Mass peaceful protest saw a dictator ousted, but resulting massacres have left the revolution in Sudan deadlocked. Elmuiz Hadgaz gives an update of the situation on the ground and calls on Ireland and the international community to act.
Ever since the ouster, after prolonged mass peaceful protest, of the brutal dictator, Omar Al- Bashir, the Sudanese Revolution has been stuck in political deadlock. Now, with massacres occurring as this article is written, it is in grave peril.
Following the fall of Al-Bashir on 11th April, power in Sudan was taken over by the Transitional Military Council who then negotiated with popular representatives in the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change – a coalition of opposition parties and movements.
The Transitional Military Council (TMC) who were essentially just the old Security Council of Al-Bashir dragged out the negotiations and refused to hand over power to a civilian government. They rejected the most elementary of democratic demands. Consequently the peaceful protests in the form of mass sit-ins in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere have continued.
Human Rights Violations under TMC
In the short period of TMC rule we have witnessed repeated, grave violations of human rights by different armed groups for which no one has been held to account. Below is a list of these violations:
- The demonstration in Kutoum- in Darfur 21 April 2019
- The meeting in Qurtoba Hall in Khartoum 27 April 2019
- The demonstration in Nyala- in Darfur 4 May 2019
- The meeting in the Friendship Hall in Khartoum 8 May 2019
- The national electricity company headquarters in Khartoum 12 May 2019
- The Grand Sit-In Arena in Khartoum 13 May 2019
- The Nile Avenue – Khartoum 29 May 2019
- Buri – Khartoum 30 May 2019
The TMC has failed to root out the remnants of the the previous regime and security forces loyal to the previous regime have been operating freely and are terrorising peaceful demonstrators. Besides there has not been any serious clamp down on the financial or political institutions or individuals that are loyal to the previous dictator. In fact, most of Sudan embassies and diplomatic personnel loyal to the previous regime are operating freely around the globe seeking support and unlawful legitimacy for the Transitional Military Council from the international community.
In particular the TMC has given free rein to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo. The RSF are nothing more than militia thugs who have terrorised and murdered thousands of innocent civilians in Darfur and their leader, Mohmed Hamdan, is considered a war-lord as well as a war criminal.
Shots fired at peaceful protesters
Early yesterday morning [Monday 3 June], the sit-in in front of the army’s HQ was attacked by the Rapid Support Force and the National Intelligence & Security Service (NISS) using live ammunition from the start to disperse protesters. The attack bears a lot of resemblance to those by the Janjaweed ,the predecessor of Rapid Support Force, in Darfur. At the time of writing, the confirmed death toll has reached over 35 and is on the rise by the hour – these are the confirmed bodies that either reached hospitals or died in hospitals. There are also credible reports of at least 20 bodies thrown by militia and NISS in the nearby Blue Nile. Similar attacks also occur at other sit-in protest outside Khartoum in the cities of Atbara, Gadaref, and Sinaar.
Attacks by RSF and NISS took place inside many Khartoum neighbourhoods with widespread street barricades put in by Sudanese people and activists. The opposition represented by Freedom and Change Forces have called for a national strike and civil disobedience from yesterday. Just hours ago, around 200 armed military vehicles swept through Khartoum.
News of the killings and dispellings of sit-ins is limited, seeming to confirm reports from those on the ground who say the internet is being blocked by the MTC.
Calls for Ireland and EU to act
In Ireland, calls are being made for the Government to question and expel the Sudanese ambassador and for the EU to cancel its Khartoum Process Agreement with Sudan, which directly benefits RSF militia by providing direct training, equipment and funding, primarily in an attempt to halt immigration to Europe.
Calls are also being made to international EU ambassadors to stop legitimising the RSF leader Mohamed Hamdan “Hemeti” Dagalo, by refusing to meet him in public.
