Mass Protests in Sudan Against the Military Coup, 2 Protesters Killed by Security Forces

October 30, 2021

People chant slogans during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021	People chant slogans during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021

Sudanese demonstrators march and chant during a protest against the military takeover, in Atbara, Sudan October 27, 2021	A protester waves a flag during what the information ministry calls a military coup in Khartoum, Sudan, October 25, 2021

A Sudanese protester responding to a gas bomb fired by security forces, October 27, 2021	People chant slogans during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021

 

Sudan Security Forces Shoot Dead 2 Protesters, Doctors Say

A doctors' union says Sudanese security forces have shot dead two people during mass protests against the country’s recent military coup.

By Associated Press |

Oct. 30, 2021, at 10:08 a.m.

By SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press

CAIRO (AP) —

Sudanese security forces shot dead two people Saturday during mass protests against the country's recent military coup, a doctors' union said. The shootings came despite repeated appeals by the West to Sudan's new military rulers to show restraint and allow peaceful protests.

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Thousands of Sudanese have taken to the streets, where whistles and drums accompany chants of “revolution, revolution” in protest of this week's coup, which is threatening to derail the country’s fitful transition to democracy.

Pro-democracy groups had called for protests across the country to press demands for re-instating a deposed transitional government and releasing senior political figures from detention.

The United States and the United Nations had warned Sudan's strongman, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, that they view the military's treatment of the protesters as a test, and called for restraint.

Burhan has claimed that the transition to democracy would continue despite the military takeover, saying he would install a new technocrat government soon. The pro-democracy movement in Sudan fears the military has no intention of easing its grip, and will appoint politicians it can control.

Saturday's protests were likely to increase pressure on the generals who face mounting condemnations from the U.S. and other Western countries to restore a civilian-led government.

Crowds began to gather Saturday afternoon in the capital of Khartoum and its twin city Omdurman, Marchers chanted “Give it up, Burhan” and “revolution, revolution.” Some held up banners reading, “Going backward is impossible.”

The demonstrations were called by the Sudanese Professionals’ Association and the so-called Resistance Committees. Both were at the forefront of an uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir and his Islamist government in 2019.

They demand the dismantling of the now-ruling military council, led by Burhan, and the handover of the government to civilians. They also seek the dismantling paramilitary groups and restructuring the military, intelligence and security agencies. They want officers loyal to al-Bashir to be removed.

The Sudan Doctors Committee, a professional union, said security forces shot dead two people in Omdurman. It said one was shot in his head, and the other in his stomach.

The committee, which is part of the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, said security forces used live ammunition against protesters in Omdurman and other places in the capital. It said unspecified number of protesters were also wounded.

Elsewhere, security forces fired tear gas at protesters Saturday as they attempted to cross the Manshia Bridge over the Nile River to reach Khartoum’s downtown, said Mohammed Yousef al-Mustafa, a spokesman for the professionals’ association.

“No power-sharing mediation with the military council again,” he said. “They (the generals) have failed the transition and instated a coup.”

Al-Mustafa spoke with The Associated Press over the phone while he took part in the protest in Khartoum’s Manshia neighborhood.

Before the start of the protests, security forces had blocked major roads and bridges linking Khartoum’s neighborhoods. Security was tight downtown and outside the military’s headquarters, the site of a major sit-in camp in the 2019 uprising

Since the military takeover, there have been daily street protests. With Saturday’s fatal shooting, the overall number of people killed by the security forces since the coup rose to 11, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Committee and activists. At least 170 others have been injured, according to the U.N.

There were fears that security forces may again resort to violence to disperse protesters. Since Monday's coup troops have fired live ammunition, rubber bullets and tear gas at anti-coup demonstrators. They also beat protesters with sticks and whips.

Representatives of the U.N. and the U.S. have urged the military to show restraint.

Late Friday, the U.N. special envoy for Sudan, Volker Perthes, met with Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a coup leader seen as close to Burhan. Dagalo commands the feared Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary unit that controls the streets of the capital of Khartoum and played a major role in the coup. Perthes said in a message posted on Twitter that he “stressed the need for calm, allowing peaceful protest and avoiding any confrontation” in his talks with Dagalo.

Clément Nyaletsossi Voule, the U.N. special rapporteur on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, also urged security forces to avoid violence against protesters. “They will be held individually accountable for any excessive use of force against protesters. We are monitoring,” he warned.

Burhan has claimed that the takeover was necessary to prevent a civil war, citing what he said were growing divisions among political groups. However, the takeover came less than a month before he was to have handed the leadership of the Sovereign Council, the main decision-making body in Sudan, to a civilian. Such a step would have lessened the military's grip on the country. The council had both civilian and military members.

As part of the coup, Burhan dismissed the council and the transitional government, led by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, that was in charge of day-to-day affairs. He also imposed a state of emergency across the country and military authorities largely cut off internet and mobile phone services. Internet access remained largely disrupted Saturday, according to internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.

Burhan installed himself as head of a military council that will rule Sudan until elections in July 2023. In an interview with Russia’s state-owned Sputnik news agency published Friday, Burhan said he would soon name a new premier who will form a Cabinet that is to share leadership of the country with the armed forces.

“We have a patriotic duty to lead the people and help them in the transition period until elections are held,” Burhan said in the interview. He said that as long as expected protests are peaceful, “security forces will not intervene.”

However, observers said it's doubtful the military will allow a full transition to civilian rule, if only to block civilian oversight of the military's large financial holdings.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sudan Security Forces Shoot Dead 2 Protesters, Doctors Say | World News | US News 

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Sudanese Political Parties and Resistance Committees Call for a Protest on October 30, 2021, to Express their Rejection to the Military Coup

Al-Taghyeer, October 28, 2021

السودان: دعوات لمليونية ٣٠ اكتوبر واعتقالات في اوساط السياسيين

دعت لجان المقاومة والأحزاب السياسية الشعب السوداني، إلى الخروج في مواكب اسمتها بـ”مليونية 30 أكتوبر”، رفضاً للانقلاب العسكري الذي نفذه القائد العام للجيش عبد الفتاح البرهان في ٢٤ أكتوبر الجاري.

واستخدم الثوار الرسائل القصيرة لإرسال دعوات الخروج بعد قطع خدمات الانترنت عن الهواتف النقالة. ووفق مصادر حزبية تحدثت لـ”التغيير”، تشن القوات النظامية حملة اعتقالات واسعة في أوساط الكوادر الحزبية بالعاصمة والولايات.

وقال عضو حزب المؤتمر السوداني لـ”التغيير” إن رئيس الحزب بولاية النيل الابيض اعتُقل أمس، إلى جانب عدد من الكوادر بالولايات. وكشف عضو في حزب البعث السوداني عن اعتقالات واسعة طالت منسوبيه في ولايتي جنوب دارفور، والجزيرة.

ووفق ابن أخ القيادي بالتجمع الاتحادي محمد ضياء الدين، فقد تعرض لمحاولة اعتقال من داخل منزله، وأُلقي من أعلى سطوح منزله اثر مقاومته.

وأشار إلى أن عمّه فقد الاحساس في أرجله، وتعرض لكسور في أصابع قدمه إلى جانب إصابة في الرأس.

وحمّلت أسرته القائد العام للجيش وقائد قوات الدعم السريع مسؤولية حالة محمد ضياء الدين الصحية. وتشير مشاهدات “التغيير” إلى تحركات لقوات الجيش والدعم السريع داخل الاحياء تُزيل فيها “التروس” التي تضعها لجان المقاومة، وتطلق الرصاص في الهواء.

وكشف شهود عيان لـ”التغيير” عن تعرض عدد من الشباب لعمليات حلاقة للرأس، وهي ممارسات كانت تقوم بها قوات الدعم السريع قبل سقوط نظام عمر البشير بأشهر قليلة.

السودان: دعوات لمليونية ٣٠ اكتوبر واعتقالات في اوساط السياسيين - صحيفة التغيير السودانية , اخبار السودان (altaghyeer.info)

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Widening Opposition to the Military Coup in Sudan, World Bank Halts its Operations in Khartoum

October 28, 2021

World Bank halts Sudan operations in blow to coup leaders, strike calls gain support

By Khalid Abdelaziz

Reuters, October 27, 20216:00 PM EDT

Summary

Oil company workers, doctors to join protests Resistance committees present in many neighbourhoods Hamdok visited by Western envoys and in good health -U.N.

KHARTOUM, Oct 27 (Reuters) - The World Bank halted disbursements for operations in Sudan on Wednesday in response to the military's seizure of power from a transitional government, while state oil company workers, doctors and pilots joined civilian groups opposing the takeover.

Thousands of people have taken to the streets since Monday's coup led by armed forces chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and several have been killed in clashes with security forces.

Burhan has dismissed the joint civilian-military council set up to steer the country to democratic elections following the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in a popular uprising in April 2019.

He said he acted to stop the country slipping into civil war, but the World Bank decision to pause payments and stop processing new operations is a setback to his plans for one of Africa's poorest countries.

After isolation from the international financing system across three decades of Bashir's rule, Sudan achieved full re-engagement with the bank in March and gained access to $2 billion in financing.

"I am greatly concerned by recent events in Sudan, and I fear the dramatic impact this can have on the country’s social and economic recovery and development," World Bank President David Malpass said in a statement from Washington.

Abdalla Hamdok, prime minister in the deposed transitional government, had touted World Bank re-engagement as a major accomplishment and was depending on the funding for several large development projects.

The government had instituted harsh economic reforms that succeeded in achieving rapid arrears clearance and debt relief and renewed financing from the World Bank and IMF.

An IMF spokeswoman said the fund was monitoring developments but it was "premature" to comment.

Hamdok, who was detained on Monday and is under guard at his home, was in good health when visited by envoys from France, Germany, Norway, the UK, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, the U.N. mission in Sudan said on Twitter on Wednesday. The West has called for restoration of the council and the release of civilian leaders.

Hamdok says any retreat from the path to democracy threatens stability and development in Sudan and he warns against the use of violence against protesters, a source close to him said.

Late on Wednesday, Sudan state TV reported that Burhan had relieved six Sudanese ambassadors from their posts, apparently because they rejected the military takeover. The six were envoys to the United States, the European Union, China, Qatar, France and the head of mission to Geneva.

MARCH OF MILLIONS

Scattered protests took place in Khartoum on Wednesday and intensified at night across the capital, although no new bloodshed was reported.

In one Khartoum neighbourhood, a Reuters journalist saw soldiers and armed people in civilian clothes removing barricades erected by protesters. A few hundred metres away, youths built barricades again minutes later.

"We want civilian rule. We won't get tired," one said.

In Bahri across the river, witnesses told Reuters protesters were met with tear gas and heard gunshots on Wednesday evening as protesters came out across the capital's three cities.

In the northeastern city of Atbara, protesters marched and chanted, "Down with the military regime".

Neighbourhood committees announced plans for protests leading to what they said would be a "march of millions" on Saturday.

Workers at state oil company Sudapet said they were joining the civil disobedience campaign to back the stalled democratic transition and pilots from the national carrier Sudan Airways have gone on strike, as have pilots from carriers Badr and Tarco Airlines.

Sudan's armed forces sacked Ibrahim Adlan, head of the county's civil aviation authority, sector sources said.

Central Bank employees have also stopped work in a further setback for the functioning of the economy.

Doctors belonging to the Unified Doctors' Office group of unions also said they were striking. The doctors were one of the driving forces behind the uprising that brought down Bashir.

Power-sharing between the military and civilians had been increasingly strained over several issues, including whether to send Bashir and others to the International Criminal Court, where they are wanted for alleged atrocities in Darfur. Military commanders now leading Sudan also served in Darfur.

At his first news conference since announcing the takeover, Burhan said on Tuesday the army had no choice but to sideline politicians who he said were inciting people against the armed forces.

U.N. Special Representative Volker Perthes met Burhan on Wednesday and told him the United Nations wants to see a return to the transition process and the immediate release of all those arbitrarily detained, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York.

SERIOUS RISK

Events in Sudan - Africa's third largest country - mirror those in several other Arab states where the military has tightened its grip following uprisings.

Willow Berridge, a Sudan expert at Newcastle University, said it would be difficult for Burhan and the army to suppress street mobilisations against the takeover because of the presence of resistance committees in many neighbourhoods.

"My greatest fear is that he will fall back even further on the only legitimacy he can depend on – violence. It is a very serious risk," Berridge said.

Burhan has close ties to states that worked to roll back Islamist influence and contain the impact of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, including the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Reporting by Alaa Swilam; additional reporting by El Tayeb Siddiq in Khartoum, Ebaid Ahmed in Atbara, Nafisa Eltahir and Lilian Wagdy in Cairo, Dawit Endeshaw in Addis Ababa, Tom Perry in Beirut, Michelle Nichols in New York; writing by Nadine Awadalla, Michael Georgy and Nafisa Eltahir; editing by Angus MacSwan, Sonya Hepinstall and Grant McCool

World Bank halts Sudan operations in blow to coup leaders, strike calls gain support | Reuters

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Sudanese army faces widening opposition to takeover

October 28, 20216:39 AM EDT

Reuters --

Sudanese demonstrators march and chant during a protest against the military takeover, in Atbara, Sudan October 27, 2021 in this social media image. Ebaid Ahmed via REUTERS

KHARTOUM, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The Sudanese army was facing widening opposition on Thursday to this week's coup, with state officials in Khartoum vowing disobedience and activists mobilising for mass demonstrations later this week.

The takeover led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Monday against a civilian government has brought thousands of people into the streets to reject a return of army rule and demand a transition towards civilian rule be put back on track.

In a statement posted on Facebook overnight, ministries and agencies of Sudan's most populous state, Khartoum, which includes the capital and twin city Omdurman, said they would not step aside or hand over their duties. They declared a general strike, although they would continue to supply flour, cooking gas, and emergency medical care.

The main market, banks and fuel filling stations in Khartoum were still closed on Thursday. Hospitals were providing only emergency services. Smaller shops were open, but there were long queues for bread.

In a sign of continued Western support for the ousted civilian cabinet, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted overnight that he had spoken by phone to Foreign Minister Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi.

Blinken said he condemned the arrest of civilian leaders in Sudan and discussed with Mahdi "how the U.S. can best support the Sudanese people’s call for a return to civilian-led transition to democracy".

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A source close to ousted Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said he remains committed to a civilian democratic transition and the goals of the revolt that toppled long-serving autocrat Omar al-Bashir two years ago. Hamdok, initially held at Burhan's residence, was allowed to return home under guard on Tuesday.

VIOLENCE FEARED

Several people have been killed in clashes with security forces since the takeover, and opponents fear the army-led authorities could deploy more force. The source close to Hamdok said the prime minister had called for the military to avoid violence against protesters.

Opponents of the coup have been handing out fliers calling for a "march of millions" on Saturday against military rule, falling back on old methods of mobilisation with the authorities restricting the use of internet and phones.

The protest is being called under the slogan "Leave!" used in the protests that brought down Bashir.

Sudan has been in the midst of a deep economic crisis with record inflation and shortages of basic goods, which only recently showed signs of possible improvement helped by aid that major Western donors say will end unless the coup is reversed.

The military takeover brought an end to a shaky transitional set-up intended to lead Sudan to elections in 2023 by sharing power between civilians and the military following Bashir's fall.

Burhan's move reasserted the army's dominant role in Sudan since independence in 1956, after weeks of mounting tension between the military and civilians in the transitional government over issues including whether to hand Bashir and others over to the Hague where they are wanted for war crimes.

Burhan has said he acted to stop the country slipping into civil war and has promised elections in July 2023.

With backing from the United States, the transitional government had won Western debt relief, secured Sudan's removal from a U.S. list of states that sponsor terrorism, and taken steps to normalise ties with Israel.

The United States has frozen $700 million in aid for Sudan since Monday's takeover, and on Wednesday the World Bank said it was halting disbursements for operations in the country.

The Friends of Sudan -- governments which have supported the transition -- condemned the takeover in a statement issued late on Wednesday.

But while signatories included Britain, the United States, France and Germany, there were notable omissions, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, rich Gulf Arab states with whom Burhan has developed ties.

Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum and Nafisa Eltahir in Cairo; Writing by Tom Perry

Sudanese army faces widening opposition to takeover | Reuters 

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