SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Sudan files lawsuit against combatting sexual violence official over UNITMAS report

8/4/2022: Multiple sources – Sudan files lawsuit against combatting sexual violence official over UNITMAS report

Sudanese authorities filed a complaint against Sulaima Ishaq, the director of the Combating Violence Against Women Unit (CVAW), an agency of the Ministry of Social Development, in relation to a report submitted to the UN Security Council by Volker Perthes, the UN envoy to Sudan, which cited 13 cases of rape by security services on women and girls who participated in anti-coup protests on 19 December 2021. The Sudanese public prosecutor claim that only two cases occurred.

 

Ishaq said the case was likely lodged by the Sovereign Council or the General Intelligence Service (GIS), and that she is charged with ‘Offences Against The State’ under the Criminal Act upon the accusation of leaking information to Perthes, who also heads the UN Integrated Transitional Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Former Sudan Minister and collaborators acquitted of terrorism charges

8/4/2022: Radio Dabanga - Former Sudan Minister and collaborators acquitted of terrorism charges

 

Radio Dabanga report that the Khartoum Criminal Court has acquitted Ibrahim Ghandour, the former foreign minister of the National Congress Party (NCP), of charges of inciting war against the state.

The court released Ghandour and 12 others after the witness retracted his statement, telling the court that he was threatened.

Ghandour and his co-conspirators were accused of planning to assassinate leaders in the transitional government, bombing the Legislative Council and other government headquarters, as well as planning a military coup on 30 June 2022.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - Arab Spring, Again? Nervous Autocrats Look Out Windows as Crowds Swell

8/4/19: New York Times - Arab Spring, Again? Nervous Autocrats Look Out Windows as Crowds Swell, by David D. Kirkpatrick

 David D. Kirkpatrick’s feature piece examines lessons learned from the Arab Spring.

 Kirkpatrick contrasts regional autocrats’ attempt to “drive home the moral that popular revolutions lead only to bedlam,” with Sudanese and Algerian protestors learning that non-violent protests in large enough numbers can “oust even the most deeply entrenched dictator.”

 Kirkpatrick highlights claims that Sudanese and Algerian military leaders are adopting the tactics of their Egyptian counterparts in co-opting and then crushing the revolution, although Sudanese activist Amjed Farid argued that Sudan’s history of revolutions and coups leaves the opposition better prepared for negotiations with the military.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Economist - Protests against the rule of Omar al-Bashir in Sudan are growing

8/4/19: Economist - Protests against the rule of Omar al-Bashir in Sudan are growing

 The Economist highlights growing divides within Sudan’s armed forces - contrasting the top ranks who are yet to disown Omar Al Bashir, with rank-and-file soldiers who count family members among the protestors. The Economist argue that this leaves the president and the country “in a dangerous position,” before quoting Abdi Rashid of the International Crisis Group to say that “the prospects of major violence are now more real than ever.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: The Hill - Mounting protests in Sudan highlight the rise of Africa's activist generation

8/4/19: The Hill – Mounting protests in Sudan highlight the rise of Africa's activist generation, by K. Riva Levinson

 K. Riva Levinson, the CEO of KRL International, argues that Sudan’s ongoing protests are part of the rise of the African activist generation, and calls on the US and other foreign donors to support the activist generation and “the foundation from which it is built: civil society.”

Levinson cites various African examples where the activist generation has succeeded in demands for political and economic reforms, but notes that their success can be impacted by international support (or isolation), as well as national and international leadership.

 Levinson notes US leverage over Sudan, before concluding that the African activist generation are the future, and that it must be validated that history is on their side.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: African Arguments - Sudan Uprising: We're on the verge of history, even as the world looks away

8/4/19: African Arguments – Sudan Uprising: We’re on the verge of history, even as the world looks away, by S. Ahmed

 Khartoum-based doctor S. Ahmed calls for those outside Sudan to “pay attention...before it is too late.”

 As well as noting the “minimal” international coverage of Sudan’s ongoing protests, Ahmed argues that international governments’ failure to condemn the violence against peaceful protestors is not surprising, given Omar Al Bashir’s ability to roam Africa, Asia and Russia “freely,” despite his ICC arrest warrant.

 Singling out “particularly silent” Middle East governments, Ahmed argues that Gulf, Turkish and Egyptian economic help to Al Bashir “has not gone unnoticed by Sudanese people.”

 Highlighting the risks of Sudanese protestors’ reliance on forging allegiances within the “internally divided and discontented army,” Ahmed cites Al Bashir loyalists in key security positions, and NISS’ recent repression of political dissidents and protest organisers, under the “brutal” leadership of Salah Gosh, “a man who has been coddled by the West despite being accused of war crimes.”

SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres: Statement on Sudan

8/4/19: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres: Statement on Sudan

 UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on “all actors” in the ongoing Sudanese crisis to “exercise utmost restraint and avoid violence.”

 Guterres also called for “full respect” for human rights, freedoms of assembly and expression and the release of detained protestors, as well as calling on the Sudanese government to “create a conducive environment for a solution...and to promote an inclusive dialogue.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Sudanese soldiers reportedly protecting anti-government protestors

8-9/04/19: Multiple sources - Sudanese soldiers reportedly protecting anti-government protestors

Elements of Sudan's military moved to protect demonstrators during deadly clashes in Khartoum between security forces and protesters, witnesses say. Soldiers tried to chase away pick-up trucks firing tear gas, on the second night of a sit-in protest calling for President Omar Al Bashir to resign.