SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: al-Tahreer – The security service bill

24/4/2021: al-Tahreer – The security service bill, by Yousif al-Sondy

Columnist Yousif al-Sondy calls for the civilian government to reject a draft security bill authorising security forces to arrest without charge for up to 72 hours, suggesting that the government confines the authorisation to arrest solely to the police and limits the authority of security forces to “the collection and analysis of information and passing it to concerned bodies.”

Al-Sondy also questions what the difference would be between Sudan’s civilian leadership -- “most of whom suffered the horrors of detention in al-Bashir’s security cells” - and the ousted regime, should the former enable the “human rights violations” they accuse the latter of.

Arguing that revolutionary Sudanese should not tolerate a security that arrests, tortures and kills, al-Sondy concludes that the bill is “wrong” and “its backers should know that it is unlawful at the age of this revolution”.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s prime minister reviews reforms of military business companies

24/4/2020: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s prime minister reviews reforms of military business companies

 Sudan Tribune report that a meeting featuring Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) commander and Sovereign Council deputy head Himedti - culminated with an agreement on the need to expedite the transfer of industrial and commercial companies of the Sudanese army under civil and commercial laws.

 Sudan Tribune state that the meeting discussed progress in converting the army’s companies operating in non-military fields into public joint-stock companies under the civil code and observing the rules of transparency and oversight. However, according to sources, the companies will continue to belong to the army and the prospect of their transfer to the Ministry of Finance was not discussed.

 The source added that the meeting stressed the importance of Sudan’s Military Industry Corporation (MIC) in utilising its technical and professional capabilities to solving Sudan’s economic crisis.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Sudan govt seizes assets of Islamic movement leaders

24/4/2020: Radio Dabanga - Sudan govt seizes assets of Islamic movement leaders

 Radio Dabanga reports that Sudan’s Anti-Corruption Committee confiscated 79 real estate properties that were illegally acquired by leading members of ousted President Omar al-Bashir’s regime.

 The Anti-Corruption Committee announced that the confiscated properties amount to 36,411,114 square metres. The value of the seized funds is estimated at $1.20 billion.

 Leading Islamist Abdelbasit Hamza came top of the list. Six plots of nearly 15 million square metres belonging to his Dongola Ergin Road Company in Northern State were seized, in addition to more than one million acres of agricultural lands.

 Hamza also owned land in Khartoum including the Friendship Palace Hotel and the majority of shares of Salam Rotana Hotel, the Afra Mall, and a large number of shares at MTN Sudan telecommunication company.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Washington Post - For Sudan’s protesters, another threat looms: Meddling by Saudi Arabia and the UAE

24/4/19: Washington Post – For Sudan’s protesters, another threat looms: Meddling by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, by Max Bearak and Kareem Fahim

 Max Bearak and Karim Fahim highlight fears among Sudanese protesters that Saudi Arabia and UAE are using their immense wealth to suppress democracy and support a “counterrevolution,” as they have been accused of doing elsewhere in the region.

 Mohammed Yusuf Al Mustafa, the head of the Sudanese Professionals Association, said that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are "not...enemies," but are "risking the goodwill of the Sudanese people” by supporting the military council. Al Mustafa added that the Saudi-led block has shown little interest in learning about the protesters’ demands.

 Mohammed Al Yahya, a Saudi political analyst and editor-in-chief of Al-Arabiya English, said that the Saudi-Emirati interest is to prevent Sudan from becoming “fertile ground for [Iranian and Turkish] meddling."

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Financial Times - Sudan’s protests feel like a trip back to revolutionary Russia

24/4/19: Financial Times – Sudan’s protests feel like a trip back to revolutionary Russia, by David Pilling

 Speaking to various Sudanese protesters, David Pilling argues that the Sudanese uprising - "driven by a new generation of idealists" - has a "retro-revolutionary feel" and a "secular and a syndicalist tinge."

 Human rights lawyer Nabil Adil told Pilling that while the previous two revolutions in Sudan’s post-independence history culminated in military rule, this one looks more promising.

 Pilling quotes protester Amin Mohamed to say that the "revolution is against the Islamist forces,” with another protester, Omnaeem Elnoor, calling for a "Sudan of liberty, equality and justice, without a military government,” adding that she wants to continue protesting "on behalf of the people who died.”

 Nonetheless, Pilling notes signs of the revolution faltering. citing the transitional military council pushing out Al Bashir as "likely an act of self-preservation as a desire for change," and the civilian opposition's disagreement on the nature and duration of a power-sharing deal.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Guardian - She’s an icon of Sudan’s revolution. But the woman in white obscures vital truths

24/4/19: Guardian – She’s an icon of Sudan’s revolution. But the woman in white obscures vital truths, by Nesrine Malik

 Nesrine Malik argues that the iconic image of Alaa Salah has "simplified a complicated story," in calls for a reflection of how class and ethnicity has been leveraged against Sudan's weak and disenfranchised.

 Malik argues that it is "tragically ironic" that the defining image of the revolt against a regime accused of ethnic cleansing, borrows from a Nubian culture limited to Arabised North Sudan.

 Malik then argues that the Salah's white toab, "traditionally worn by professional women in Sudan," should reflect how revolutions are told through the lens of the "more connected - [wealthy], educated and photogenic."

 Malik also notes the sexual harassment of Sudanese women at protests despite Salah's hailing as the personification of the Sudanese revolution, and argues that that the image falsely presents women's participation in the revolution as an exception, when "women jostle with men in most walks of life in Sudan."

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Washington Post - How will the African Union respond to the military overthrow in Sudan?

24/4/19: Washington Post- How will the African Union respond to the military overthrow in Sudan?,  by Emmanuel Balogun and Anna Kapambwe Mwaba

 Emmanuel Balogun, an assistant professor of International Relations at Webster University, and Anna Kapambwe Mwaba, a lecturer in government at Smith College, argue that it is unclear whether the African Union will offer strong support for “the will of Sudanese citizens” to replace the military council with a civilian one, citing the AU's inconsistent application of its self-declared commitment to rejecting unconstitutional changes.

 Balogun and Mwaba highlight a 2014 AU report which acknowledged that it must consistently apply its standards to all members, including comparatively powerful states such as Egypt following its 2013 military coup, rather than only taking a strong stance against unconstitutional changes on “weaker” members such as Madagascar in 2010 and Guinea Bissau in 2012.

 Since 2014 however, the AU has followed its guidelines following coup attempts in Burkina Faso (2014) and Burundi (2015), but not Gambia (2016) and Zimbabwe (2017).

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Islamist forces call to task military with Sudan’s transitional leadership

24/04/19: Sudan Tribune- Islamist forces call to task military with Sudan’s transitional leadership

 Sudan Tribune reports that Islamist forces of Sudan have expressed support for the transitionary period to be led by the military council, alongside a civilian government and an appointed parliamentary assembly.

 The calls come after the Popular Congress Party (PCP) and the National Coordination for Change and Construction (NCCC) met separately with the military council’s political committee.

 Political secretary of the PCP, Idris Suleiman, stated that the PCP would not like to be a part of the transitional government, and recommended that it ought to be made up of “politically independent qualified personalities.”

 He also calls for an “either-or” approach where the interim military council should either be a sovereign military council or a sovereign civilian council, not a mix of both as the Freedom and Change Forces are calling for.

 The NCCC group includes numerous Islamist figures who were known to be critical towards the regime of former president Omar Al Bashir.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan suspends Philippine port operator contract pending cancellation -statement

24/4/19: Reuters - Sudan suspends Philippine port operator contract pending cancellation -statement

Reuters reports that Sudan’s transitional military council has suspended a contract with Philippine port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc (ICTSI ) pending its cancellation.

 Workers at Port Sudan’s southern container terminal went on strike in February to protest against a 20-year concession signed in January for an ICTSI subsidiary to operate, manage and develop the South Port Container Terminal at Port Sudan.