SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Reporters Without Borders - Sudan: Freedom of Expression Under Siege After Military Coup in Sudan

5/11/2021: Reporters Without Borders - Sudan: Freedom of Expression Under Siege After Military Coup in Sudan

With journalists arrested, state media placed under military control and the Internet disconnected, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) condemn the clampdown by the armed forces in Sudan and its serious consequences for the freedom to report the news and for access to information.

RWB note al-Democrati newspaper, whose editorial line was generally favourable towards the transition, has been particularly targeted by the military, with its editor, al-Haj Warrag, arrested.

In addition, state-owned media is now controlled by the military, with Maher Abugoukh, the head of state TV’s news and current affairs programmes, arrested, and the heads of the Sudanese news agency and press council have both been fired.

“This military coup jeopardised the fragile gains from the revolution,” said Arnaud Froger, the head of RSF’s Africa desk. Sudan is ranked 159th out of 180 countries in RWB's 2021 World Press Freedom Index.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: International Crisis Group - After the Coup, Restoring Sudan’s Transition

5/11/2021: International Crisis Group - After the Coup, Restoring Sudan’s Transition, by Jonas Horner

International Crisis Group Sudan analyst Jonas Horner proposes pragmatic solutions for civilians to get Sudan’s transition back on track, noting that the military want to appoint a civilian government friendlier to their concerns, including: facing charges for crimes committed and losing control of the large parts of Sudan’s agricultural and industrial sectors that they have held for decades.

Horner suggests that “while the coup represents a perilous overreach by the generals, civilians will have to concede ground…the reality…is that [a] role for the military is inescapable”.

Horner proposes that a civilian selected government commits to “seeking consensus on contentious issues that widened the gap between the civilians and military,” with economic reform a priority issue. Horner further suggests that civilians “will also have to weigh carefully to what degree and at what pace justice should be meted out against military officers responsible for abuses”.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Sudan’s military dissolved boards of state companies, arrests more FFC leaders

5/11/2021: Multiple sources – Sudan’s military dissolved boards of state companies, arrests more FFC leaders

• Sudan Tribune

• Reuters

Reuters report that Sudan's military dissolved the boards of all state companies and national agricultural projects, in what appeared to be the junta's latest move to tighten control after seizing power in a coup on Oct. 25.

The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition said three more civilians - two Sudanese Congress Party members (Sharif Mohammed Osman and Hamza Farouk) and a senior member of the Tamkeen committee that aims to retrieve illicit financial gains of the ousted al-Bashir regime (Taha Osman Ishaq) - were arrested after meeting UNITAMS head Volker Perthes.

The FFC also said any reports of contact between it and the military, or of an imminent agreement between the military and deposed prime minister Abdallah Hamdok, were untrue and "nothing but desperate efforts to sow frustration in the intrepid Sudanese street (movement)".

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Reforming the Security Sector in Sudan: The need for a framework

5/11/2020: Sudan Tribune - Reforming the Security Sector in Sudan: The need for a framework, by Luka Biong D. Kuol

 Luka Biong D. Kuol, the Acting Dean at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS) at US National Defense University, makes various suggestions for security sector reform, starting with “changing the mind-set of how security is perceived, planned, managed, and delivered to the Sudanese people.”

 Kuol suggests that the conventional disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration (DDR) process must be adapted to Sudan’s uniquely complex conflict dynamics – with reintegration requiring close cooperation with communities over an extended period of time.

 Kuol calls for a national security strategy that clearly defines Sudan’s threats and the force structure needed for such security, which would thereby provide a new doctrine that would instil a national identity, ethos, and command and control structure that can avoid a fractured security apparatus.

 In addition, Kuol emphasises the important role that can be played by civil society in the security sector reform process, “if their understanding is enhanced”. 

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Resistance Committees walk out of talks on Sudan parliament

5/11/2020: Radio Dabanga - Resistance Committees walk out of talks on Sudan parliament

 Radio Dabanga report that Resistance Committees representatives withdrew from a Khartoum meeting with the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) regarding the formation of parliament, citing disagreements with the agenda.

 Before they left, the members of the Resistance Committees chanted slogans: “You parties, the suffering is enough” [ya ahzab, kifaya ‘azab] and “Legislative Council, Revolutionaries Council”.

 The Khartoum Resistance Committees accuse the FFC of “seeking to abort what is left of the revolution by deliberately excluding the Resistance Committees from meetings on the parliament,” further describing the government's handling of “important issues” such as the economic conference and the peace issue as “superficial and condescending to listen to the voice of the street”.

 The Resistance Committees declared its full readiness to defend the revolution and provide corrections, stressing that the Legislative Council is the safety valve of the revolution.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Sudan’s ruling FFC coalition agrees to hand over al-Bashir to the ICC

5/11/19: Multiple sources – Sudan’s ruling FFC coalition agrees to hand over al-Bashir to the ICC

• Radio Dabanga

• Sudan Tribune

The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition announced that all its components agreed to hand-over the ousted President Omer al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court (ICC), in the first FFC statements on the matter.

 However, the military council has rejected al-Bashir’s handover, saying it would be decided by the first elected government after the elections scheduled for three years. Prime Minister Hamdok’s position on the matter is that al-Bashir must be tried in Sudan after the establishment of an independent judiciary.

 In addition, Justice Minister Nasreddine Abdelbari denied supporting al-Bashir’s transfer to the ICC.

 Furthermore, the deputy chairman of the Darfur Bar Association said the matter was discussed with Sudan’s Attorney General Taj al-Sir Ali al-Habir, during which both sides agreed that “it was not the right time to make statements over al-Bashir handover to the ICC.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Hamdok pledges transition justice for Darfur displaced

5/11/19: Multiple sources – Hamdok pledges transition justice for Darfur displaced

Radio Dabanga

Sudan Tribune

 Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok pledged to address the situation of internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees in Darfur, to achieve transitional justice and remove the consequences of armed conflict in the region.

 Hamdok promised to voluntarily repatriate displaced people and refugees, adding that his government "will not rest until it achieves this task". He also promised to hold accountable the perpetrators of human rights violations.

 Hamdok visited the camps of displaced persons outside El-Fasher including Zamzam, Alsalam and Abu Shouk to inspect the IDPs conditions and listen to their demands.

 The IDPs called for security outside their camps and in agricultural areas, the return of international humanitarian organizations, the payment of collective and individual compensations, the provision of basic services for the camps and the establishment of training and rehabilitation centres for displaced persons.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s FFC forms enhanced leadership structures

5/11/19: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s FFC forms enhanced leadership structures

 Sudan Tribune reports that the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) announced the formation of a new organisational structure to cope with the needs of its leading role during the transitional period.

 The move follows long-standing disputes during which major coalition forces opposed the restructuring, including the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) and the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP).

 FFC spokesman Wajdi Saleh announced that the FFC will form a Central Council to act as its supreme leadership body, consisting of five representatives from the Sudanese Professionals Association, the Sudan Call, and the National Consensus Forces (NCF), and three representatives from the Unionist Gathering and Civil Forces Alliance. A number of seats will also be reserved for the Sudanese Revolutionary Front after consultations with its leadership.