SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - UN moves toward ending UN-AU peacekeeping in Sudan’s Darfur,

4/6/2020: AP - UN moves toward ending UN-AU peacekeeping in Sudan’s Darfur, by Edith M. Lederer

 AP report that the UN Security Council voted unanimously to move toward ending the UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur (UNAMID), replacing it with a civilian mission focusing on Sudan’s democratic transition - the UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS).

 UNITAMS’ mandate also includes: protecting and promoting human rights and sustainable peace, assisting the Sudanese government in “peace-building, civilian protection and rule of law, particularly in Darfur,” and supporting peace negotiations and their implementation.

 The UN resolution “recognized” improvements in Sudan’s security conditions, “while expressing concern that the security situation in some regions of Darfur remains precarious.”

 Supporting the African Union Peace and Security Council’s call “for extreme caution in the withdrawal of UNAMID,” the UN resolution also underscored: the need to protect peace-building gains in Darfur and “avoid a relapse into conflict,” with UNAMID withdrawal needing to “take into account the progress made in the peace process.”

SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: US State Department Under Secretary Hale's Call With Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman

4/6/19: US State Department Under Secretary Hale’s Call With Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman

 In a brief readout, the US State Department’s Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale “noted the importance of a transition from the Transitional Military Council to a civilian-led government in accordance with the will of the Sudanese people,” in a conversation with Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman about the brutal crackdown against peaceful protesters by Sudan’s Transitional Military Council on June 3.

SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: Amnesty International: Sudan: International community should impose sanctions on transitional authorities

4/6/19: Amnesty International - Sudan: International community should impose sanctions on transitional authorities

 Amnesty International called on the international community to “consider all forms of peaceful pressure, including targeted sanctions, on those members of the Sudanese transitional authorities responsible for the violent attack on sleeping protestors” on Monday 3 June.

 Amnesty International also called for an “immediate end to the violent attacks by the Rapid Support Forces and other security forces,” and for those responsible to be held accountable for the attack “which left at least 13 people dead.”

 Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, called on the UN Security Council to consider targeted sanctions on members of the TMC and others involved in the attack. 

 Amnesty International also called on the African Union Peace and Security Council to convene an emergency meeting to address the situation in Sudan, and ensure respect for human rights and the right to peaceful protest.

SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: Human Rights Watch - Sudan: Halt Attacks on Protesters

4/6/19: Human Rights Watch – Sudan: Halt Attacks on Protesters

 HRW calls for “urgent international action to halt further violations, and to advance accountability of those responsible and to bring justice for the victims,” following Monday’s massacre perpetrated by forces “[including] the RSF, a paramilitary force with a well-documented record of abuse.”

 HRW called for the UN’s Human Rights Council to continue scrutiny of the human rights situation in Sudan, and ensure an investigation into violations and abuses committed since December 2018.

 HRW Africa Associate Director Jehanne Henry said that “yesterday’s violence reminds us of the serious RSF abuses against civilians in Sudan’s war zones and it requires more than condemnations,”

 Henry added that “key international actors should impose targeted punitive sanctions against those responsible for the violence and urgently establish a UN inquiry.”

SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Troika Statement: June 2019

4/6/19: Foreign and Commonwealth Office UK (FCO) Troika Statement: June 2019 

 In a statement issued by the governments of the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom, the Troika condemns the attacks which took place in Sudan on the 3rd of June, which led to the deaths of many protestors.

 The Troika states that the course of attacks conducted by the military council have jeopardized transition processes in Sudan. The Troika call for the demands of protestors to be fulfilled through an agreed power handover to a civilian led government. 

 The Troika also expressed concern over the military council’s recent announcement that it would end negotiations with opposition forces, retract all agreements made with them regarding the makeup of the interim government and hold elections in 9 months.

 The Troika demands that an orderly transition to civilian rule occurs, which in turn can accommodate free and fair elections instead of rushed elections held by military council security forces. 

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Independent - Will the West allow Sudan’s generals to drag the country towards a catastrophic civil war?

4/6/19: Independent – Will the West allow Sudan’s generals to drag the country towards a catastrophic civil war?, by Ahmed Aboudouh

 Noting that the Sudanese the “military junta insists on…shooting innocent people in the streets,” Ahmed Aboudouh, an editor at The Independent, questions whether such a situation would be tolerated in the West

 Arguing that the military is turning Sudan into a “powder keg,” Aboudouh raises the possibility of a civil war worse than those in Syria, Libya and Yemen, “which puts stability in the Middle East and East Africa on the brink.”

 Aboudouh also raises the possibility of immigrants crossing the Mediterranean hitting new records, and Isis possibly being rehabilitated.

Noting that “Sudan has always been left to regional powers…while the West turns a blind eye,” Aboudouh attributes Saudi, Egyptian and Emirati support for military-rule to fears that a democratic Sudan would cause regional ripple effects “which would rock the status quo.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: BBC - Sudan crisis: Return of the feared Janjaweed

4/6/19: BBC – Sudan crisis: Return of the feared Janjaweed, by Fergal Keane

 BBC Africa editor Fergal Keane argues that military control of Sudanese life “will not change,” citing Himedti’s rise as the “likely leader of a counter-revolution,” and the international community’s inaction.

 Keane attributes Himedti’s growing power over post-Bashir Sudan to the military exploiting the differences within Sudan’s diverse “people’s movement,” suggesting that an established political party would have the structures and internal discipline to make swift changes at the negotiating table.

Keane then argues that the military benefits from an international scene whereby “force can have its way without consequence if the killers and torturers represent a valuable enough asset to other stronger powers,” noting the UN Security Council is unable to unite on a joint-course of action in Sudan, the US’ disinterest, and the African Union being currently chaired by Egyptian president Abdelfattah al-Sisi, who is said to be hostile to civilian rule.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Guardian - The military crackdown in Sudan lays bare the dark heart of Bashir’s regime

4/6/19: Guardian - The military crackdown in Sudan lays bare the dark heart of Bashir’s regime, by Nesrine Malik

 Nesrine Malik argues that the Sudanese revolution is fighting against “Omar Al Bashir’s government distilled into its essential parts,” citing the networks of patronage “with too much to lose,” militias that have “grown too large to disband,” and “dirty” deals with regional allies “too important to jettison.”

 Malik notes how Al Bashir’s regime created the RSF, “an entire parallel security infrastructure outside the army,” with the RSF and the military’s alliances with Gulf powers “[representing] another front against the Sudanese revolution.” Malik suggests that Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE “at least blessed” this week’s massacre.

Malik concludes that “the Sudanese remain alone,” arguing that the international community, which “has left Sudan hobbled” by sanctions and isolation, “will only issue the usual boilerplate condemnations of violence.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: BBC - Sudan crisis: What you need to know

4/6/19: BBC – Sudan crisis: What you need to know

 The BBC explain Sudan’s political crisis after security forces opened fire on pro-democracy protesters in Khartoum.

 The unrest in Sudan began in December, when the Sudanese Professionals Association organized protests inspired by economic grievances.

A transitional military council took power on April 11 after the military followed demands to overthrow Omar Al Bashir. However, “the army is not a unified force,” with “other paramilitary organisations and various Islamist militias [holding] some sway.”

 The military and protest organisers - who have come together under the umbrella group Declaration of Freedom and Change – agreed on a three-year transition to civilian rule, and the structure of a new government.

 However, the military scrapped these agreements on 3 June and said elections would be held within nine months, which “angered” the protest movement, who insisted on a three-year transitional period to dismantle Al Bashir’s political network and allow free and fair elections.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - What's Happening in Sudan? A Guide to the Revolution and Continuing Conflict

4/6/19: New York Times – What’s Happening in Sudan? A Guide to the Revolution and Continuing Conflict, by Alan Yuhas

Alan Yuhas explains how Sudan “became caught in a crisis between civilian revolutionaries, hardened generals and a fractious network of paramilitary groups and militias,” following the June 3 massacre which came “days after talks collapsed between the protesters and generals.”

 Yuhas notes that ex-president Omar Al Bashir created a network of security forces and militias, but argues that it “remains unclear” which parts of Sudan’s “fractious military and security establishment” drove the crackdown.

The US Embassy in Khartoum blames the Transitional Military Council (TMC), whereas videos and eyewitness accounts pointed to the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary unit drawn from the janjaweed militias “that carried out atrocities in Darfur in the 2000s.”

 Yuhas highlights the role of professionals in transforming the anti-Bashir protests into a coherent movement calling for civilian rule. However, the military council is supported by Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan protest group calls for international inquiry into protesters' deaths

4/6/19: Reuters – Sudan protest group calls for international inquiry into protesters’ deaths

 Reuters reports that the Sudanese Professionals Association called for an international inquiry into the killing of protesters when security forces dispersed a sit-in on Monday.

 The Sudanese Professionals’ Association’s spokesman Amjad Farid said it rejected a plan to set up a governmental investigative committee, as announced by the head of the Transitional Military Council.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan opposition warns Arab countries against interference

4/6/19: Reuters – Sudan opposition warns Arab countries against interference

 Reuters reports that one of Sudan’s main protest groups, the Democratic Alliance of Lawyers, which is part of the Sudanese Professionals Association, on Tuesday urged “some Arab countries” not to interfere in Sudanese affairs and to drop their support for the ruling military council.

The alliance’s comments appeared to be aimed at Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, who analysts say are trying to consolidate their influence in Sudan following the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in April.

The Democratic Alliance of Lawyers also called on foreign governments to take a stand on the security forces’ raid on a protest camp in Khartoum on Monday in which 35 people were reported to have been killed. They had been exercising their right to peaceful protest, it said.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudanese opposition rejects military's schedule for elections

4/6/19: Reuters – Sudanese opposition rejects military’s schedule for elections

 Reuters reports that Sudan’s opposition rejected on Tuesday a plan by military authorities to hold elections within nine months, a prominent opposition figure said, after the country’s worst day of violence since ex-president Omar al-Bashir was ousted in April.

 “We reject all that was stated in (Transitional Military Council Head Abdel Fattah) al-Burhan’s statement,” said Madani Abbas Madani, a leading figure in the Declaration of Freedom and Change Forces opposition alliance.

Madani said an open-ended civil disobedience campaign would continue to force the military council from power.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Telegraph - Sudanese military rips up negotiated plan for civilian transition as crackdown continues

4/6/19: Telegraph – Sudanese military rips up negotiated plan for civilian transition as crackdown continues, by Roland Oliphant

 The Daily Telegraph reports that Sudan’s military rulers abandoned a previously agreed road map for transition to civilian rule on Tuesday, fueling fears of a return to full military dictatorship.

 In a televised address, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the head of the ruling Transitional Military Council, promised an investigation into the violence, but went on to reject further cooperation with the pro-democracy protest movement.

 "The military council decides on the following: cancelling what was agreed on and stopping negotiating with the Alliance for Freedom and Change, and to call for general elections within a period not exceeding nine months," Gen Burhan said. 

 Opposition leaders rejected the announcement and called on members of the public to return to the streets to bring down the military council. 

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Sudanese transitional military council calls snap elections

4/6/19: Multiple sources – Sudanese transitional military council calls snap elections

• BBC

• CNN, by Julia Holingsworth

• Reuters

 Various sources report that the leader of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) Lt. Gerneral Abdel Fattah Al Burhan announced in a televised statement that the TMC have called for elections within the next 9 months. Al-Burhan also affirmed that investigations will be conducted on the killing of protestors in recent days. 

 The TMC has also ended all agreements with the opposition coalition, after armed paramilitary forces attacked protestors at the sit in at army HQ in Khartoum. 

 Witnesses say that security forces who attacked at the sit in were personnel belonging to the Rapid Support Forces, who are led by deputy of the TMC, Himedti.