Home ›› 31 Oct 2021 ›› World Politics
Sudanese anti-coup protesters took to the streets Saturday to demonstrate against a military takeover that has derailed the country’s transition to civilian rule and triggered a deadly crackdown.
The protests come almost a week after the military last Monday detained Sudan’s civilian leadership, dissolved the government and declared a state of emergency, leading to a chorus of international condemnation.
Earlier demonstrations against the coup were countered by a security response that has left at least nine demonstrators dead and wounded around 170. Despite the bloodshed, organisers on Saturday aimed to stage a “million-strong” march against the military’s power grab, similar to mass protests that led to the toppling of autocrat Omar al-Bashir in 2019.
Witnesses saw hundreds marching at the start of the protests in the Khartoum area. “No, no to military rule”, and “We are free revolutionaries and we will continue the road” of democratic transition, they chanted in Khartoum, the capital.
In east Khartoum, protesters set car tyres on fire and held posters saying, “It’s impossible to go back”. Earlier, Sudanese rights activist Tahani Abbas said: “We are no longer afraid.”
Several pro-democracy activists have been arrested following the takeover led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, Sudan’s de facto leader since the ouster of Bashir which came at the cost of more than 250 lives.
Warnings on violence
On the eve of Saturday’s rallies, a US official put the death toll at between 20 and 30, adding the protests would be a “real test” of the intentions of Sudan’s military.
“We call on the security forces to refrain from any and all violence against protesters and to fully respect the citizens’ right to demonstrate peacefully,” the official in Washington said on condition of anonymity.
A similar call came from Britain’s special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan, Robert Fairweather.
“The security services and their leaders will bear responsibility for any violence towards any protesters,” he said on Twitter.
Phone lines were largely down by Saturday morning, as security forces deployed in large numbers and blocked bridges connecting the capital, Khartoum, with its sister cities.
They set up random checkpoints on main roads, randomly frisking passers-by and searching cars.
“We learned that the coup authority is planning to fabricate instances of destruction to justify its excessive violence,” Sudan’s information ministry, which backs a civilian government, said in a statement.
Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim, who leads an ex-rebel group aligned with the military, emphasised protesters’ right to demonstrate but suggested they were the ones prone to violence.
“Destroying sidewalks, electricity poles, and damaging properties which were built by the people has nothing to do with peaceful expression,” he said in a tweet, suggesting they were the ones prone to violence. Days of unrest have rocked Khartoum and other cities.
