SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: Amnesty International – Sudan: Soaring violence calls for urgent international response

5/6/19: Amnesty International – Sudan: Soaring violence calls for urgent international response

 Amnesty International’s Africa Director Netsanet Belay urged the African Union Peace and Security Council and the UN Security Council to break [the RSF’s] cycle of impunity and take immediate action to hold the perpetrators of this violence accountable.” 

 

Belay attributed the massacre to the RSF, “the special military force which killed, raped and tortured thousands in Darfur,” bring its “murderous rampage to Khartoum.” Belay added that bodies being reportedly dumped in the River Nile “demonstrate the utter depravity of these so-called security forces.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Financial Times - Dreams of freedom are being crushed on the streets of Khartoum

5/6/19: Financial Times – Dreams of freedom are being crushed on the streets of Khartoum, by David Pilling

 FT’s Africa editor David Pilling calls for the world to start taking notice of events in Sudan, because it raises the fundamental questions:

 “What should people do when confronted by tyranny? In an age when democracy has few champions, can a pacific uprising ever topple a regime with guns?”

 Pilling notes how “the odds are stacked against [Sudanese protesters],” arguing that it is “a bad era…to be a democrat without a gun.”

 To emphasise this point, Pilling states that “The US has lost moral authority as a democratic champion,” and that a UN resolution to condemn Sudan’s military violence was blocked by China and Russia. In addition, the “real power brokers” in Sudan are said to be the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – “regimes that have snuffed out democratic movements in their own countries and with no appetite to see them flourish in neighbouring states.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Washington Post - Will Sudan's military crush hope for democracy

5/6/19: Washington Post – Will Sudan’s military crush hope for democracy?, by Ishaan Tharoor

 Ishaan Tharoor’s feature piece examines the possibility of the Sudanese military crushing the pro-democracy movement.

 Rosalind Marsden, a Sudan expert at Chatham House, is quoted to highlight concerns that that the TMC will use the elections due in 9 months to bring the old regime elements back into power.

 Timothy Kaldas, a political analyst at the Tahrir Institute, argues that the TMC are emboldened by backing from Saudi Arabia and the Egypt, who have “escaped any consequences for violently repressing opponents.”

 Although Kaldas argues that Sudan “lacks the comparable strategic value” that Egypt or Saudi Arabia have for many Western governments, but Tharoor notes that analysts suggest that the US will not much other than scold the TMC, quoting Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik writing that “the international community [which] left Sudan hobbled by years of [sanctions and isolation]…will only issue the usual boilerplate condemnations of violence.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: AP - Sudan's deadly crackdown evokes Arab Spring bloodshed

5/6/19: AP – Sudan’s deadly crackdown evokes Arab Spring bloodshed, by Tamer Fakahany

 Tamer Fakahany argues that the deadly crackdown in Sudan has evoked Arab Spring bloodshed from earlier this decade — uprisings in Egypt, Syria and Libya.

 Fakahany argues that the theme in Middle-East protests is that after the success of street protests against dictators, the military steps in to either “prop up the leader and his family, or safeguard the military’s own longevity after a leader falls,” with ruinous civil war with external intervention breaking out in some cases.

 Fakahany re-caps military crackdowns in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Libya, with only the Tunisian revolution successfully leading to democracy. Fakahany then re-caps the Sudanese crisis since December 2018, with the recent crackdown, call for snap elections and dismissal of protesters demands showing that “the army has no intention of ushering civilian rule and relinquishing its own power any time soon.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Guardian - Washington urges Riyadh to end military crackdown in Sudan

5/6/19: Guardian – Washington urges Riyadh to end military crackdown in Sudan ,by Patrick Wintour

 Guardian diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour questions whether in Sudan, “unlike Libya and Yemen,” the US will “do more than simply dial Riyadh once.”

 Wintour suggests that the scale of violence in Khartoum this week led to “an irritation if not exasperation with Saudi foreign policy,” arguing that Sudan presents a rare case in which the US makes public their representations to Riyadh on the need for civilian rule and for democracy to run its course.

 Although, “until recently there was no sign that the US disapproved of [Saudi Arabia] gaining influence in Sudan,” Wintour highlights US national security adviser John Bolton’s condemnation of the violence, as well as an “unusual public statement” by the US State Department, whereby its undersecretary for political affairs David Hale phoned Saudi deputy defense minister Khalid bin Salma to request that Saudi Arabia pressure the TMC to end its “brutal repression.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sky News - Sudan 'on verge of civil war', protest leader warns

5/6/19: Sky News – Sudan ‘on verge of civil war’, protest leader warns, by Stuart Ramsay

 Dr Mudawi Ibrahim, “one of the most senior protest leaders in Sudan…widely tipped as a future prime minister,” told Sky News that Sudan is on the verge of civil war.

 Ibrahim said that the “military is going to revolt, especially young officers,” following the RSF’s deadly dispersal of the sit-in, adding that there is “information that some divisions have decided to not to follow orders.”

 Ibrahim said that Sudanese people will still take to the streets, and that the military will not win because "they can't be everywhere and they can't control everyone,” adding that "in areas outside Khartoum the people will confront the RSF and kick them out or fight.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Reuters - In Sudan crackdown, bullets fly as doctors struggle

5/6/19: Reuters – In Sudan crackdown, bullets fly as doctors struggle, by Michael Georgy

 In a feature piece, Michael Georgy spoke to medical students treating those wounded by the RSF’s dispersal of the sit-in on Monday June 3.

 An anonymous medical student said that he treated protesters at the sit-in without anesthetic. The student told Reuters about the RSF shooting a clinic, but soldiers stopped shooting after a doctor convinced them that “even some of your soldiers are wounded and we have to treat them as well.”

 The student added that when him and a friend took a patient to a hospital outside the protest camp, RSF members were taunting him and others by saying that “he can die, so what if he dies.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: BBC - Hemeti: The warlord behind Sudan’s future

5/6/19: BBC – Hemeti: The warlord behind Sudan’s future

 The BBC explain how Himedti, the vice-president of Sudan's ruling military junta, is “probably the most powerful man in Sudan.” The BBC attribute Himedti’s power to support from politicians who helped create the Janjaweed militia, and his support from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

 Himedti gained ex-president Omar Al Bashir’s support by mobilising clansmen to quell the Darfur rebellion. As the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, which critics label a reincarnation of the Janjaweed militia, Himedti “leaves a trail of human rights abuse allegations from Darfur in his wake and has recently been accused of allowing those same forces to kill demonstrators in Khartoum.”

 Although Himedti was the first high-ranking official to express support for protesters against Omar Al Bashir, BBC Africa editor Fergal Keane calls Himedti “the most likely leader of a counter-revolution” and an “outsider of the military elite.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AFP - China, Russia block UN action on Sudan

5/6/19: AFP – China, Russia block UN action on Sudan, by Carole Landry

AFP reports that China, backed by Russia, blocked a bid at the UN Security Council on Tuesday to condemn the killing of civilians in Sudan and issue a pressing call from world powers for an immediate halt to the violence, diplomats said.

 During a closed-door council meeting, Britain and Germany circulated a press statement that would have called on Sudan's military rulers and protesters to "continue working together towards a consensual solution to the current crisis," according to the draft seen by AFP.

 But China firmly objected to the proposed text while Russia insisted that the council should await a response from the African Union, diplomats said.

 Russian Deputy Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said the proposed statement was "unbalanced" and stressed the need to be "very cautious in this situation."

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Saudi Arabia is watching Sudan developments with concern –state media

5/6/19: Reuters – Saudi Arabia is watching Sudan developments with concern –state media

 Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it is watching developments in Sudan with great concern and it supports continued dialogue between the ruling military council and the opposition.

 “The Kingdom hopes that all parties in Sudan will choose wisdom and constructive dialogue to preserve security and stability in Sudan, protect the people of Sudan from all harm, while maintaining Sudan’s interests and unity,” a statement on the official Saudi Press Agency said.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan's military rulers say they have launched investigation into violence

5/6/19: Reuters – Sudan’s military rulers say they have launched investigation into violence

Reuters reports that Sudan’s ruling Transitional Military Council said on Wednesday it had launched an investigation into recent violence in the country.

 “The council has initiated an independent investigation ... an urgent and transparent investigation with fast results,” said the council’s deputy chairman, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Himedti. “Any person who crossed boundaries has to be punished,” he added.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Sudan protest leaders reject offer of talks with military

5/6/19: Multiple sources – Sudan protest leaders reject offer of talks with military

The Declaration of Freedom and Change has rejected the offer of talks with the country's military rulers after 60 people reportedly died in a violent security crackdown.

 The DFC - an alliance of demonstrators and opposition groups - said the Transitional Military Council was "not a source of trust". One of the alliance's leaders, Madani Abbas Madani, said the council was "imposing fear on citizens in the streets".

 Also, Mohammed Yousef al Mustafa, a spokesman for the Sudanese Professionals Association which is one of the groups leading the pro-democracy demonstrations, said the military cannot talk while it is killing protesters.

 Promising to continue the campaign of “protests, resistance, strike and total civil disobedience, he said that: “this all is not serious. Al Burhan and those under him have killed the Sudanese and are still doing it. Their vehicles patrol the streets, firing at people."

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Head of Sudan’s ruling military council says the generals are ready to resume negotiations with the opposition

5/6/19: Multiple sources – Head of Sudan’s ruling military council says the generals are ready to resume negotiations with the opposition

Sudan’s military ruler on Wednesday offered to resume a dialogue on a transition to democracy, one day after he scrapped all agreements with an opposition alliance.

 In a message for the Muslim Eid al-Fitr broadcast on state television, Al Burhan paid homage to the uprising that began in December and culminated with the military overthrow and arrest of President Omar al-Bashir in April. He was still ready to hand over power to an elected government, he said.

 Al Burhan had previously announced he was skipping any negotiations with protest groups and said he would organise elections within nine months.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Sudan opposition leader Yassir Arman arrested

5/6/19: Multiple sources – Sudan opposition leader Yassir Arman arrested

Telegraph, by Roland Oliphant

Reuters

 A Sudanese rebel leader who returned from exile after the overthrow of president Omar Al Bashir was arrested on Wednesday, his organisation said.

 Yassir Arman, the deputy head of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) group, came back last month and joined other opposition groups meeting the military leaders who ousted Bashir, according to local media reports.

But those talks ground to a halt, then fell apart all together after security forces raided a protest camp in central Khartoum on Monday.

 Arman was detained by security services at his house in Khartoum, a spokesman for his group said, without giving any details on the reasons.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Sudan death toll rises to 100 as 40 bodies found in Nile, say doctors

5/6/19: Multiple sources – Sudan death toll rises to 100, as 40 bodies found in Nile, say doctors

 The death toll from Monday's attack on the sit-in of Sudan's pro-democracy protesters has risen to 100, after 40 bodies were recovered from the River Nile, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD).

 Sixty people were already reported to have been killed by paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the military crackdown in Khartoum, before scores of bodies were found dumped in the river, said the CCSD, which is close to the protesters.

 Previous estimates put the number of casualties from the attack on a sit-in on Monday at 40. The death toll is expected to rise. 

 Residents in Khartoum said they were living in fear as members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) roamed the streets. The paramilitary unit - formerly known as the Janjaweed militia - gained notoriety in the Darfur conflict in western Sudan in 2003.