Day: February 20, 2022

Sudanese security forces on Sunday fired tear gas at protesters demonstrating against last year’s military coup, an AFP correspondent said, as a United Nations human rights expert arrived in the country.

Thousands rallied in the capital Khartoum, carrying the Sudanese flags and posters of people killed during anti-coup demonstrations in recent months.

Security forces fired tear gas and wounded several protesters who were heading toward the presidential palace in central Khartoum, the correspondent said.

“We are ready to protest all year,” said one demonstrator, 24-year-old Thoyaba Ahmed.

Regular protests have rocked the northeast African country since army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led a military takeover in October, sparking international condemnation.

The move derailed a transition painstakingly negotiated between military and civilian leaders following the 2019 ouster of president Omar al-Bashir.

“We want to rectify our country’s situation to have a good future,” demonstrator Wadah Khaled told AFP.

At least 81 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in a violent crackdown on the protests, according to an independent medics group.

“We need to make sacrifices to resolve the country’s issues,” 25-year-old demonstrator Arij Salah said.

U.N. human rights expert Adama Dieng, meanwhile, is visiting Sudan until Thursday, on a trip initially planned for last month but postponed at the request of Sudanese authorities.

“Dieng will meet with senior Sudanese government officials, representatives of civil society organizations, human rights defenders, heads of U.N. entities, and diplomats,” the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement this week.

Separately Sunday, dozens rallied outside a court complex in Khartoum to protest against the trial of several Bashir-era figures, an AFP correspondent said.

Among those on trial is former foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour, who faces charges over plotting a coup in 2020.

Ghandour’s family said last month that he had begun a hunger strike in prison, along with several ex-regime officials.

Source: Voice of America

The United States’ yearly counter-terrorism training program for African forces began on Sunday in Ivory Coast at a time of upheaval in which Islamist fighters control large areas, coups are on the rise and French forces are winding down.

The training program, known as Flintlock, will bring together more than 400 soldiers from across West Africa to bolster the skills of forces, some of which are under regular attack by armed groups linked to al Qaida and Islamic State.

Those not present included forces from Guinea and two countries worst-hit by Islamist violence, Mali and Burkina Faso. Military juntas have snatched power in those three countries since 2020, raising concerns about a return to West Africa’s post-colonial reputation as a “coup belt.”

Central to this year’s training is coordination between different forces fighting the same enemy.

“A main focus of Flintlock is information sharing. If we can’t communicate, we can’t work together,” said Admiral Jamie Sands, Commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, at the opening ceremony.

Islamist militants roam across large areas of the Sahel, the arid band of terrain south of the Sahara Desert. Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have been overrun by attacks since 2015 that have killed thousands and uprooted more than 2 million people. Security experts say insurgents have infiltrated coastal countries including Benin and Ivory Coast.

The groups ghost across poorly-policed borders, confounding a mosaic of local and international forces who have spent billions of dollars trying eliminate the threat.

France has led the fight against the militants since 2013, but popular opposition to its intervention has grown. Last week it said it would leave Mali, moving instead to Niger.

Diplomats fear the exit of 2,400 French troops from Mali – the epicenter of the violence – could destabilize the region further.

Source: Voice of America

A patient standing on a hospital balcony was killed by a stray bullet fired by security forces in Sudan on Sunday, medics said, as protesters pursued a four-month campaign against military rule.

A 51-year-old man was shot while trying to get fresh air amid heavy tear gas in the city of Bahri, across the Nile from Khartoum, the Central Committee for Sudanese Doctors, a group aligned with the protest movement, said.

The death brought the number of people killed since the protests began to 82.

Police had no immediate statement on the death and could not be reached for comment.

The protests against the Oct. 25, 2021, coup have faced crackdowns that have drawn local and international condemnation. The military leadership has vowed to investigate the deaths.

In protests in Khartoum on Sunday, security forces fired tear gas and stun grenades, and water cannon sprayed red water at protesters, a Reuters reporter said. Gunfire could be heard.

Some protesters were carried away bleeding on motorcycles, the reporter said.

The protesters managed to reach within less than 500 meters (yards) of the heavily protected presidential palace for the first time in more than a month.

“We will continue taking to the streets until we succeed, defeating the coup and achieving democracy,” said Iman, a 35-year-old protester.

Protests were also held in the neighboring city of Omdurman and cities across the country, including Gadarif and El-Obeid.

United Nations human rights expert Adama Dieng, who arrived in Sudan Sunday, is visiting the country until Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported. The trip, initially planned for last month, was postponed at the request of Sudanese authorities, it added.

Source: Voice of America

Sudanese authorities on Saturday arrested Taha Osman a member of the suspended Empowerment Removal Committee (ERC) and leading member of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC).

Earlier this month, the Sudanese authorities arrested several prominent FFC leaders who were part of the ERC and charged them with breach of trust.

The detainees are Wagdi Salih, an ERC’s member, Khalid Omar Youssif, former Minister of Cabinet Affairs, and Mohamed al-Faki, a Member of the Sovereignty Council and Chairman of the committee.

Multiple sources confirmed that a joint force of the police, army, and the General Intelligence Service arrested Osman near the headquarters of the Baath Party on El-Gomhouria street in Khartoum.

The Committee for the Defence of People Affected by Unlawful Detention and Mass Killing Martyrs issued a statement condemning the unlawful detention of the Sudanese lawyer saying he enjoys advocates’ immunity which prohibits his detention before the needed permission.

Also, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) condemned Osman’s “political arrest” saying it was part of the arbitrary arrests campaign targeting the Resistance Committees, and the anti-coup political and civil society groups.

The SPA added that the political detainees are held in a special section of Soba Prison supervised by a special security committee.

Lt General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan Chairman of the Sovereign Council told the UNITAMS Head Volker Perthes on Thursday that the arrest of the political leaders had been carried out by the independent judicial and legal authorities.

Perthes met al-Burhan to stress the need to create a suitable atmosphere for the dialogue process he is working on.

For their part, the FFC said the continued bloody crackdown on protesters and the arrest of opponent political leaders and activists aim in fact to abort the UN-facilitated process.

Source: Sudan Tribune

A peace signatory group, The Third Front, Tamazug, requested an additional time to withdraw its fighters from the main cities, as part of the government’s efforts to end the insecurity and looting attacks in the Darfur region.

On February 3, the Joint High Committee for Security Arrangements in a meeting chaired by Lt Gen al-Burhan in El-Fasher decided to gather all the forces of the peace signatory groups in cantonment sites located outside the cities.

The decision was taken after several attacks by armed elements on the former UNAMID sites and WFP warehouses in the capital of North Darfur.

However, two groups targeted by the decision, Tamazug and Sudanese Alliance, did not implement it due to the lack of logistical means.

The Sudan Tribune learnt that Tamazug requested more time until next Tuesday to move its combatants to the cantonment sites outside the cities.

The Joint Military Committee is considering Tamazug’s request to delay the deadline and other requests for logistical support that the government pledged to provide to all the armed groups to move their forces to cantonment sites.

Tamazug leader Mohamed Ali Querashi told Sudan Tribune they support the withdrawal of troops out of the cities

Querashi stressed that the implementation of the decision requires that gathering camps be prepared to receive the fighters and to respond to the “demands of the movement’s leaders”.

“We protested that we were not involved in the meeting of the Higher Committee for Security Arrangements, which was held in El-Fasher in early February so that we could discuss the matter within the meeting,” he added.

At the time, the group issued a statement to protest the exclusion from the meeting.

Tamazug was unknown before the Juba peace process. The group is formed by people from the areas bordering South Sudan in Kordofan and Darfur regions.

The government delays the implementation of the security arrangements pointing to the lack of money.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Ethiopia officially launched power generation from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) 11 years after starting its construction.

The power production from the hydropower dam was officially launched by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday morning.

Only one of the 13 turbines of the giant dam, for the moment, is operating. It generates 375 megawatts, according to the official Ethiopian News Agency.

The GERD full power capacity is 5150 MW.

“From now on, there will be nothing that will stop Ethiopia,” Abiy said.

“We just started generating power, but that doesn’t mean the project is completed,” said Kifle Horo, the dam’s project manager.

He added that it would reach its full capacity within two and a half to three years.

Besides the Prime Minister, the inauguration was attended by former Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, former President Mulatu Teshome and Speaker of the House of Federation Agengew Teshager, Speaker of House of People’s Representatives, Tagesse Chafo.

The GERD has been a source of tensions between the three riparian countries.

While Egypt fears for its share of water, Sudan wants a technical deal to protect its small dams on the Blue Nile.

The political crisis in Sudan triggered by the coup of October 25, 2021, contributed to the delay in the resumption of trilateral talks.

Source: Sudan Tribune