News & Updates

Check out the latest from Sudan and our movement

Mark Hackett Mark Hackett

Internet Is Back On In Sudan

Early on the morning of June 3, Sudan's ruling Transitional Military Council committed a massacre of unarmed protesters in Khartoum.

Early on the morning of June 3, Sudan's ruling Transitional Military Council committed a massacre of unarmed protesters in Khartoum. The killings, mass rape, and public torture continued over the next few days as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group that reports directly to the Military Council, put Khartoum under a brutal lockdown. RSF militiamen threw corpses into the Nile River, broke into homes to rape women and children, and openly stole private property across the capital. 

During the massacre, the Military Council shut off Sudan's internet to keep footage and photos of their crimes from reaching the world and to prevent protesters from remobilizing. Because of this, very few images of the massacre have reached the outside world. Now that the internet is coming back online in Sudan, Sudanese are beginning to upload images of the crimes they have been subjected to. We do warn you, the following information and images are extremely graphic and disturbing. 

What Happens Next

In the coming days and with internet service returning, we expect to see more images from the June 3 massacre and the immediate aftermath. 

While a tentative and fragile deal is underway between the Military Council and protesters, we do not expect the junta to abide by it. This regime has broken nearly every agreement it has signed over the last 30 years. The RSF remains deployed in the capital. When many protesters heard news of the agreement, it was met with a muted response. And there are early and worrying signs that the international community is going to begin letting the building pressure off of the junta. 

RSF commander Hemeti is still positioning himself to become Sudan's next dictator. Hemeti is technically second-in-command on the Transitional Military Council, but we remain immensely worried that he is the one pulling the strings or he is operating outside of Military Council authority. Hemeti has the backing of powerful Gulf states, and the RSF has its own relations with several international actors that goes beyond official Sudanese government foreign policy.

As for the Sudanese people, continuing to protest despite this fragile agreement and the immense dangers they face from the Military Council is the only option the regime has left them with. This junta has spent the last 30 years wrecking Sudan's economy, stealing from government coffers, shrinking public services, and committing unaffordable and pointless mass atrocity crimes in the name of a crazed, violent ideology that doesn't help anyone. Most Sudanese only have the breath in their lungs left to lose, especially now that the horrors of Sudan's war-torn edges have visited the capital. 

Sudan's revolution is far from over. If you would like to directly support the Sudanese people as they seek a better future, discover ways to do so below. 

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The people of Sudan are overcoming two of the greatest challenges facing humanity today: war and genocide. Operation Broken Silence is accelerating their ability to generate lasting change by funding storytelling and movement-building, education and emergency response, and grassroots advocacy programs. Here are a few ways you can join us:

1. Give Monthly To The Education In Yida. The Renewal is our unstoppable family of monthly givers who never stop fighting for change. They give automatically each and every month to the two schools we sponsor in Yida Refugee Camp, providing consistent support to 24 teachers and nearly 1,100 students from the Nuba Mountains. Right now, the schools are short about $2,500 in monthly funding. LEARN MORE »

2. Become A Fundraiser. If you can’t give monthly right now, you can start an online fundraising page for the schools in Yida or Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains warzone. BECOME A FUNDRAISER »

3. Give Once. Not ready to commit with a monthly gift or fundraising yet? That’s okay, making a one-time gift is the best next step to get your feet wet! GIVE HERE »

Sign up for our email list to get updates from Sudan and our movement. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Mark Hackett Mark Hackett

Sudan's Military Has Hired A Lobbying Firm

"It's the same regime as the old regime" is one of several mantras concerning this moment in Sudan's history.

"It's the same regime as the old regime" is one of several mantras concerning this moment in Sudan's history. Since arresting their own leader Omar al-Bashir in April, the country's ruling Military Council has continued violent Bashir-era policies without skipping a beat. Humanitarian blockades are still violently enforced, the specter of war looms over Sudan's oppressed periphery regions, and protesters are being locked up and tortured. 

In today's world, governance by brutality comes with negative press for the oppressor. Authoritarian regimes have been increasingly creative over the past several years with how they deal with looking bad for, well, being bad. Hiring an international lobbying firm is a go-to method nowadays, which is exactly what the junta in Sudan has done. Buckle up though: this case is especially crazy. 

Quick Background

The self-declared name of Sudan's current regime is the Transitional Military Council. To be clear, there is nothing transitionalabout this junta. The group is made up entirely of army and security officers who have participated in war crimes, genocide, and terrorism for many years. Sudan's former dictator Omar al-Bashir was the powerful figurehead of this junta for just shy of three decades; however, after months of massive protests across Sudan, he was peacefully arrested in April by several members of the Council. 

On June 3, a powerful militia that reports directly to the Military Council, the Rapid Support Forces, began massacring unarmed and peaceful protesters in Khartoum. Regime crimes that had long been committed in the oppressed hinterlands of Sudan, crimes like mass rape, mass murder, and torching and theft of civilian property, had finally come to Sudan's all-powerful capital. The massacre was immediately met by an outraged international community, and what little hope remained that the junta could be negotiated with evaporated.  

Oddly, the contract between lobbying firm Dickens & Madson Canada Inc. and the Military Council was signed well before the June 3 massacre, on May 7. It's still unclear when the junta or core junta elements decided to slaughter protesters in Khartoum, but the hiring of a lobbying firm only weeks before the killings were committed raises eyebrows. The contract also bears the signature of Rapid Support Forces commander Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemeti, whose forces committed the bulk of the Khartoum killings. 

As is always the case with this regime though, the truly terrifying devils are in the details. This deal between a genocidal government and a lobbying firm is disgusting, but it also gets strangely specific at certain points. 

The Highlights Of The Deal

You can read the full deal between the Military Council and Dickens & Madson Canada Inc. in this U.S. Justice Department document here, but we'll summarize the main points below with some brief analysis that is italicized.

According to this contract, Dickens & Madson will lobby basically anyone anywhere on behalf of the Military Council to try to benefit the junta and prevent international policy that would hurt the regime. The document specifically mentions lobbying the United States and Russia, but also includes a number of very concerning, specific entities and actions:

  • Asking a redacted person to visit Sudan by the end of May. The redacted name comes right before trying to setup a "public" meeting between President Donald Trump and the regime, so we assume this is another American official. It's likely that this individual is former Representative Jim Moran, who was recently in Sudan slavering praise on Rapid Support Forces commander Hemeti. Yea, really. 

  • Pushing international and Sudanese media to "correct" unfavorable media coverage of the Military Council and create favorable coverage. Yikes.

  • Seeking financial assistance for the Military Council from countries around the world, and specifically the United States in a joint Sudan-South Sudan oil project. The company name(s) or certain industry types that could be useful in oil and gas deals have been redacted. It comes right on the heels of seeking American funding, so it is possible these are American companies or industries. Um, no. Heck no. 

  • Seeking funding from the Eastern Libyan Military Command in exchange for military assistance to the Libyan National Army. Due to the Rapid Support Forces operating as guns for hire in the Saudi-led war in Yemen, we assume this means Rapid Support Forces troopers and child soldiers will be traded in Libya for money. The UN also has an arms embargo on Libya right now, so such a move would most likely be illegal. Disgusting.  

  • Obtaining urgent meetings with "Middle Eastern Governments" to resolve outstanding issues. This is probably the Military Council trying to get more money from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, who represent two of the three biggest international enablers of the junta. 

  • Working to get all remaining U.S. sanctions lifted and the American State Sponsor of Terrorism designation on Sudan dropped. Hopefully the State Department sticks to its words and does neither, especially since the bilateral normalization process was frozen a while ago. There is also a global effort underway to see the U.S. government declare the Rapid Support Forces a terrorist organization and sanction them, which it easily meets the criteria for.

  • Working to "assist" integrating South Sudan to Sudan in a way that is similar to the European Union. Some in the junta and other Sudanese power structures are still bitter that South Sudan was allowed to declare independence in 2011. At the very least, this is going to raise eyebrows in Juba. At its worst, this is a sign that some in Sudanese power circles are laying the groundwork for reinserting northern control over South Sudan. This is a huge red flag either way.

The Bottom Line

Following the June 3 massacre in Khartoum, ongoing regime intransigence with regards to moving Sudan toward a real civilian government, and the recent hiring and firing of government officials, reading this contract shows the true intentions of the Transitional Military Council. The junta has no plans to hand decision-making authority over to civilians. 

On top of all of this is an insane reality: Sudan's economy has crumbled due to regime-instigated wars, vast government corruption, and the outright incompetence of top junta officials. When protests began in December, they were directly linked to Sudan's free-falling economy. The fact that the Military Council is dropping $6,000,000 on a lobbying firm to try to clean up their image when millions of Sudanese don't know where their next meal is coming from is outrageous. 

Our advice to public servants, reporters, and we guess the whole world? If Dickens & Madson Canada Inc. comes knocking, send them packing. 

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The people of Sudan are overcoming two of the greatest challenges facing humanity today: war and genocide. Operation Broken Silence is accelerating their ability to generate lasting change by funding storytelling and movement-building, education and emergency response, and grassroots advocacy programs. Here are a few ways you can join us:

1. Give Monthly To The Education In Yida. The Renewal is our unstoppable family of monthly givers who never stop fighting for change. They give automatically each and every month to the two schools we sponsor in Yida Refugee Camp, providing consistent support to 24 teachers and nearly 1,100 students from the Nuba Mountains. Right now, the schools are short about $2,500 in monthly funding. LEARN MORE »

2. Become A Fundraiser. If you can’t give monthly right now, you can start an online fundraising page for the schools in Yida or Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains warzone. BECOME A FUNDRAISER »

3. Give Once. Not ready to commit with a monthly gift or fundraising yet? That’s okay, making a one-time gift is the best next step to get your feet wet! GIVE HERE »

Sign up for our email list to get updates from Sudan and our movement. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Mark Hackett Mark Hackett

Watch Sudan On June 30

June 30 will mark a pivotal and grim milestone in Sudan's history: 30 years of disastrous militarized, Islamic rule that has seen millions of Sudanese murdered and displaced, an economy in free fall, and a seething civil society that is just over all of it.

June 30 will mark a pivotal and grim milestone in Sudan's history: 30 years of disastrous militarized, Islamic rule that has seen millions of Sudanese murdered and displaced, an economy in free fall, and a seething civil society that is just over all of it. This June has also marked 8 years of the regime's genocidal violence and humanitarian blockade in the southern Nuba Mountains region, where the majority of of our work is focused.

Earlier this week, Ismail al-Tag, a spokesman for the venerable Sudanese Professionals' Association, called for mass marches on June 30 to demand that the Military Council hand over power to civilians. This comes only weeks after the Military Council massacred and raped protesters in Khartoum, an atrocity that claimed over 100 lives, led to hundreds more Sudanese missing, and plunged the country into an internet blackout. And it comes on the heels of the junta rage rejecting yet another proposal to hand over power to civilians. 

The call for renewed mass protests seems to be working. Over the past several days, small night protests in cities across Sudan have reemerged, are growing in size, and are spreading into daylight hours. Activists are finding creative ways to organize around the internet blackout. And protesters know exactly who they are up against and what the Military Council is capable of.

With June 30 only a few days away, the faltering diplomatic effort to intervene in Sudan needs to ramp up and finally meet the reality of the situation. There is a real threat that the Military Council will unleash its Rapid Support Forces attack dog once again on unarmed and peaceful protesters demanding their basic rights. American diplomats need to make it clear that any additional violence will lead to the United States going after Military Council leaders in a very personal way. That should include declaring the Rapid Support Forces a terrorist organization, travel bans, international asset seizures, targeted sanctions, and more. It is past time for the U.S. government to move from platitudes about supporting protesters to firm action to help protect Sudan's besieged pro-democracy and peace movement. 

Sudan's revolution is far from over. On June 30, we will learn just how far recent junta crimes have set back Sudan's massive peaceful protest movement. If you would like to directly support the Sudanese people as they seek a better future, discover ways to do so below. 

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The people of Sudan are overcoming two of the greatest challenges facing humanity today: war and genocide. Operation Broken Silence is accelerating their ability to generate lasting change by funding storytelling and movement-building, education and emergency response, and grassroots advocacy programs. Here are a few ways you can join us:

1. Give Monthly To The Education In Yida. The Renewal is our unstoppable family of monthly givers who never stop fighting for change. They give automatically each and every month to the two schools we sponsor in Yida Refugee Camp, providing consistent support to 24 teachers and nearly 1,100 students from the Nuba Mountains. Right now, the schools are short about $2,500 in monthly funding. LEARN MORE »

2. Become A Fundraiser. If you can’t give monthly right now, you can start an online fundraising page for the schools in Yida or Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains warzone. BECOME A FUNDRAISER »

3. Give Once. Not ready to commit with a monthly gift or fundraising yet? That’s okay, making a one-time gift is the best next step to get your feet wet! GIVE HERE »

Sign up for our email list to get updates from Sudan and our movement. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Mark Hackett Mark Hackett

Reporting From The Heart of Sudan's Revolution

In a beautiful segment for Sky News, three reporters look back on their time in Khartoum before the June 3 massacre.

Before the June 3 massacre in Khartoum, a number of international reporters were able to share stories from Sudan in a way that had been impossible only a few months earlier. Many of them provided a rare glimpse of what Sudan's future could be as a new generation rises up: more secular, westward-looking, and peaceful. 

In a beautiful segment for Sky News, three reporters look back on their time in Khartoum before the massacre. They talk about their experiences with the Sudanese people through the ups and downs and how much of the international analysis around Sudan's current moment is incorrect. Sudan's current revolution is not an extension of the Arab Spring; on the contrary, it is a political and social experience that could only happen in Sudan.

The above segment is also a great review of what has happened in Sudan since protests began in December 2018.

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The people of Sudan are overcoming two of the greatest challenges facing humanity today: war and genocide. Operation Broken Silence is accelerating their ability to generate lasting change by funding storytelling and movement-building, education and emergency response, and grassroots advocacy programs. Here are a few ways you can join us:

1. Give Monthly To The Education In Yida. The Renewal is our unstoppable family of monthly givers who never stop fighting for change. They give automatically each and every month to the two schools we sponsor in Yida Refugee Camp, providing consistent support to 24 teachers and nearly 1,100 students from the Nuba Mountains. Right now, the schools are short about $2,500 in monthly funding. LEARN MORE »

2. Become A Fundraiser. If you can’t give monthly right now, you can start an online fundraising page for the schools in Yida or Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains warzone. BECOME A FUNDRAISER »

3. Give Once. Not ready to commit with a monthly gift or fundraising yet? That’s okay, making a one-time gift is the best next step to get your feet wet! GIVE HERE »

Sign up for our email list to get updates from Sudan and our movement. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Mark Hackett Mark Hackett

Movement Spotlight: Tennessee Governor's School Students

The University of Memphis serves as the host of the Governor's School for International Studies, which takes place on the UofM Campus each year during the month of June.

The University of Memphis serves as the host of the Governor's School for International Studies, which takes place on the UofM Campus each year during the month of June. Some of the brightest high school students from across the state of Tennessee participate in this program each year, and our organization serves as the nonprofit parter for the student's service days.

This year our staff spent the evening of June 20 with the students having an open discussion about the crisis in Sudan and how they could be involved. Going into June 21, the students brought their newfound passion for the Sudanese people and their creativity into the campaign design process. 

This year, the students split into two groups and focused on the following campaigns for our organization:

1. Refreshing the Heart of Nuba fundraising campaign, which supports Mother of Mercy Hospital in the oppressed Nuba Mountains of Sudan.

2. Creating two statewide advocacy campaigns for a House resolution and Senate resolution, both of which focus on the ongoing and most recent crisis in Sudan that began in December 2018. 

Following a morning of working on these three campaigns, the students spent the afternoon participating in them. 

The fundraising team focused their efforts on the Heart of Nuba Campaign. We've been running this campaign since late 2016 as one way people can support Mother of Mercy Hospital, which is the only referral hospital in the war-torn Nuba Mountains region of Sudan. 

The campaign has received only minor updates the last few years, so it was due for a major overhaul. The students watched the Heart of Nuba film about the hospital before diving into redesigning fundraising and donation pages. We will also be releasing a new campaign video in the next few weeks. 

The advocacy group focused their efforts on two new Congressional resolutions:

  • House Resolution 432: Condemning the attacks on peaceful protesters and supporting an immediate peaceful transition to a civilian-led democratic government in Sudan

  • Senate Resolution 188: A resolution encouraging a swift transfer of power by the military to a civilian-led political authority in the Republic of the Sudan, and for other purposes

Both resolutions do similar things: legally-speaking they are non-binding, but they do pile on pressure against Sudan's ruling junta, bring more awareness to the situation in Sudan, and push for needed changes in U.S. foreign policy. 

The students reviewed both resolutions and designed state-wide advocacy campaigns for each one. They made call-scripts, email templates, and social media images for sharing.

Following their hard work on these three campaigns, the students had an opportunity to pilot their designs together! 

First, the students called their Senators and respective Representative about H.Res 432 and S.Res 188. They scored an early victory  and received word that Congressman Steve Cohen of Tennessee's 9th District was becoming a cosponsor! Most other calls went well, but have not yielded results as of the time of this post.

The only negative response we received was from Senator Lamar Alexander's Nashville office. His staff was incredibly combative and irresponsible, hanging up on constituents and accusing one of the students of being paid to call. Not cool Senator. 

Next, the students created a Heart of Nuba fundraising team and their own individual pages to ask their friends and family to get involved. 90 minutes of live fundraising led to over $6,000 being raised for Mother of Mercy Hospital!

In the coming weeks, these new and improved campaigns will be further tweaked by our staff and pushed out to our movement. We want to thank Governor's School and the University of Memphis for inviting us to work with the students for another year. They all have bright futures ahead of them, and we are excited to be able to educate them on important global issues. 

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Mark Hackett Mark Hackett

Movement Spotlight: Shwetha Ganesh

A recent story from our movement.

Operation Broken Silence may be a small organization, but with the help of our awesome movement, we’re able to make big waves to empower the people of Sudan. Some of the most involved and enthusiastic members of our movement can be found across the country!

Shwetha Ganesh is a student at the University of Southern California and serves as the Finance Director for Model United Nations of Southern California. We first met her in 2017 when she was a high school student participating in Tennessee Governor's School For International Studies. She says:

"I am in college at the University of Southern California on the other side of the country from Memphis. I'm part of the Model United Nations of Southern California (MUNSC), USC's premier MUN team. Our club hosts an annual high school conference, Southern California Model United Nations (SCMUN). We have a cause every year, meaning we choose an NGO, non-profit, or other organization that is doing humanitarian work on an international level, reflecting the nature of the conference. for the delegates attending to donate towards. As the Director of Finance of our club, I was tasked with choosing which organization we wanted to feature. Remembering my experiences with OBS, I knew that this was a great opportunity for not only OBS but also for our club to contribute to something meaningful. 

I think it is important to remind students of the greater purpose in participating in Model UN conferences. Many students often get caught up in the competition aspect, so I think it's valuable to ground them and show a cause in which international cooperation can truly make an impact. A lot of MUN competitors are often international relations majors or something of the likes, so the lessons that they learn in the classroom and through MUN will help them create a lasting impact on the world."

Photo: Shwetha Ganesh (left) and our Development Director Audrey Tetzeli (right) at the Crews Center for Entrepreneurship in Memphis.

Shwetha and her Model UN peers asked us for some help to introduce our cause and Sudan to the high school students. She says: 

"We asked OBS for a few videos and promotional content that we could show to each committee. We made a brief presentation that included two videos- one featuring the education program in Yida Refugee Camp, and the other the trailer for the Heart of Nuba film about the hospital. During the conference, we went into each room and showed our presentation to the high schoolers. Going in, we had to understand that high schoolers don't have jobs or a source of income apart from what their family/guardian gives them, so we have to work within those limits. We placed a mason jar in each committee room and every few hours, we would check the jar to see how much progress we had made and encouraged people to donate. Towards the end of the conference, we set up incentives to donate such as having the committee chairs sing a song or do a dance or even get pied in the face (all of which happened). Our initial goal was to raise $1,000 dollars, and we were ecstatic that we exceeded."

Shwetha's conference had an incredible turnout and raised over $1,600 for the Endure Primary and Renewal High Schools in Yida! Thank you to Shwetha and her peers for using your talents and community to empower Sudanese students and teachers!

Whether your are part of a campus group or just want to get some friends together to host an event, you can email me at atetzeli@operationbrokensilence.org and I can help you get started!

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