Day: November 1, 2021

A cautious calm descended on the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Sunday, after the massive October 30 Marches of Millions in which an unprecedented number of people participated. Government institutions, banks, shops, schools, and universities continued to be closed for the seventh day yesterday in protest against the military coup.

Sources told Radio Dabanga that most of the main roads in Khartoum are still closed with barricades – which are put up again as soon as they are removed by the armed forces. Central Khartoum in particular is witnessing very limited movement, with most of the shops closed.

Not many vehicles were seen in Khartoum, and people are forced to reach their destination on foot. The sources further noted that many streets were free of any military presence.

On Sunday, the General Traffic Department announced the opening of all bridges in Khartoum, except for the Blue Nile Bridge and the White Nile Bridge.

Government institutions, banks, shops, schools, and universities continued to be closed for the seventh day yesterday in protest against the military coup.

Resistance Committees in a number of Khartoum neighbourhoods announced their support to a comprehensive strike, civil disobedience actions, and the blocking of roads.

In a statement yesterday, the Resistance Committees announced they are distributing schedules of protest marches within the neighbourhoods in the evening “until the fall of this [junta] council”.

The Sudanese Bankers Association and the Steering Committee of the Bank of Khartoum announced the continuation of the strike of all employees in all banks.

The Democratic Lawyers Alliance called in a statement yesterday on the Sudanese to continue their streets protests, and join the comprehensive civil disobedience actions and strikes “to protect the revolution”.

Near Wadi Halfa in Sudan’s Northern State, protesters continue to block the road which links Egypt and Sudan, to denounce the coup.

Source: Radio Dabanga

Two people were killed and one other injured in a road ambush by armed bandits on the outskirts of Jonglei State capital, Bor town on Saturday morning, local officials said.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, Yuot Alier, the Bor County commissioner, said: “The incident happened on Saturday morning, the young men left Malek area for Anyidi to buy cows. Between Anyidi and Thienwei area, they were attacked. Two of them were killed and the third person was injured.”

Alier pointed out that the victims were also robbed of their belongings and that investigation is ongoing.

“After I learned of the incident, I sent police officers on a tractor to collect the bodies because the road is muddy. We brought the bodies and they are buried,” he said.

Veronica William, the state information minister, condemned the incident and said security forces have been dispatched to provide security.

For his part, Gen. Jodeph Mayen Akoon, the state police commissioner, said: “Those killed near Thien area include a police sergeant major called Makuol. The following morning, somebody was arrested near the incident scene but we are not sure if that person was involved in the killing.”

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Joint military troops are arbitrarily detaining activists in the South Kordofan capital of Kadugli since Wednesday in an attempt to prevent demonstrations, says the Sudanese Human Rights and Development Organisation (HUDO) in a press statement today.

Since October 27, soldiers wearing uniforms of Sudan Armed Forces, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, of the police and members of the General Intelligence Service are roaming the streets of Kadugli in military vehicles, and detaining well-known activists.

Members of the Resistance Committees of Delling Mohamed Hasan and Mohamed Abakar, Habila Resistance Committees member Mohamed Salim were held from a guest house in the South Kordofan capital on Wednesday.

The following day, activists Hasan Nahawi, Seifeldin Zakariya, and Abulgasim Abdallah were detained from their houses in Kadugli. On Saturday, Omar Osman was held on the street.

The activists were detained at the Kadugli Police Office and denied access to their lawyers. During the interrogation, they were intimidated and mistreated.

They were released on Saturday night after being threatened not to participate in the organisation of demonstrations.

No complaints were filed against them, except against Nahawi, based on article 63 (Calling for violent resistance to public authority) to and 69 (Disturbance of public peace) of the Sudanese 1991 Criminal Law. He was released on bail.

Detention campaign

Following a military coup on October 25, large groups of Sudanese took to the streets in protest against the move. In particular the Sudanese Professionals Association and the resistance committees active in the neighbourhoods of many cities and towns were instrumental in organising protests and the massive Marches of the Millions on Saturday.

Radio Dabanga reported on Friday that 13 people were held in Nyala, capital of South Darfur, on Thursday, including two members of the Nyala Democratic Lawyers Alliance, the South Darfur government media director, and two members of the South Darfur Empowerment Removal Committee.

In Nile River state in northern Sudan, a number of leaders of the Atbara Railway Union were held.

In Khartoum and in other places, government officials, including Ministers, were held as well last week. Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok is under house arrest.

Source: Radio Dabanga

The week-long internet blackout imposed in Sudan after the military coup last Monday continues, with very little internet traffic possible. Telecommunications services began to be restored after a break that lasted for more than a day during to the October 30 Marches of Millions.

Sources told Radio Dabanga that phone calls continued to be difficult despite the restoration of some services on Sunday afternoon. They also complained about the continuing internet blackout.

The US Embassy in Khartoum confirmed in a report yesterday that the Salanco satellite internet network for Internet & Surveillance is still working, while the Maxnet wireless broadband service provider has been cut.

Khartoum International Airport reopened on Wednesday, and some airlines resumed flights during the weekend.

Source: Radio Dabanga

A group of Sudanese bar associations, civil society organisations, and individual lawyers have presented a memorandum to Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and former chairman of the now dissolved Sovereignty Council, calling on him to respect the stipulations of the Constitutional Document, signed by the then military junta and the Forces for Freedom and Change in August 2019.

In the memorandum dated October 29, of which Radio Dabanga received a copy, the signatories express their serious concern about the safety and future of the country.

“Regarding the dangers, security threats, and based on our responsibility towards the country and its people, while being committed to the principles of the peaceful 2018 December Revolution, we urge you to respect the principles of peace, justice, democracy, a civil state, and the Rule of Law, that are the same principles on which the Constitutional Document is based and form the basis for the roadmap for the transitional period,” the memo states.

“We are taking our responsibility as citizens, while exercising our constitutional and legal right actively and positively,” the signatories state. They want to give sincere advice and warn of dangers and threats to political and social stability.

They call on Gen El Burhan to stay committed to the Constitutional Document, our Sudanese customs and values, and international and regional treaties, and point out that the announcement of the State of Emergency by El Burhan following the coup last Monday is not legitimate, as the correct procedures for such an announcement were not followed.

“It is not to the chairman of the Sovereignty Council whose presidency will end on November 15, nor the SAF Commander-in-Chief to announce the State of Emergency [..] or suspend Articles 11-12-15-16-24 and items 3, 71, and 72 of the Constitutional Document.”

‘The political detainees must be given the opportunity to receive the necessary medical treatment and meet their physician, their relatives, and lawyers or legal consultants to their choice.’

The signatories urge the release of all political detainees, including a number of Ministers. At least, it should be made known where they are held, “as holding detainees incommunicado is unlawful and a violation of international treaties”.

They say that some of the detainees are wounded as a result of “torture and excessive violence” used against them. They must be given the opportunity “to receive the necessary medical treatment and meet their physician, their relatives, and lawyers or legal consultants to their choice”.

The group further calls on El Burhan “to lift the State of Emergency and the consecutive actions that affect freedoms and basic rights violating the relevant international treaties”, and immediately reinstate the full Constitutional Document and the dissolved boards of government institutions, and enable Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and the Council of Ministers to resume their work.

They point to the achievements realised under the leadership of Hamdok during the transitional period, “concerning relations with the international community and financial institutions, and the lifting Sudan from the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SST) and other achievement, which will only be denied by the arrogant and ungrateful.

“We therefore see the importance to build on these [achievements] and develop them for the sake of Sudan, so that our country will not be targeted with political and economic sanctions – which already have begun with the suspension of regional and international memberships of Sudan, and economic support.

“You do have experience with ruling [a state] during the transitional period. Though it was for a short period, it constituted a lesson that taught you to manage a state that inherited a plethora of social and political problems and an economic crisis. Therefore, the undersigned see that a serious and deep dialogue with all components of the Sudanese people is the only way to the stability and security of the country,” the memo concludes.

The memorandum was signed by 27 lawyers and 12 civil society organisations, including the Sudan Doctors Syndicate, the General Banks Union, the Darfur Bar Association, the Nuba Mountains Bar Association, the Women Lawyers Initiative for Change, the No to Women Oppression Initiative, the Political and Civilian Women Group (Mansam), and the Khatim Adlan Centre for Enlightenment (KACE).

Last week, armed forces detained officials and journalists after they publicly criticised the coup.

Source: Radio Dabanga

The number of victims of the demonstrations against the military coup since October 25 has risen to at least 12 dead and hundreds wounded, according to the Sudan Doctors Central Committee. The official police press office disputes these figures, however, the ongoing internet and telecommunications blockade in Sudan is complicating communications with and between reliable sources. Other opposition sources estimate the actual ‘body count’ to be much higher, and exact numbers remain difficult to assess or confirm.

In its latest update yesterday, the Sudan Doctors Central Committee said that Jamal Abdelnasir (22) succumbed to gunshot wounds to the head, that he received on the morning of October 25, in Burri neighbourhood in eastern Khartoum.

The doctors report that during the October 30 Marches of Millions in Omdurman, three protesters were shot. Two of them died in the Omdurman Teaching Hospital and the third victim died in El Arbaeen Hospital.

The assert that at least 165 people were wounded during the demonstrations in Khartoum, El Gedaref and Kassala. Seven were seriously injured in Omdurman, and are currently being treated in the Omdurman Teaching Hospital and El Arbaeen Hospital.

The East Nile Hospital in Khartoum North recorded 105 injuries, including six critical injuries. Three of those casualties are paralysed after being shot, and three have injuries to limbs.

In El Gedaref, eight demonstrators were injured. One was reportedly run over by a car.

The Sudanese police press office dispute the numbers of deaths by shooting in Omdurman. They accuse groups of demonstrators of departing from peacefulness and attacking policemen and “some important buildings”, which prompted the police to use tear gas to disperse them.

The police deny that they used live bullets, but say that one of their members was hit by a live bullet, the source of which is being investigated.

Witnesses told Radio Dabanga that military forces used heavy fire in Khartoum, Omdurman and in East Nile locality Khartoum North.

On Sunday, Khartoum witnessed a state of cautious calm after the massive October 30 Marches of Millions in which an unprecedented number of people participated.

Source: Radio Dabanga