Mass protests in Sudan as democratic transition in peril
Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators poured into the streets of Khartoum and other major cities on Thursday, demanding full civilian rule in the face of a looming military takeover of Sudan’s fragile transitional government.
The protests come as military and civilian authorities are locked in an intense power struggle over Sudan’s uncertain future. Over the past several weeks, a failed coup attempt, bitter accusations, and a worsening security atmosphere have threatened to give way to mass violence against civilians in major population centers by the security forces.
Former dictator Omar al-Bashir at a hearing on corruption charges. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah. Licensed via Adobe.
Background
Sudan’s peaceful revolution in 2019 swept from power several key elements of the Bashir regime, including indicted war criminals, corrupt politicians, and the authoritarian Islamist faction that oversaw multiple genocides and civil wars that tore the country apart and made Sudan a safe haven for international terrorists.
Shortly after a period of chaos that gave way to the June 3 Khartoum massacre, a transitional government was formed that promised to move Sudan toward democratic rule. This government includes new civilian leaders and surviving military and paramilitary commanders from the Bashir era.
This was a hopeful moment to be sure; however, deep down, everyone has known that this transitional period was going to be fraught with risk. Those risks now seem to be coming to a head all at once: entitled generals hellbent on protecting their kleptocracy, civilian leaders frustrated with the military’s intransigence, a shattered economy being strangled by surviving regime elements, and Sudan’s long-oppressed periphery regions running out of patience.
Sudanese protestors in Khartoum. AP Photo/Hussein Malla. Licensed via AP.
The Current Crisis
The Sudanese army and its fragile alliance of competing paramilitary groups is pushing to dissolve the civilian side of the government headed by Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. The generals appear to be pulling out all the stops: dramatic shows of armed force, a multi-faceted disinformation campaign, and support for small pro-military protests, which are a mere fraction of the size of pro-civilian government demonstrations.
Pro-democracy leaders called for mass demonstrations in response to the military threat. On Thursday, business shut down as hundreds of thousands of people poured into the streets of Khartoum, where they were met with heavy tear gas, minimal gunfire, and a large security presence. The demonstrators chanted anti-military slogans, waved Sudanese flags, and demanded a full-blown civilian government.
If crowd estimates are accurate, Thursday marked the largest pro-democracy demonstrations since the transitional government was formed. The Sudanese Professionals Association —the primary organizing force behind the peaceful 2019 revolution— released a statement saying "There is no retreat from the streets until the handover of power."
At the moment, it appears that military leaders may have overplayed their hand. The sheer size of Thursday’s demonstrations show that the backbone of Sudan’s revolution —the ability to organize and take control of the streets— is still very much alive and well. And despite Sudan’s struggling economy and slowing social progress, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok remains widely popular. The seriousness of this moment is showing that a large majority of the Sudanese people remain committed to securing a democratic future.
What Comes Next & International Efforts
Pro-civilian government demonstrations are likely to continue until the military can honestly show that it is no longer trying to create the conditions to seize power or undermine progress. While it is encouraging to see so many of the Sudanese people once again rise up and demand a better future, we are also deeply concerned for the safety of peaceful protestors.
Rapid Support Forces paramilitary soldiers in Khartoum. REUTERS/Umit Bektas. Licensed via Adobe.
The military side of the transitional government has a long history of brutalizing and murdering Sudanese who are exercising their basic rights. This is particularly true of Bashir-era paramilitary outfits such as the Rapid Support Forces, the group that was largely responsible for the June 6, 2019 massacre in Khartoum. Any large-scale deployment of paramilitary or regular army forces in Sudan against protestors should be seen as a warning sign of planned atrocities.
This rapidly deteriorating situation seems to have set off alarm bells in various parts of the U.S. government. The U.S. embassy in Khartoum issued a call for demonstrators to remain peaceful and is throwing full support to Sudan’s transition to democracy. The State Department is dispatching U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Jeffrey Feltman to Khartoum. Feltman is set to arrive in Khartoum on Friday with both a hopeful message and a warning, saying yesterday:
“If the transition is interrupted, if one side or the other in this [civilian-military] partnership tries to prevail, then the US support for all of these issues, including debt relief, will be in question. My trip will just reinforce the strong US support for the Sudanese transition, but also make it clear that our continued support depends on that transition moving forward. We want to see what we can do to support the forward momentum, the forward progress.”
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee also threw Congressional support to civilian leaders and the Sudanese people, issuing a statement citing American support to the democratic cause and a call for the international community to “reign in the malign forces seeking to undermine the country's transition.”
As the situation in Sudan remains tense, we must not forget that the people who most need Sudan’s revolution to succeed live far away from Khartoum, in the country’s still oppressed hinterlands.
Operation Broken Silence is still the only nonprofit in the world funding community-led education efforts in Yida Refugee Camp. Yida is home to many people who fled the war in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan years ago. The majority of people living here are children.
Without the Endure Primary and Renewal Secondary Schools that we support in Yida, the entire education system would collapse. You can help Nuba teachers raise up the next generation of Sudanese leaders by pitching in what you can.
Operation Broken Silence is building a global movement to empower the Sudanese people through innovative programs as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law.
