor become hostage to shifting alliances and political stances.
Foremost amongst these questions is the issue of the dispersal of the sit-in at the General Command:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What has become of the truth? And where are the results of the investigation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The massacre that took place during the dispersal of the sit-in was not a passing event in Sudan\u2019s history. It was one of the most harrowing episodes in the course of the Sudanese revolution, leaving behind the dead, the missing and the wounded, as well as thousands of families who are still waiting to learn the full truth and to find out who bears responsibility for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this reason, when the task of conducting the inquiry was entrusted to a committee chaired by the lawyer Nabil Adib, the Sudanese did not view the matter as merely a legal formality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the families of the martyrs and the missing, the committee was a beacon of hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was expected to uncover the truth, to establish who was responsible, and to answer the fundamental questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who gave the orders? Who carried them out? Who was involved? And who covered it up?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Expectations had been higher because the committee chairman was not a politician, but a legal expert who had taken on a role that was supposed to be based on independence, impartiality and a lack of partisanship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to previous statements attributed to Adib, the committee had made significant progress in its investigation, had heard from a large number of witnesses, and its investigations had also involved senior military commanders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, despite the passing of years, Sudanese public opinion is still awaiting the final outcome that will set the record straight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And this is where the moral dilemma begins \u2013 one that cannot be ignored.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From chairman of an inquiry committee to a player in the political process
For a legal professional to exercise their right as a citizen to express an opinion or participate in public life is, in principle, a right that should not be curtailed.
However, the situation changes radically when this very man has chaired an inquiry committee into one of the most sensitive crimes in Sudan\u2019s history, only to subsequently emerge on a political path whose connections involve individuals and institutions whose roles the committee itself was tasked with investigating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, the question is no longer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is Nabil Adib entitled to be involved in politics?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rather, the question becomes a more profound one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do the ethical standards of his previous role permit him to move from the position of an independent investigator to that of a participant, supporter or collaborator in a political project linked to one of the parties involved in the case he was investigating?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is not a personal condemnation, nor is it a court ruling against anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a matter of public trust and an example of a conflict of interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice does not depend solely on the investigator actually being independent; it also requires that people have confidence in his independence, and that his public stance appears consistent with that independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The greatest irony
The irony becomes even more striking when we compare the two scenes side by side:
In the first scene, a legal expert chairs a committee of inquiry into the dispersal of the sit-in; the committee is supposed to investigate the political, military and legal responsibilities associated with the events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the second scene, the same man appears in a political context linked to an initiative or dialogue led by a military commander whose position and responsibilities fell within the scope of the investigations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even if we assume that political participation does not necessarily mean endorsing the man\u2019s views or exonerating any party, the very fact of moving between the two positions raises a legitimate ethical question:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can the same distance be maintained between the investigator and the political authorities when the former investigator becomes part of a political process linked to those authorities?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is this paradox that is worth discussing, not just the figure of Nabil Adib alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice is not a job that ends when a term of office ends
A legal professional who undertakes a highly sensitive public role does not operate in a vacuum.
He is acting in the presence of the victims, their families, public opinion and history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For this reason, moral responsibility does not end simply because the official duty has been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If there is a public issue that has not yet been resolved, and a case whose findings have not been made public, and martyrs and missing persons are awaiting the truth, then moving into new political roles before that case has been conclusively and transparently resolved creates, at the very least, a suspicion of a conflict of interest and an issue of public trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This problem cannot be resolved simply by saying that the man is a citizen with the right to engage in political activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Personal rights are one thing, but the moral responsibility that comes with holding a former public office is quite another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What about the victims?
There are those who treat the issue of breaking up the sit-in as though it were a political issue from the past, one that can be set aside whenever circumstances change.
But for the families of the martyrs, it is a completely different matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A mother who has lost her son does not see it as a dispute between political forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the family of the missing person cannot simply consign the case to the dustbin of history and move on to another matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These people want a simple answer:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What has happened to our children? And who is to blame?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Any political dialogue that does not place the issue of justice and the victims at the heart of its agenda will therefore remain incomplete, whatever slogans are raised in its name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And what about dialogue?
If the proposed inter-Sudanese dialogue is intended to be a way out of the war and the crisis, then it deserves support in principle.
But genuine dialogue does not mean erasing the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And peace does not mean disregarding the rights of the victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And reconciliation does not mean asking the families of the martyrs to forget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed, any serious political process needs to address the legacy of abuses, because ignoring the wounds does not lead to their healing; rather, it merely postpones their eruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The question, therefore, addressed to all participants in any political dialogue \u2013 and not to Nabil Adib alone \u2013 is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where is justice in the blueprint for the future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dear Professor Nabil Adib\u2026
This is not a challenge to your right to engage in public life.
No one has the right to take that right away from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, given that you were the chair of an inquiry committee whose name has become associated with one of the most sensitive issues in the hearts and minds of the Sudanese people, the public are entitled to ask you:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What was the outcome of that investigation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What happened to the findings that the committee was said to have reached?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And why have the Sudanese not yet seen a clear resolution to this issue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They are also entitled to ask:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How can you ensure that your move from the role of investigator to that of political participant does not affect \u2013 even in terms of public confidence \u2013 the perception of that investigation and its independence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These questions are not a personal dispute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are matters of state, law and public morality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We cannot build a future on unresolved issues
Sudan today needs peace, it needs dialogue, it needs an end to the war, and it needs a national project to rebuild the state.
But Sudan also needs justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Justice cannot be selective; it is invoked when it serves one side, and forgotten when the balance of power shifts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The blood of the martyrs cannot be reduced to merely an old chapter in the history of the revolution, whilst politicians begin to write a new chapter as if nothing had happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dialogue should not be a substitute for justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reconciliation should not be a substitute for the truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peace should not mean disregarding the rights of the victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if the aim is to turn a new page in Sudan\u2019s history, then the Sudanese people have every right to ask:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do we open a new page when we haven\u2019t finished reading the previous one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The mothers of the martyrs are not a marginal detail in any discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the families of the missing are not just numbers in reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And the blood of those who took to the streets demanding freedom and a civil state is not a bargaining chip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And justice is not a privilege that those in power grant to whomever they please and withhold from whomever they please.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The question therefore remains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where is the report by the committee tasked with breaking up the sit-in?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where is the truth?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where are the victims\u2019 rights?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And who is responsible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These questions do not concern Nabil Adib alone, nor Al-Burhan alone, nor any particular political party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are questions that concern the whole of Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Sudanese people will retain the right to raise these issues, no matter how governments change, no matter how alliances shift, and no matter how long the war drags on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the memory of the victims does not fade with the passage of time, and justice must not become a pawn in the game of politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There can be no dialogue without truth.
There can be no reconciliation without justice.
There can be no lasting peace without justice<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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