SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Human Rights Watch - Sudan: Lethal Force Used Against Protesters

19/5/2021: Human Rights Watch - Sudan: Lethal Force Used Against Protesters

After Sudan’s armed forces “used excessive and lethal force against peaceful protesters” on May 11 2021, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported from nine witnesses who alleged the military’s “heavy-handed response”.

Soldiers reportedly formed “cordons” around the crowd, “which hindered their dispersal, allowing for only a narrow exit”. Soldiers then allegedly encircled the protesters, making it hard for them to leave, before “apparently unprovoked and without warning” starting to beat them.

One protester said they saw a soldier shooting indiscriminately “at a direct level toward people, not in the air…like he did not care where the bullet would hit”.

HRW note that attorney general Tajelsir al-Hibr said the injuries of the two killed protesters “may indicate that the shooting was intentional”.

HRW Horn of Africa director Laetitia Bader called on Sudan’s international partners to “ensure Sudan’s leaders turn their pledges to action when it comes to upholding a rights-abiding transition.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources - Saudi Arabia deposits $250 million in Sudanese central bank

19/5/19: Multiple sources – Saudi Arabia deposits $250 million in Sudanese central bank

• AFP

• Reuters

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it deposited $250 million with the Sudanese central bank, according to a statement from the kingdom’s ministry of finance.

 The move will strengthen Sudan’s “financial position, alleviate pressure on the Sudanese pound and achieve more stability in the exchange rate,’ the statement said.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: BBC - Sudan crisis: Arrests over protesters' killings

19/5/19: BBC – Sudan crisis: Arrests over protesters’ killings

BBC reports that the suspects in the killings of at least five pro-democracy protesters in Khartoum have been arrested, Himedti, the military council vice-president, has said.

The men had signed confessions without giving details about their identities or how many they were, Himedti added.

 Demonstrators said soldiers were responsible, but the army blamed "saboteurs". The authorities believe they have detained the right people.

"Juridical experts have seen footage from two cameras that filmed them. And if [you think] we are lying, the cameras don't lie," said Himedti.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - Sudan's military council resumes talks with protesters

19/5/19: AP – Sudan’s military council resumes talks with protesters, by Omar Akour and Samy Magdy

AP reports that Sudan’s ruling military council is meeting with protesters on Sunday to discuss the country’s political transition after talks were halted for three days while roads were cleared outside the main sit-in in the capital, Khartoum.

The negotiations were suspended Wednesday, just hours after the military and the protesters announced they had agreed on the makeup of an interim parliament and a Cabinet for the transitional period, which is to last three years.

The military council had called for the roads outside the sit-in in front of the military’s headquarters in Khartoum to be opened. The protesters appear to have agreed to the demand, as the roads were cleared without incident on Thursday. The protesters also agreed to open the railway that crosses the area of the sit-in for five hours a day.