Ambivalent ideologies and the limitations of the colonial prison in Sudan, 1898–1956

Abstract

This article investigates the failure of the colonial state in Sudan to establish an extensive and reformative prison system according to the European ideal. It attributes this failure not just to the limited material resources of the colonial state but to its own internal divisions and ambivalent attitude towards the notion of a reformative penal project. This mirrored the state's ambivalent attitude toward other forms of development, education and “civilisation”. In this failure with prison reform, the colonial regime in Sudan deprived itself of a key tool for the exercise of infrastructural power. The article describes the violent and transgressive behaviour of Sudan's prison inmates, and examines the efforts of those officials managing colonial jails to negotiate these difficulties, at times resorting to extreme force in order to keep control.

Keywords:

• Sudan
• colonial rule
• violence
• riots
• prisons
• incarceration

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I would like to thank members of SUDAAK (the Sudanese Association for Archiving Knowledge) for helping facilitate my visit to Sudan, particularly Badreldin Omar el Hag Musa, Muhammad al-Hasan, Ibrahim Moneim Mansour and Fawzia Galal el-Din. I also owe a debt of gratitude to the AHRC for funding my PhD – although this research was not incorporated into my final PhD submission, it was undertaken during an AHRC funded study visit to Sudan during my postgraduate period.

Notes

1. Foucault, Discipline and Punish, 173.

2. Branch, “Imprisonment and Colonialism”; Fourchard, “Between Conservatism and Transgression,” 136.

3. Fourchard, “Between Conservatism and Transgression,” 136.

4. Bhabha, Location of Culture, 113.

5. Berridge, “Khartoum Police Strike.”

6. Killingray, “Punishment to Fit the Crime?”

7. Woodward, Unstable State, 1, 231.

8. For a similar argument see Cooper, Africa since 1940, 4.

9. Dikotter and Brown, Cultures of Confinement, 3. Branch, “Imprisonment and Colonialism,” 239–40.

10. James, “Sudan Police Force.”

11. Sudan Government. Report by the Governor-General on the Administration, Finances and Condition of Sudan in 1945 (Khartoum: McCorquodale & Co, 1945) 142–3. Available online at the Sudan Archive, “Annual Reports of the Governor General,” http://www.dur.ac.uk/library/asc/sudan/gov-genl_reports/ (hereafter ARGG).

12. Jackson, Behind the Modern Sudan, 117. Lea Diaries, located in Sudan Archives, Durham (SAD) 676/8/170.

13. Note by J.G. Wyld on Chiefs' Courts (1931), SAD 767/10/104.

14. Holt and Daly, A History of Sudan, 94–96.

15. Holt and Daly, A History of Sudan, 96.

16. C.A. Willis notes on Upper Nile Province, April 30, 1926, SAD 212/9/41.

17. E.H. Macintosh Memoirs c. 1958–1962, chapter 6, SAD 895/3/61.

18. ARGG 1904, 96.

19. E.H. MacIntosh Memoirs, chapter 6, SAD 895/3/61.

20. Branch, “Imprisonment and Colonialism,” 263. Vaughan, Curing their Ills, 11.

21. ARGG 1942–44, 145.

22. Gezira Province Monthly Diaries, May 1942, Northern Record Office (NRO) CivSec (2) 30/7/17.

23. E.H. MacIntosh Memoirs, chapter 6, SAD 895/3/61.

24. Foucault, Discipline and Punish, 143.

25. McInnes, Assistant Civil Secretary for Prisons, to All Governors, Dec. 11, 1949, NRO 2.D.Fasher A 45/1/1.

26. McInnes to all Governors, October 23, 1951. NRO 2.D.Fasher A 45/1/1

27. G.F. Bredin Memoirs 23 July 1983, SAD 815/12/26.

28. G.F. Bredin Memoirs 23 July 1983, SAD 815/12/26.

29. Vaughan, “Idioms of Madness.”

30. FO 371/23318, Sudan Annual Report for 1937, 222.

31. C.A. Willis, notes on Renk, Oct. 26, 1926, SAD 212/9/58.

32. T.R.H. Owen Memoirs (1960–1961), SAD 769/11/38.

33. Leonardi, “Knowing Authority,” 229.

34. Report by A.W. Skrine, Governor Mongolla, Aug. 28, 1925, NRO CivSec (1) 41/2/15.

35. ARGG 1950–1, 5, 103. Sharkey, Living with Colonialism, 90.

36. ARGG 1925, 241.

37. Police Magistrate to Govenor Khartoum, January 24, 1930, NRO, Kh Prov (15) 1/8/197.

38. Branch, “Imprisonment and Colonialism,” 251.

39. ARGG 1925, 241.

40. AC-CP-86-41 BNP-Maj.Ct-16-41, Hayes Box 1 File 3, SAD.

41. ARGG 1942-44, 174. AC-CP-86-41 BNP-Maj.Ct-16-41, SAD Hayes Box 1 File 3.

42. T.R.H. Owen Memoirs, SAD 769/11/38.

43. Police Magistrate to Governor Khartoum, January 24, 1930, NRO Kh Prov (15) 1/8/197.

44. ARGG 1932, 132.

45. Governor Blue Nile to Civil Secretary, June 1, 1930, NRO Kh Prov (15) 1/8/197.

46. Killingray, “Punishment to Fit the Crime,” 113.

47. ARGG 1945, 162.

48. Gezira Province Monthly Diaries, Dec. 1945, NRO CivSec (2) 30/7/17.

49. ARGG 1948, 8.

50. ARGG 1950–1, 5.

51. ARGG 1947, 6.

52. ARGG 1948, 173.

53. ARGG 1932, 132.

54. Gezira Province Monthly Diaries, August 1944, NRO CivSec (2) 30/7/17.

55. Leonardi, Knowing Authority.

56. Gorman, “Regulation, Reform and Resistance,” 119.

57. Bernault, “The Shadow of Rule,” 72.

58. Lampen Memoirs, SAD 735\1\7.

59. T.R.H. Owen to his mother, August 30, 1942, Rashad, SAD 414/13/40.

60. T.R.H. Owen to his mother, August 30, 1942, Rashad, SAD 414/13/40.

61. Cited in Musa, Duruub, 171.

62. Willis, “Hukm,” 9.

63. McInnes to all Governors, May 26, 1951, NRO 2.D.Fasher A 45/1/1.

64. McInnes to all Governors, Oct. 23, 1951, NRO 2.D.Fasher A 45/1/1.

65. ARGG 1950–1, 118.

66. Upper Nile Province Annual Report for 1952–3, SAD 761/6/19.

67. Gezira Province Monthly Diaries, May 1950, NRO CivSec (2) 30/8/19.

68. Bahr al-Ghazal Province Monthly Diaries, July 1953, NRO CivSec (2) 30/1/2.

69. See, for instance, Musa Ahmad al-Mahdi, “Sujuun bi-la qudban,” Majallat al-Sujuun, 57–60, April 1982, consulted in the NRO.

70. Upper Nile Province Monthly Diaries, Jan. 1953, NRO CivSec (2) 30/5/13. Although, as Branch (“Imprisonment and Colonialism,” 263) has observed, with regard to Kenya, that statements were usually as much a reflection on the harshness of ordinary life under colonial rule as on the liberal nature of the prison regime.

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72. Bernault, “The Shadow of Rule,” 84.

73. Balfour, Governor Mongolla to Chief Justice, Nov. 1, 1929, NRO CivSec (1) 41/1/2.

74. Killingray, “Punishment to Fit the Crime?,” 102.

75. G. Barter, 1931 Annual Report for Hadendoa District, Jan. 15, 1932, SAD 448/1/79.

76. Draft copy of Lampen's Handing Over Notes for Darfur 1949, SAD 731/2/79.

77. K.D.D. Henderson, Darfur Annual Report for 1949, SAD 534/14/16.

78. A.R.C. Bolton, Handing Over Notes for East Kordofan, 1928–34, SAD 624/2/1. Kordofan Province Monthly Diaries, June 1954, NRO CivSec (2) 30/4/10.

79. ARGG 1945, 142.

80. J. Longe, Handing Over Notes, Northern Gezira Province, 1934, SAD 641/5/33.

81. Gezira Province Monthly Diaries, Mar. 1946, NRO CivSec (2) 30/7/17.

82. William Luce, Annual Report for Funj District 1948, SAD 828/2/62.

83. Prisons Annual Reports Geneina, Annual Reports for 1950 and 1951, and R.G. Dingwall's Report, H.Q. Sudan Prison Service dated April 1, 1953. NRO Darfur, Dar Masalit 55 B. 1.

84. Bahr al-Ghazal Province Monthly Diaries, May 1952, NRO CivSec (2) 30/1/2.

85. Bahr al-Ghazal Province Monthly Diaries, Sep. 1952, NRO CivSec (2) 30/1/2.

86. Bahr al-Ghazal Province Monthly Diaries, Oct. 1952, NRO CivSec (2) 30/1/2.

87. Bahr al-Ghazal Province Monthly Diaries, July 1953, NRO CivSec (2) 30/1/2.

88. Bahr al-Ghazal Province Monthly Diaries, Nov. 1952, NRO CivSec (2) 30/1/2.

89. Mamdani, Citizen and Subject, ch. 4.

90. T.R.H. Owen Memoirs, SAD 769/11/39.

91. Laws of the Sudan: Revised and Consolidated up till 1st January 1940, 3rd ed, (Khartoum: McCorquodale & Co, 1941), vol. IV, 1862–4.

92. Criminal Court Circular No. 9. Date of Issue, June 19, 1951. Found in NRO 2.D.1. Fasher (A) 32/1/2.

93. Confidential Foreign Office Report on “The Affairs of Egypt and Sudan,” July–December 1925, TNA, FO 407/201, p. 191.

94. McInnes to Director of Establishments, Khartoum, 15 Nov. 1948, NRO Dakhlia (2) 99/1/2.

95. Note by McInnes, June 1951, NRO 2.Kh.P 31/1/21.

96. McInnes to Hayes, April 1951, SAD G//S 875.

97. Humphry to Mayall, June 20, 1934, NRO CivSec (2) 26/11/10.

98. Humphry to Mayall, June 20, 1934, NRO CivSec (2) 26/11/10.

99. Osborn, “Circle of Iron,” 29–50.

100. ARGG 1904, p. 100.

101. James, “Sudan Police Force,” 54–9. Aragi is a form of Sudanese “whiskey” distilled from dates.

102. President, Major Court, Lagowa, May 12, 1942, NRO 2.K.Nahud (A) 20/1/2.

103. Elliot Balfour to his mother, Oct. 20, 1941, SAD 606/7/31.

104. TNA, FO 407 201, 191.

105. Dikotter and Brown, Cultures of Confinement, 3.

106. TNA, FO 407/ 201, 191.

107. Sharkey, Living with Colonialism, 111.

108. T.R.H. Owen Memoirs, SAD 769/11/35–6.

109. Darfur Province Monthly Diaries, Oct. 1952, NRO CivSec (2) 30/2/4.

110. Elliot Balfour Memoirs (1981), SAD 759/11/46.

111. ARGG 1951–2, p. 160.

112. T.R.H. Owen Memoirs, SAD 769/11/34–38.

113. Notebook on Wau by the District Commissioner (1930–4), SAD 942/9/40.

114. See NRO 2.D./1 Fasher 45/2/6 and NRO 2.D.1. Fasher A 32/3/15, files marked “escaped prisoners.”

115. Luce Papers on Blue Nile Province, note from Kosti dated October 1948, SAD 828/2/11.

116. ARGG 1903, 102.

117. TNA, FO 407/201, 191.

118. Gezira Province Monthly Diaries, Sep. 1943, NRO CivSec (2) 30/7/17.

119. Gezira Province Monthly Diaries, Jan. 1947, NRO CivSec (2) 30/7/17.

120. Equatoria Province Monthly Diaries, July 1938, NRO CivSec (1) 57/7/29.

121. T.R.H. Owen Letters home from Sinkat dated Oct. 1, 1936, SAD 414/7/38.

122. Bahr al-Ghazal Province Monthly Diaries, Sep. 1948, NRO CivSec (2) 30/6/15.

123. Commandant of Police El Fasher to Governor Darfur, April 3, 1934, NRO 2.D.1.Fasher.A.

124. Gabs Kfoury Memoirs, Nov. 1978, SAD 875/7/69.

125. Gabs Kfoury Memoirs, Nov. 1978, SAD 875/7/69.

126. T.R.H. Owen's letters to his mother from Nahud, 26 Nov. 1943, SAD 414/14/61.

127. K.D.D. Henderson's diary on Northern Darfur District, June 1934, SAD 659/4/60. T.R.H. Owen Memoirs, SAD 647/3/28.

128. Geneina Annual Prisons Report for the Period between January 1, 1950 and June 30, 1951, NRO, Darfur, Dar Masalit 55.B. 1.

129. T.R.H. Owen Letters home from Sinkat dated Oct. 1, 1936, SAD 414/7/38.

130. Penn Papers, Lakes District Handing Over Notes for 1941, SAD 722/11/62.

131. TNA, FO 407/201, 191.

132. R.E.H Baily's “Journal of the Mutiny,” Dec. 10, 1924 SAD 422/13/8.

133. TNA, FO 407/201, 191.

134. Dupuis to Mrs Edith Clark, Dec. 21, 1924, SAD 780/1/5.

135. Killingray, “Introduction,” in Killingray and Omissi, Guardians, 8.

136. TNA, FO 407/201, 191.

137. According to the government report, he died from pneumonia.

138. Note on “Disturbances in the Khartoum North Central Prison,” Political Intelligence Summary August–October 1947, 18, TNA, FO 371/63047.

139. Berridge, “Khartoum Police Strike.”

140. McInnes to Hayes, April 1951, SAD G//S 875.

141. “Brief Report” by Mohd Yasin, NRO, 2.Kh.P 31/1/21. Al-Ra'i al-‘Aam, June 11, 1951.

142. Hayes to McInnes, Feb. 28, 1951, SAD G//S 875.

143. Roberston to C.G. Davies, Sudan Agent, Aug. 23, 1947, SAD 521/9/8.

144. ARGG 1950–1, 4. Public Intelligence Security October 1946, TNA, FO 371/53328, 1.

145. Henderson Papers, Darfur Annual Report 1951–2, SAD 534/14/40.

146. T.R.H. Owen Papers, letters home from Wau dated July 1949, SAD 647/1/51.