SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Foreign Policy – How the U.N. and the West Failed Sudan

3/5/2022: Foreign Policy – How the U.N. and the West Failed Sudan, by Justin Lynch

Justin Lynch, who experienced Sudan’s transition as a UN and NGO professional, calls for pro-democracy nations and institutions to “learn from [Sudan’s] botched transition”. With Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s coup prevention strategy being to boost the economy and civilian government’s popularity, Lynch suggests that pro-democracy institutions missed a window of opportunity.

Firstly, Lynch alleges that embassies “didn’t know how to spend the money they had been allocated,” and ended up giving it to UN agencies in Sudan “even though they knew it would be ineffective”.

Secondly, Lynch states that he felt “the goal of the UN and some NGOs was to grab more money rather than actually help people,” citing a UN official opposed to funding for peacekeepers amid worsening crisis in Darfur, which “spoke to a system that seemed to value milking money at all costs and career politicking rather than actually helping Sudanese”.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: US Institute of Peace –Sowing the Seeds of Nonviolent Action in Sudan

3/5/2022: US Institute of Peace –Sowing the Seeds of Nonviolent Action in Sudan, by Marija Marovic and Zahra Hayder

Marija Marovic, senior advisor to Gisa Group and Zahra Hayder, a Sudanese political activist, argue that the resistance committees (RC) could evolve into forming a unified leadership body for post-coup transitional negotiations as “mass mobilisation against the coup is necessary but insufficient in the absence of unified leadership with clear political demands”.

Arguing that “disunity and a lack of authoritative national leadership only worsens the opposition’s odds of success,” Marovic and Hayder note that the divisions within the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) and Sudan Professionals Association (SPA) mean that the RC are now the centre of oppositional mobilisation.

However, despite “sustaining the revolution’s energies and combating political apathy,” the decentralised nature of the RC is argued to prevent them from participation in national-level political negotiations and coordinating or implementing a transitional roadmap.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s transitional parliament may be postponed for more time

3/5/2020: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s transitional parliament may be postponed for more time

 Sudan Tribune reports that a leading member of the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), Coordination Council Member, Gaafar Hassan Osman, suggested that the formation of the Transitional Legislative Council would be postponed until after May 9th, due to the FFC coalition’s failure to reach an agreement on the distribution of the seats.

 Osman attributed the lack of consensus on the absence of appropriate mechanisms in ensuring that the selection process of parliamentarians represents women, youth, resistance committees and political forces, in addition to taking into account geographical variation.

 Osman also said that the FFC is unwilling to amend its nominees for state governors, despite opposition from influential civil society groups. Osman ruled out elections before the end of the transitional period, as well as the National Umma Party’s proposed conference on the reformation of the FFC.

SUDAN POLITICAL ALERT: US Senate Resolution to support peaceful transfer of power in Sudan

3/5/19: US Senate Resolution to support peaceful transfer of power in Sudan

 US Senators Ted Cruz (Republican) and Dick Durban (Democrat) expressed solidarity with Sudanese people in their bipartisan resolution which urged the US government to support a peaceful power transfer to a civilian-led political authority in Sudan, creating conditions for conflict resolution and democratic elections that meet international standards.

 Sudan’s TMC was also called on to:

• Respect the right to freedom of association and expression.

• Protect the rights of opposition political parties, journalists, human rights defenders, religious minorities, and NGOs “to operate without interference.”

• Lift the bureaucratic restrictions on humanitarian relief operations.

• Introduce strong measures to create transparency.

• Address the structural corruption and “kleptocracy of the state.”

• Pursue accountability for serious crimes and human rights abuses.

The resolution was co-sponsored by US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman James Risch (Republican), as well as 9 Democrat Senators, and 8 Republican Senators (including Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham).

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: New York Times - Bullets, tear gas and loves: Romance blooms in the midst of Sudan protests

3/5/19: New York Times – Bullets, tear gas and love: Romance blooms in the midst of Sudan protests, by Declan Walsh

 Declan Walsh's feature piece reports on revolutionary Sudan -  "the site of extraordinary scenes... where young Sudanese are reveling in newfound freedoms — to talk politics, to party and even to find love."

 Walsh draws attention to couples that encountered each-other at protests. Samah Elnour is marrying Muntassir Eltigani, after Eltigani rushed to Elnour's aid when she lay bleeding on the street. Mohamed Hamed and Nahed Elgizouli became a couple after Nahed rinsed Hamed's face following a tear gas attack.

 Walsh cites women wearing jeans, and the use of intoxicants as an indicator that "change is reverberating far beyond the protest area," following Omar Al Bashir's Islamist rule.

However, Walsh argues that” Sudan’s new freedoms are fragile,” and their endurance is "unclear," citing the increasingly "tense" power-sharing talks between protest leaders and the military.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Guardian - Sudan's female revolutionaries must beware fate that befell women in Libya

3/5/19: Guardian - Sudan's female revolutionaries must beware fate that befell women in Libya, by Zahra’ Langhi

 Zahra’ Langhi, the co-founder and CEO of the Libyan Women’s Platform for Peace, calls for Sudanese women to resist being robbed of their chance to build an inclusive democratic state, and for the international community to stop the flow of arms into countries where leaders lack democratic legitimacy and are associated with war crimes.

 Langhi warns that a Sudanese civil war “would inevitably lead to an attempt to erase Sudanese women from their revolution,” arguing that women – “also leading figures in the Libyan revolution” – were silenced and targeted after NATO’s military intervention.

 Langhi blames NATO’s intervention for handing weapons (and power) to armed groups and militias, leading to women being excluded from decision-making and mediating initiatives.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Telegraph - Sudan's young protesters have turned the streets into a carnival - but can they hold out against old guard?

3/5/19: Telegraph - Sudan's young protesters have turned the streets into a carnival - but can they hold out against old guard?, by Roland Oliphant

 Roland Oliphant’s feature piece evaluates the resolve of Sudan’s protest movement.

 Senior Sudanese journalist Osman Mirghani said that the biggest problem for Sudanese protesters is their lack of leadership, adding that the military are waiting for the politicians to give them a plan, but the civilian opposition is “five different forces with different ambitions.”

 Oliphant then argues that the longer the negotiation deadlock goes on, the more that fears grow of Himedti launching a counter-coup, noting that his Rapid Support Forces are armed and deployed around Khartoum.

 Oliphant notes that the National Intelligence and Security Services is also armed and deployed, raising the prospect of a civil war if a wrong move “could spiral out of control.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: BBC News - Sudan army rejects civilian majority in ruling council

3/5/19: BBC News - Sudan army rejects civilian majority in ruling council

 BBC News reports that a top official in Sudan's military council, Lt Gen Salah Abdelkhalig, has told the BBC it will not allow civilians a majority on the supreme council set to rule the country during a transitional period.

 Abdelkhalig told the BBC's Newsday programme that the military would insist on having at least half of all seats on the new supreme council: "[It's] a red line, maybe half and half," he said.

 The BBC’s James Copnall said that the 50-50 split could be seen as a concession by the military council, given that it had already suggested that the joint transitional council be made up of seven soldiers and three civilians.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Associated Press - Sudan protesters tone down demands in standoff with military

3/5/19: Associated Press - Sudan protesters tone down demands in standoff with military

by Fay Abuelgasim and Noha Elhennawy

 AP reports that Sudanese protesters toned down one of their key demands in an attempt to ease tensions with the ruling military council.

 The Forces of the Declaration for Freedom and Change, a coalition led by the Sudanese Professionals Association that has organized the protests, released a new proposal that drops a key issue of contention between the two sides — the allocation of seats in the transitional council.

 The protesters had earlier proposed an 11-member council with three seats for the military, which in turn pushed for a 10-member council with just three civilians.

 The new proposal instead offers a blueprint for a four-year-transitional period, including the makeup of an interim Cabinet and parliament.