With strong local push, Sudan releases activist
Share with others:
Support from around the world, including from Pittsburgh-area Sudanese, to free an activist and aid worker arrested in May in Sudan resulted in the woman's release Wednesday.
Hawa Abdullah, 26, was released in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, and taken to a local hospital for a checkup, said Khairunissa Dhala, who is with Amnesty International's Sudan campaign, based in London. Amnesty verified Ms. Abdullah's release with its own Sudanese contacts and with the United Nations agency she was working for when she was arrested.
"It has been reported that she is in good health," Ms. Dhala said Thursday.
Ismail Omar, a Darfurian immigrant who lives in Castle Shannon, was elated when he learned of the release Wednesday.
"It is very good news," said Mr. Omar, who started the local support for Ms. Abdullah after getting to know her via several phone calls in the month prior to her arrest. "Now I want to find out what I can about her situation."
Mr. Omar's efforts starting in mid-May led to letters calling for Ms. Abdullah's release being sent to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton from, among others, Pittsburgh City Council; Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa.; and Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Forest Hills.
"It's always great to be part of something that can have an effect on the other side of the world," said Councilman Bill Peduto, one of six city council members who signed a letter to Ms. Clinton.
Mr. Doyle felt similarly: "All of these efforts are important. It's never possible to know which, if any of them, will be the straw that breaks the camel's back, but you can be sure that if nobody in the international community had taken action, she'd still be in a Sudanese government prison."
Mr. Casey praised Pittsburgh's role in her release, saying: "Hawa's release is a testament to the hard work of the Pittsburgh community and to the role that local citizens can play in international events. Since taking office, I have worked for a more effective U.S. policy on Darfur, which has become ever more pertinent in the wake of South Sudan's independence last weekend."
First Published July 15, 2011 12:00 am
