The rights of minority cultures and languages: a multicultural constitutional model for Sudan

Shawgi, Ghada Awad Shawgi

The rights of minority cultures and languages: a multicultural constitutional model for Sudan

Thesis / Dissertation

2026

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Public Law

Faculty

Faculty of Law

Abstract

This study proposes multiculturalism as a constitutional model that protects Sudan's minority cultures and languages. The theoretical framework of the supporting analysis undertaken in the study is based on the human rights standards to which Sudan has acceded, with Article 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights standing as the centrepiece of these commitments. The model is founded on a strong prohibition of discrimination and on equality in law and in fact. The thesis examines Sudan's history of Arabisation and the rise of the nation-state, which was based on the majority culture and language. The state policies were monocultural, aimed at promoting Arabic culture and language as the ‘national culture', with minimal regard for minority cultures and languages. Against this backdrop, the thesis analyses Sudan's constitutional development. Sudan has seen lengthy periods of military rule and protracted conflict during which time the identity divide between the North and South became a major source of contention. The first constitution of the independence in 1956 was based on the nation-state model of a multiparty, centralised, unitary governance system, with the majority Arabic culture serving as the unifying factor. The Permanent Constitution of 1973 and the Interim National Constitution of 2005 established an accommodative governance system within the paradigm of the North–South dual cultural identity. This model was marred by the centralisation of powers under authoritarian regimes. The study argues that this mix is ineligible to reconcile the divide and to create a cohesive identity of the country, which expresses the free will of its people and mirrors the distinct identities of its marginalised minorities.

Keywords

Sudan

constitution

Reference:

Collections

PhD / Doctoral

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