VZCZCXRO2745
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #0607/01 1111336
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201336Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0598
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0166
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000607 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR D, R, ECA FOR PDAS CROUCH, AF A/S FRAZER, SE WILLIAMSON, 
AF/SPG, S/CRS, DRL 
NSC FOR PBITTMAN AND CHUDSON 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL PGOV PREL PHUM KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: STUDENTS COMPLAIN OF DISCRIMINATION BASED ON POLITICAL 
AFFILIATION AND GEOGRAPHY 
 
REF: A) KHARTOUM 329 
B) KHARTOUM 371 
 
¶1. This is an action cable, please see para 8. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY:  In two separate meetings with university leaders 
the week of April 13, SPLM-affiliated students and members of the 
Darfur Students Union complained of discriminatory support for 
students based on party affiliation and geography.  Both groups 
requested further U.S. support for vulnerable student populations, 
as Sudanese institutions favor NCP-affiliated students over 
opposition youth (especially from the SPLM and SLM-Abdul Wahid) and 
students from historically marginalized groups in South and West 
(Darfur) Sudan. END SUMMARY 
 
SPLM-AFFILIATED STUDENT ORGANIZATION 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On April 17, CDA Fernandez met Tariq Koko, the Director of 
the Office for Student Support of the Sudanese Organization for 
Youth Development (SOYD).  (Note:  As Koko told poloff, SOYD is an 
organization founded by the SPLM that attempts to implement SPLM 
ideas in a nonpartisan manner for the support of all Sudanese 
students.  End Note.)  Koko stated that political parties, 
especially the NCP, use financial support to recruit new party 
members.  He said that money is the biggest challenge facing 
students, and that politically active students affiliated with the 
opposition, especially the SPLM, often receive unfair treatment from 
professors and administrators.  "SPLM students are often thrown out 
of the university and experience very negative treatment," said 
Koko. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Koko said that he would appreciate further U.S. support 
for political training programs such as those facilitated by the 
International Republican Institute (IRI).  Koko encouraged the U.S. 
to consider supporting educational initiatives not and not just 
short-term training through political parties, but through civil 
society organizations.  He said that partnering with the Khartoum 
State Ministry of Education (the Minister belongs to the Umma Party) 
and other branches of the government would prevent hardliners in the 
government from attempting to undermine U.S. support for educational 
initiatives.  He said that a multi-party, multi-institutional 
approach would decrease the level of controversy and provide 
mechanisms of oversight and cooperation needed to make sure that 
resources are properly utilized and monitored.  He said that the 
Minister of Education of Khartoum State has indicated that he is 
willing to cooperate with civil society organizations such as 
Koko's.  He stated that as Khartoum State has the majority of 
universities in Sudan, it would therefore be most logical to first 
focus on Khartoum State.  Koko emphasized that other universities in 
Darfur, the East, and the South have also been neglected and need 
support. Sudan's oppressed Southern and Darfuri students (especially 
those who are politically active) are often shunted to these 
third-rate schools if not to Sudan's private, for-profit 
universities - if they can afford them. 
 
DARFUR STUDENTS UNION 
- - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5.  (SBU) On April 13, three leaders of the Darfur Students Union in 
Khartoum told poloff that the plight of Darfur's students has 
deteriorated significantly in the last several years.   According to 
these leaders there are approximately 20,000 students from Darfur 
studying in Khartoum, and that last year alone 300 of them dropped 
out due to extreme poverty, political oppression, and overall 
marginalization within Khartoum's universities.  "In the street 
there is no racism or prejudice against anyone from Darfur, but at 
universities it is different," stated one leader of the Darfur 
Students Union.  According to these sources, the government tries to 
divide Darfur students along ethnic lines and that even though their 
student association is apolitical "the government treats any group 
from Darfur as though it is a political party." 
 
¶6. (SBU) These sources stated that in the past there was significant 
government support for students, but that now, rent, university 
fees, and other living expenses prohibit most students from Darfur 
from being able to study at institutions of higher education.  They 
stated that there are some students who are essentially homeless, 
alternating between sleeping at friends' homes and on the street. 
They added that the National Student Support Fund should be a 
non-partisan institution that helps students regardless of their 
party affiliation, but that in practice it is just a funding 
mechanism for NCP students.  These three leaders (from the Ma'aliya, 
Arab Beni Halba, and non-Arab Fur tribes) emphasized that their 
 
KHARTOUM 00000607  002 OF 002 
 
 
organization is one of the very groups that has many different 
tribes from Darfur working together peacefully and for a common 
goal. 
 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
¶7.  (SBU)  These meetings during the week of April 13 follow many 
others (reftels) where Sudanese students have complained of 
discriminatory support for students based on party affiliation and 
geography.  More direct U.S. support for marginalized Sudanese 
students would be a good investment in the U.S.'s future 
relationship with Sudan, as this programming will help support the 
next generation of leaders in Sudan.  Post will explore possible 
means of assisting the students and their organizations, and will 
also explore further collaboration with the Ministry of Education 
and civil society organizations with a focus on Sudan's neglected 
students. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Embassy recommends that AF urgently work with R and ECA to 
explore options towards establishing a modest in-country scholarship 
fund at private Sudanese universities for marginalized Darfuri and 
South Sudanese students. 
 
FERNANDEZ