SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sacked Sudan TV director ignored al-Burhan news: adviser

12/4/2022: Sudan Tribune - Sacked Sudan TV director ignored al-Burhan news: adviser

 

Sudan Tribune report that al-Tahir Abu Haja, the media advisor of the head of the military-led sovereign council Abdulfattah al-Burhan, said that Luqman Ahmed was dismissed from his position as director of Sudan’s Radio and TV Corporation as “he ignored the news of the head of the [ruling] Sovereign Council and abandoned its mission as an official media tasked with publishing the news of state institutions and leaders.”

 

Abu Haja said the official TV station ignored the news of the army and broadcast the news about al-Burhan at the end of the news bulletin, adding that while the editorial line of private media could classify the news according to its importance, state media “has to take into account the importance of the positions in the state.”

 

Abu Haja also claimed that national TV did not give enough attention to the eastern border dispute in al-Fashqa.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Human Rights Watch - Victims of Sudan Crackdown on Protests Await Justice

12/4/2021: Human Rights Watch - Victims of Sudan Crackdown on Protests Await Justice, by Mohamed Osman 

Mohamed Osman, Human Rights Watch assistant researcher for Africa, calls for a “meaningful” transparent justice process, with the Sudanese government providing “regular public updates on the progress in investigations of public interest and guaranteeing victims and their families effective participation.”

Osman argues that while “justice efforts required in Sudan are ambitious and long-term,” the government, with international support, should take “effective, prompt actions to bolster current efforts”.

Osman cites resources and a lack of political will as obstacles to justice, quoting Mahmoud al-Sheikh, a member of the attorney-general’s committee to investigate abuses, to say: “we are struggling to get the security forces to cooperate including by providing us with access to crucial evidence or accept requests of lifting immunities of suspects.”

Osman further notes that Sudanese criminal law does not recognise command responsibility as a mode of liability, “which could hinder the possibility of holding mid-to-top level commanders accountable.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Multiple sources - Sudan coup leader Awad Ibn Ouf steps down, Abdelfattah Al Burhan announced new head of the Sudanese transitional military council

12/4/19: Multiple sources - Sudan coup leader Awad Ibn Ouf steps down, Abdelfattah Al Burhan announced new head of the Sudanese transitional military council

BBC

Sudan Tribune

Independent

Financial Times

Washington Post

 Reuters

Sudan’s Defence Minister Awad Ibn Auf said on Friday that he is stepping down as head of the country’s transitional military council, a day after former president Omar Al Bashir was overthrown in a coup.

 Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah Abdelfattah Burhan will be the new head of the transitional military council, Ibn Auf said in a speech broadcast on state television on Friday.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - My Father Died Before He Could See al-Bashir Fall

12/4/19: New York Times – My Father Died Before He Could See al-Bashir Fall, by Jamal Mahjoub

Jamal Mahjoub, the author of “A Line In the River: Khartoum, City of Memory”, calls for a transformed Sudanese political spectrum that represents its diversity and potential, arguing that the success of the revolution hinges on sweeping away the stagnation that has dominated Sudanese politics for decades, and “turned indifference into an ideology.”

 Mahjoub cites the lack of economic and agricultural strategies, decaying public services, that 70% of the budget went to the military, and Al Bashir’s inner-circle enriching themselves, to argue that “nothing of substance was achieved” during Sudan’s oil boom.

  Nonetheless, Mahjoub argues that Al Bashir’s fall provides Sudan with a chance to “redeem and restore.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Washington Post - Sudan's future is uncertain. But sadly, Bashir's looks rather promising

12/4/19: Washington Post – Sudan’s future is uncertain. But sadly, Bashir’s looks rather promising , by Patrick Gathara

Patrick Gathara examines the future prospects for Sudan and its ousted president Omar Al Bashir, calling for Sudan to learn from its history of revolutions being followed by military government.

Arguing that “there is a real danger of the revolution going in circles,” Gathara cites the military hijacking of the Sudanese and Algerian revolution to highlight the consequences of protesting without plan for what to do after a dictator is toppled.

Gathara then notes that Al Bashir may opt to settle in Kenya, where President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto have both overturned the ICC indictments

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: All Africa - Sudan: Al-Bashir - Why the ICC Is Between a Rock and a Hard Place

12/4/19: All Africa - Sudan: Al-Bashir - Why the ICC Is Between a Rock and a Hard Place, by Mattia Cacciatori

Mattia Cacciatori, a lecturer in International Relations and International Security at the University of Bath, argues that the ICC should not prosecute Omar Al Bashir for his alleged war-crimes.

Cacciatori argues that pursuing Al Bashir would incentivize other dictators retain power, which would also hinder conflict resolution processes, given that ICC cases are mainly pursued in regions and states facing war. 

Cacciatori then argues that pursuing Al Bashir would change perceptions about the ICC - noting that the ICC’s need to cooperate with members of Sudan’s new military regime could lead to the pardoning Sudanese military figures complicit in Al Bashir’s war crimes. 

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: African Arguments - A Cruel April In The Arab Spring

12/4/19: African Arguments – A Cruel April In The Arab Spring?, by Alex De Waal

Sudan expert Alex De Waal examines how the “short-term power calculations” of the leaders of the April 11 military coup threaten Sudan’s stability and its democratisation.

 De Waal cites the internally divided Sudanese army, NISS’ unwillingness to play a secondary role, and the RSF willingness to use to violence to achieve its goals, to highlight the distrust among the coup leaders. De Waal argues that the new regime’s pre-occupation with infighting and power consolidation apprehends the prospects of democratic transition, as well as increasing the possibility of further repression.  

 De Waal then argues that democratisation will need to be facilitated externally, but concedes that Middle-East rivalries are likely to be played out among the higher ranks of the new regime, further accentuating instability, and that western powers are unlikely to assertively support democracy.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Washington Post - Sudan and Algeria’s dilemma: How to avoid turning to Egypt

12/4/19: Washington Post – Sudan and Algeria’s dilemma: How to avoid turning to Egypt, by Ishaan Tharoor

134 word summary:

Ishaan Tharoor examines the chances of Sudanese and Algerian protestors avoiding a situation like Egypt’s, whereby a “reviled despot” was replaced by an entrenched military establishment.

 Tharoor argues that the resolve of Sudanese and Algerian protesters will be tested by the prospect of state violence, with Sudan, “riven by ethnic conflicts, dominated by a complex security apparatus of regime-affiliated paramilitary forces and tangled up in a mess of regional geopolitics,” facing higher risks than Algeria “where few want a repeat of the traumatic civil war.”

 Tharoor also argues that it is unclear how the international community can support the protesters, citing western leaders seeing the situations in Libya and Syria and “largely [accepting] the mantra of stability preached by the Middle East’s Arab monarchies...to undermine the democratic transitions of other countries in the region.”

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Bloomberg - Sudan's Dictator Is Toppled, but His Regime Remains

LINK TO FULL ARTICLE:

12/4/19: Bloomberg – Sudan’s Dictator Is Toppled, but His Regime Remains, by Eli Lake

ARTICLE SUMMARY:

Bloomberg Opinion columnist Eli Lake calls on the US and its allies to resist the temptation to reach out to the military regime that replaced Omar Al Bashir, and to isolate Sudan “until it is free.”

Disputing that the military coup is the end to Sudan’s “nightmare,” Lake callS on the US and allies to align more closely with Sudan’s popular protest movement.

Lake also highlights recommendations made by John Prendergast, co-founder of Sentry, a non-governmental organization dedicated to tracking the assets of war criminals, who called for a new campaign to track and freeze the overseas accounts of the regime’s leaders, and for legal and technological support for Sudanese protest organisers.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: BBC News - Omar al-Bashir: How Sudan’s military strongmen stayed in power

12/4/19: BBC News – Omar al-Bashir: How Sudan’s military strongmen stayed in power

 

Alex de Waal, the executive director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University, disputes that the April 11 military coup is a step towards democracy, outlining four aspects of a pact by the security cabal which ousted Omar Al Bashir.

 Firstly, the army, NISS and the paramilitary leaders are keen to share power among themselves, in attempts to avoid a repeat of this week’s clashes.

 Secondly, De Waal argues that the cabal - which is allied to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - is telling the West that their coup pre-empted a Muslim Brotherhood takeover.

 Thirdly, despite publicly blaming Al Bashir for Sudan’s ills, the group will protect him from facing the ICC, partly because the coup leaders are also responsible for the atrocities committed in Darfur.

Finally, the coup leaders are buying time so that they can decide on whether to repress or co-opt Sudan’s protesters.  

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters – South Sudan frets over whether Sudan coup will derail fragile peace

12/4/19: Reuters – South Sudan frets over whether Sudan coup will derail fragile peace

The military coup Sudan sparked anxiety in neighbouring South Sudan, raising fears of the scuppering of a fragile agreement that ended South Sudan’s five-year civil war.

 South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and former rebel leader Riek Machar signed a peace agreement last year that calls on them to form a unity government on May 12. But key requirements - including integrating their forces - have not been met.

The deal was guaranteed by Sudan, but the ouster of Bashir transfers much more responsibility for the success of the agreement to former arch-enemies Kiir and Machar.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan’s military council promises civilian government after Bashir toppled

12/4/19: Reuters – Sudan’s military council promises civilian government after Bashir toppled

Sudan’s military council, now running the country under Defence Minister Awad Ibn Auf, promised that Sudan would have a new civilian government. The military council said it expects the pre-election transition period it announced on Thursday to last two years at most, if chaos can be avoided. The Sudan Professionals Association rejected the proposal

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Sudan’s Military Says It Won’t Extradite Omar Al Bashir

12/4/19: Multiple sources – Sudan’s Military Says It Won’t Extradite Omar Al Bashir

Sudan’s transitional military council will not extradite ousted president Omar Al Bashir but he could be tried in Sudan, said Omar Zeinalabdin, the head of the council’s political committee.

“We, as a military council in our term, will not hand the president over abroad. We may try him, but we will not hand him over,” said Omar Zeinalabdin.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: BBC News - Sudan coup: military warns against disturbances

12/4/19: BBC News – Sudan coup: military warns against disturbances

The BBC reports that Sudan’s military coup leaders have warned protesters still on the streets that there will be “zero tolerance” for disturbance. Lt-Gen Omar Zeinalabdin, who heads the political committee of Sudan’s transitional military council, insisted that the army does not seek power, but that it would maintain public order.

 Zeinalabdin said that Sudan’s future would be decided by the protestors, telling a news conference: “You, the people, will provide the solutions for all economic and political issues. We have come with no ideology, we have come here to maintain order and security to provide the opportunity for the people of Sudan to achieve the change they aspire to.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters – Sudan military council to start dialogue with political groups, says ‘not greedy for power’

12/4/19: Reuters – Sudan military council to start dialogue with political groups, says ‘not greedy for power’

Reuters reports that Omar Zeinalabdin, the head of Sudan’s transitional military council’s political committee. Zeinalabdin said that the council “will not force anything on the people” and wants to create an atmosphere for peaceful dialogue, outlining plans to begin dialogue with political groups later on Friday.

 Zeinalabidin added that the solution for Sudan’s crisis will come from protestors rather than the military, insisted that the military council is the “protectors of the demands of the people and that is by consensus from the political entities,” and that the military is “not greedy for power.”