SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - New coalition calls to review Sudan’s 2019 constitutional declaration, rejects lawyers proposals

3/11/2022: Sudan Tribune - New coalition calls to review Sudan’s 2019 constitutional declaration, rejects lawyers proposals

Sudan Tribune report that pro-coup armed groups and some political parties launched a new alliance dubbed Forces for Freedom and Change – the Democratic Bloc (FFC-DB).

The alliance features the leaders of armed movements in the National Consensus Forces (NCF): the Sudan Liberation Movement faction of governor of Darfur Minni Minnawi, the Justice and Equality Movement led by finance minister Jibril Ibrahim, and Mubrak Ardol, the head of Sudan’s Mineral Resources Company and a former Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North official.

They are joined by Ja’afar Mirghani, who leads a faction of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). His support for the pro-coup NCF has created a rift within the DUP, as the sons of party leader Mohamed Osman al-Mirghani seem divided in their positions over the way out of the political crisis.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Carnegie Middle East Center – A Road Map to Civilian Rule If Sudan’s Military Putschists Retreat

3/11/2021: Carnegie Middle East Center – A Road Map to Civilian Rule If Sudan’s Military Putschists Retreat, by Yezid Sayigh

Yezid Sayigh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, outlines a Sudanese path to civilian rule by depoliticising the military and appointing a civilian defence minister.

To get the army to support the proposal, Sayigh suggests the creation of incentive structures for soldiers to see the benefits of civilian rule and have a stake in the success of democracy: increased professionalisation, modernisation and addressed capability gaps.

In the interim, Sayigh suggests that the depoliticisation can be achieved by reviewing: entry to officer school (making the selection process more representative of Sudan’s demographics and geography), the composition of the ground forces’ brigades and their deployment rotations (with the purpose of diluting communitarian tensions among their personnel), the enlistment and training of noncommissioned officers (to encourage leadership), and pay and pensions as well as other conditions of service (to address equity issues and grievances, both internally and toward civilians).

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: African Arguments – “This Is Not a Coup”: Movements and Politics in Post-Coup Sudan

3/11/2021: African Arguments – “This Is Not a Coup”: Movements and Politics in Post-Coup Sudan, by an anonymous author

African Arguments’ anonymous author argues that managing the rift between more radical views and the need to compromise as part of the political process may be a factor in the success of the democratic movement in Sudan, which has faced setbacks explained by how the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), “the leading force” of the uprising, was unable to convert its popular support into political power.

While the SPA’s horizontal structure, with little central leadership, protects against arrests or co-optation, it also caused a leadership crisis whereby: arrested members wanted to return to occupied positions and activists returning from abroad seeking senior positions.

A rift then appeared between the SPA’s moderate leadership and the rank-and-file who took a hardline position against partnership with the military. SPA elections in 2019 then saw many leaders replaced by Communist Party supporters, leaving original leaders to create a rival faction.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Saudi Arabia, UAE call for civilian-led government in Sudan

3/11/2021: Multiple sources - Saudi Arabia, UAE call for civilian-led government in Sudan

• AP, by Samy Magdy

• Reuters, by Khalid Abdelaziz

• Radio Dabanga

• Sudan Tribune

A joint statement by the QUAD – the US, UK, UAE and Saudi Arabia – called for the immediate restoration of a civilian-led government in Sudan.

The QUAD also urged the military to release those detained in connection to the takeover and lift the state of emergency imposed across the country since October 25.

The QUAD members also stress the importance of the commitment to the Constitutional Document and the Juba Peace Agreement as the foundation for further dialogue about how to restore and uphold a genuine civil-military partnership for the remainder of the transitional period, pending elections. “This will help ensure Sudan reaches political stability and economic recovery so that it is able to continue the transitional period with the support of Sudan’s friends and international partners,” today’s QUAD statement concludes.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Sudan coup: FFC civil disobedience campaign resolute

3/11/2021: Radio Dabanga - Sudan coup: FFC civil disobedience campaign resolute

Radio Dabanga report that a campaign of civil disobedience is being sustained by resistance committees, professional organisations, and trade unions across Sudan, causing many essential sector and institutions to grind to a halt.

The Bankers Association of Sudan announced a temporary suspension to the strike “to ease the burden on the Sudanese public and disburse salaries and pensions”.

The Unified Doctors Office announced the continuation of the complete withdrawal of medics from military hospitals in the capital and the regions, which includes “all hospitals of the army, the police, and the security apparatus in its old and new form”.

The Sudanese General Employers Federation renewed its call for civil disobedience, stressing its rejection of the military coup.

The Teachers’ Committee called on all teachers to continue comprehensive civil disobedience, after authorities dismissed the Director of the Ministry of Education of Khartoum state after his refusal to deal with coup authorities.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Detentions continue in wake of Sudan coup

3/11/2021: Radio Dabanga - Detentions continue in wake of Sudan coup

Radio Dabanga report that dozens, including lawyers, politicians, government officials and professionals have been arbitrarily detained, and some allegedly tortured, and an ongoing campaign against revolutionaries across Sudan by army and militia forces since the military coup seized power on October 25.

The number of detainees in Darfur has increased rapidly, with at least 47 intellectuals in detention.

The Sudanese Human Rights and Development Organisation (HUDO) reported a detention campaign carried out by the Sudanese army and Rapid Support Forces in in Blue Nile state, with a member of the Tamkeen committee, university and over 15 young people including minors being held.

In Wad Madani, the authorities detained a number of deans and lecturers of the University of al-Gezira.

In River Nile state, seven members of resistance committees were detained.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Sudanese govt rejects religion workshop recommendations: SPLM-N Hilu

3/11/2020: Multiple sources – Sudanese govt rejects religion workshop recommendations: SPLM-N Hilu

Sudan Tribune

Radio Dabanga

 Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction of Abdelaziz al-Hilu (SPLM-N al-Hilu) allege that the head of the Sudanese government delegation, Shams al-Din Kabbashi, rejected the recommendations of the workshop on the relationship between state and religion.

 Kuku Jagdoul, the official spokesperson for the SPLM-N al-Hilu negotiation team, said in a press statement that the two parties agreed on the version of a final report, prepared by the mediators, but that the Sudanese government delegation later voiced objections.

 Jagdoul said that after deep dialogues and discussions, accompanied by the presentation of models from international and local experts on the application of the principle of secularism in Muslim-majority countries, the parties agreed that Turkish model seems the most applicable in Sudan.

 However, Jagdoul alleges that Lt Gen Shamseldin Kabbashi and government spokesperson Mohamed El Taayshi rejected the workshop outcomes in the closing session despite being absent for most of the workshop sessions.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - UAE refutes claims of seeking to obstruct democratic reforms in Sudan

3/11/19: Sudan Tribune - UAE refutes claims of seeking to obstruct democratic reforms in Sudan

 Sudan Tribune reports that UAE foreign minister Anwar Gargash has rejected accusations made by the Sudanese Communist Party that the UAE and Saudi Arabia is trying to abort the Sudanese revolution.

 Communist Party secretary-general Mohamed Mukhtar al-Khatib alleged that the UAE and Saudi Arabia are in contact with prominent leaders of the Forces of Freedom and Change coalition, and that they are “terrified” of radical change in Sudan, lest it inspire internal revolts in their own countries.

 However, Gargash refuted the allegations by saying that al-Khatib’s “regrettable” comments failed to comprehend the UAE and Saudi role in supporting stability in Sudan. Gargash added that the statements “come from the ideological conceptions” of the Communist Party.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Radio Dabanga - ‘Racism root of human rights violations in Sudan’

3/11/19: Radio Dabanga - ‘Racism root of human rights violations in Sudan’

 Radio Dabanga reports that Sudanese political analyst El Haj Warrag has blamed racism for the atrocities committed in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and other areas across Sudan.

 Warrag called for Sudanese civil society to work hard to eliminate the cultural roots of racism that led to such crimes, and that the Sudanese should have a “collective guilt” similar to that of German people after Nazi atrocities.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s justice minister denies support for al-Bashir handover to ICC

3/11/19: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s justice minister denies support for al-Bashir handover to ICC

 Sudan Tribune reports that the Sudanese government dismissed reports that the Minister of Justice Nasredlin Abdelbari assured the End Impunity Organisation that those involved in war-crimes in Sudan will be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

 Abdelbari said that the government has not adopted a policy or made a decision with regards to the handover, and that the Cabinet must discuss the matter to adopt a clear and unified stance.

 Prime Minister Hamdok previously said that the government wants to try al-Bashir in Sudan after the establishment of an independent judiciary, referring the ICC’s complementarity principle which says that the ICC can only investigate and prosecute core international