Day: December 14, 2021

Sudanese demonstrators massively took to the street in the capital, Khartoum, and at least 10 other cities across the country, on Monday, to express their rejection of the military-led transition in the country.

At the opposed of 2018-19 protests, the anti-coup campaign is led and managed by the youth-controlled Resistance Committees which refuse any compromise with the military component and its allied groups.

The protests are held under the slogan of “No negotiation, No partnership, No legitimacy” for the participation of the coup leaders in the transition as they are accused of seeking to hold a tight grip on power.

The protests of December 13 in Khartoum state were more organized as the demonstrators in Khartoum headed to the presidential palace while the protesters in Khartoum North crossed the Nile river to march in Omdurman.

The police forces used tear gas and batons to disperse the peaceful rally heading to the presidential palace.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) said 55 people were wounded or suffocated by tear gas. In addition to three injured by batons.

The security forces fear that the protesters would hold a sit-in if they reach the premises of the military-controlled Sovereign Council.

The other protests in Khartoum state held a joint rally in Omdurman. Participants from Khartoum North, Eastern Nile and Haj Youssif towns gathered first in North Khartoum and then joined demonstrators in Omdurman who gathered in an area not far from the bridge linking the two towns.

During the peaceful rally in Omdurman, the participants launched balloons with the names of the “revolution martyrs”.

However, the security forces dispersed the protesters using tear gas and batons.

The independent medical group reported that six people were wounded including three suffocated and one injured by baton.

Over 44 people were killed and hundreds wounded after the 25th October coup. After his reinstatement on November 21, Prime Minister Hamdok sacked the police chiefs.

Also, the Rapid Support Forces and fighters of Darfur armed groups stopped their participation in the joint anti-demonstration forces.

On Monday, the newly appointed Attorney General Khalifa Ahmed Khalifa formed a committee to investigate the violence committed by the security forces since October 25, 2021.

Similar protests were organized outside the capital in several towns in northern Sudan including Atbara, Dongola and Al-Bariq. In eastern Sudan, rallies were held in Port Sudan, Kassala and Gadaref.

The Resistance Committee in central Sudan held demonstrations in Damazin, Singa and Wad Madani. In Western Sudan, protests were also organized in Nyala of South Darfur and El Fasher, of North Darfur.

The official news agency, for the first time after the coup, released two short news reports about the protests in Madani and Omdurman. SUNA omitted the demonstration in Khartoum and the police violent repression of protesters.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The National Umma Party (NUP) stressed its non-participation in ongoing consultations for a political declaration aiming to establish a new political coalition supporting the Hamdok-Burhan Agreement.

Darfur movements backing Burhan’s coup and some other political groups favourable to the 21st November agreement discuss a draft political framework under which a political majority will form to support Hamdok’s third government.

NUP leader Fadallah Burma was one of the mediators of the agreement and participated actively in these efforts despite the party’s rejection.

“The party has nothing to do with the ongoing discussions about the political declaration,” said NUP Secretary-General Elwathig Elbreir in statements to the Sudan Tribune on Monday.

Elberir pointed out that the participation in the consultations of the party’s leader, Burma, caused confusion for the Forces for Freedom and Changes who are opposed to the move.

In order to dissipate this confusion, he added that the Party is working on a road map to get out of the political crisis.

“It will be announced at the end of this week,” he stressed.

In line with the Hamdok-Burhan deal, the new cabinet would be formed of technocrats while the legislative council would be open to include political groups that backed the former regime except for the National Congress Party of Omer al-Bashir.

Regarding Burma’s participation in the meetings for a new coalition, the NUP secretary-general said the party’s regulations are complex before adding that he is only accountable before the general convention.

Elbreir underscored that they are committed to the FFC coalition, adding they are drafting a political declaration in support of the civil state.

The FFC groups, which signed the Constitutional Document with the military component in August 2019, say the Hamdok-Burhan agreement gives the army the control of the civilian component.

They add that only a civil government would achieve the reforms agreed in the constitutional declaration particularly the reforms of the security sector including the integration of the Rapid Support Forces in the national army.

On Monday, the draft political declaration was released to the press ahead of a meeting on 15th December at the premises of the Umma Party in Omdurman.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Torrential rains have severely disrupted trade and the movement of food and non-food items between Sudan’s Dein town in East Darfur State and Gokmachar of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State in South Sudan, a local government official revealed on Monday.

The Dein-Gokmachar road is one of the vital trade routes and commercial corridors for goods transiting from Sudan to South Sudan via Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. The route is suspended yearly from June to January due to seasonal flooding and the rising levels of the Akiir Adem River.

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Monday, several traders and citizens in Aweil North County in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, said there was a shortage of goods because the Dein-Gokmachar route was flooded.

A Sudanese trader based in Aweil North, Mohammed Ibrahim, said the floods had affected business and revealed that many Sudanese merchants were stranded at the northern bank of the Kiir Adem River.

“The goods are now coming slowly because all the activities were suspended during the rains,” Ibrahim said. “Traders from Sudan transport goods up to the northern bank of Kiir Adem where South Sudanese bring the items on carts until they reach Aweil North.”

Dau Deng, an Aweil North County resident, said flooding on the trade route had led to commodity prices skyrocketing.

“Yes, this road is so beneficial because many goods come to Gokmachar through it and the people buy them at affordable prices,” Deng said. “But now so many places on the commercial route have been overtaken by the waters.”

The Aweil North County chamber of commerce boss, Kur Atak, said the Kiir Adem River has burst its banks and is flowing swiftly which has hindered the shipment of goods from neighboring Sudan to Northern Bahr el Ghazal via the county. He said the few available commodities are now imported from Juba and Uganda.

“The Kiir Adem River is still flowing very fast. The truckers from Sudan offload on the river bank and the people from here pick the goods from there,” Atak said.

Aweil North County commissioner Victerino Ken Akoon admitted that the floods affected the movement of goods from Sudan but revealed that commodities started trickling in on Thursday.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) this week started support to the Khartoum State health ministry in their response to an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the city, the medical humanitarian organization said in a press statement.

MSF is supporting Covid-19 isolation units through tailored support to each isolation unit and reinforcing the ambulance system.

“We are working hand-in-hand with our partners in the Khartoum State Ministry of Health to provide care to patients ill with COVID-19,” said Carla Melki, MSF’s Emergency Coordinator in Sudan. “At the moment, many people are treated for COVID-19 at home, and so coming too late to the hospital, which makes it harder to prevent and treat complications that can lead to death. We want to reinforce the message that people suffering from symptoms of COVID-19 should go to a COVID-19 isolation center to access free care as soon as possible.”

According to the statement, MSF has started supporting the existing primary public isolation units in coordination with the Isolation command center, carrying out bedside training on medical protocols, infection control, patient triage, and unit organization to ensure the best use of existing capacities.

The intervention started in the Ibrahim Malik Hospital Isolation unit and will be carried out in more units in the weeks to come. MSF is also providing psychosocial support to healthcare workers who have faced a difficult situation during this global pandemic.

“COVID-19 can be a very scary illness, and so we understand that people want to stay home,” Melki added. “However, in most cases, it is not fatal – but the sooner people seek help for severe illness the more likely they are to survive. That’s why we are encouraging people to seek treatment as soon as

Source: Radio Tamazuj

At least three people committed suicide over the weekend in Machar-jilee and Dimol villages of Wulu County in Lakes State, local officials said.

The commissioner of Wulu County, Jima Diffala Rejab, confirmed to Radio Tamazuj Monday that two young men shot themselves to death in apparent suicides last Friday and Saturday while a woman hanged herself to death on Saturday in Dimol and Machar-jilee villages in Wulu County.

The deceased were identified as Dolba Adallah, Malel Chigok, and Alawiyah Makook, a 49-year-old woman.

“There are no reasons found for their committing suicide after investigations,” Commissioner Diffala said.

He explained that one of the young men left a suicide note addressed to his mother appreciating her but did not indicate the reason for killing himself.

“Nobody knows what is in someone’s heart to commit suicide because there are so many organizations in Wulu County that are disseminating messages of awareness to the community in order to cease committing suicide,” the commissioner said.

He added that it was shocking to hear three people committing suicide within two days.

Source: Radio Tamazuj