Sudan: arrests of opponents multiply, international pressure increases

Repression is increasing in Sudan. The Sudanese security forces on Wednesday, October 27, increased the arrests of activists and demonstrators in an attempt to end opposition to the coup d’état by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane.

At the end of the day, they still faced demonstrators determined to maintain the barricades of their “general strike”.

Clashes took place, in particular, in the very bustling district of Bourri, in the east of Khartoum, where hundreds of demonstrators threw stones, or in the suburb of Khartoum-North, where the security forces used tear gas and rubber bullets, AFP correspondents noted.

In the evening, the Ministry of Information, loyal to the ousted government, said in a statement that the security forces were tightening their control over the capital: “Neighborhoods and streets were blocked by armored vehicles and men carrying guns “and” women were dragged “to the ground.

He also urged the international community to investigate violations against peaceful protesters.

>> Sudan: new demonstrations repressed by the army after the coup

Abroad, the African Union and the World Bank have increased the pressure on the army: the first suspended Sudan from its institutions and the second stopped its aid, vital for this poor country plunged into economic doldrums. and plagued by conflict.

And at the UN, the spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, indicated that the UN envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, had met General Burhane and Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok who “is not free to move about “.

Volker Perthes “reaffirmed” to General Burhane that the UN demands “a return to the transition process” and “of course the immediate release of all those who have been arbitrarily arrested”.

The army authorized the return to his home in Khartoum of Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, arrested after the putsch on Monday, along with most of the civilians who made up the transitional power. But he remains “under close surveillance” according to his office.

“Hamdok was unable to communicate or meet with” his “political” supporters, the information ministry added.

The muzzling of the opposition has intensified as one of the leaders of Sudan’s largest party, the Umma, was arrested, along with activists and protesters in Khartoum.

Four protesters were killed and more than 80 injured on Monday by gunfire, doctors said.

In Khartoum, pick-ups rotate with members of the security forces, all armed but in civilian clothes. “It looks exactly like Bashir’s security forces,” said Hanaa Hassan, a demonstrator, referring to General Omar al-Bashir, who after a coup in 1989 ruled for 30 years without sharing.

To prevent the demonstrators from regrouping, the security forces “removed all the barricades” in the city center, Hadi Bachir told AFP. “And they arrest anyone who is around them.

“Dark hours”

Activists called on social media for a “one million people protest” on Saturday.

In an attempt to explain his coup, General Burhane had used the risk of “civil war” as a pretext. But Western ambassadors reiterated that, for them, “Abdallah Hamdok is still the Prime Minister and his government is the constitutional power.”

Abdallah Hamdok, civilian face of the transition in Sudan, spoke on Tuesday with the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, and Wednesday with the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.

The United States, which had only removed Sudan from its list of countries supporting “terrorism” at the end of 2020, has suspended part of its aid to the country and the European Union is threatening to follow suit.

Moscow, on the other hand, believes that the coup is “the logical result of a failed policy”, while the UN Security Council has not been able to agree on a joint statement on the putsch.

Internet cut

Protesters say they won’t leave the streets until civilian power returns to a country that has long lived under the rule of the military.

At the end of 2018 and 2019, they had camped for months until they forced the army to dismiss President Bashir. More than 250 people died in the repression of the revolt.

Two years later, “the protest movement has learned from its mistakes and is now more sophisticated,” says the International Crisis Group, as activists have “a network of local committees across the country that can organize themselves effectively, even without internet “.

The proof ? Demonstrations are also taking place in Port Sudan (east), Wad Madani (south) and Atbara (north).

However, it is in Khartoum that the situation is most tense. The airport officially reopened on Wednesday, but no company has announced the resumption of flights to or from the capital where the Internet is still cut.

With AFP