SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters – Sudan court orders restoral of internet, but no sign of services returning

9/11/2021: Reuters – Sudan court orders restoral of internet, but no sign of services returning

Reuters report on the impact of the internet blackout in Sudan, which entered its sixteenth day following the military coup.

The blackout has meant further impunity for attacks in Darfur, said Adam Rojal, spokesman for the Coordinating Committee for Refugees and Displaced People, with at least four people killed in over 10 militia attacks in Darfur, with more injured and sexually assaulted.

“The lack of internet is allowing them to commit so many violations without accountability. We used the internet to document and report and that would make them a little bit scared," he said, adding that the blackout was also affecting camp residents economically by making it impossible for them to request or receive money from family abroad.

Local resistance committees that organised protests since the coup say the blackout has made organising difficult, even as they use graffiti, flyers, and neighbourhood marches to get the word out.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s FFC says negotiations with coup leaders only after restoration of civilian gov’t: officials

9/11/2021: Sudan Tribune - Sudan’s FFC says negotiations with coup leaders only after restoration of civilian gov’t: officials

Sudan Tribune report that the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) coalition said they have no dialogue with the military council adding that any negotiation with the army should be after the restoration of the civilian-led transition and release of political detainees.

Shehab Ibrahim al-Tayeb, a member of the FFC leadership council, said the military offered ousted Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok a place on the Sovereign Council in exchange for giving up the position of Prime Minister. However, Hamdok rejected the offer.

The FFC Central Council agreed on four basic conditions the military should meet before accepting any initiative; restoring the full constitutional declaration, the release of all detainees including Hamdok, the reinstatement of Hamdok and his government, the handover of power to civilians, and FFC unification.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Radio Dabanga – Khartoum court rules end to Sudan's internet blackout

9/11/2021: Radio Dabanga – Khartoum court rules end to Sudan's internet blackout

Ruling on a lawsuit brought on behalf of the Sudanese Consumer Protection Society (SCPS), a court in Khartoum North (Bahri) ordered MTN, Zain, and Sudani - Sudan’s main internet and telecoms providers - to restore internet access, Radio Dabanga report.

According to SCPS director Yasir Mirghani, the internet service providers said armed military personnel entered the control rooms and ordered the internet to be cut off. He condemned this as “unacceptable behaviour” and stressed that the society will demand accountability.

Lawyer Abdelazim Hasan, who raised the complaint on the society’s behalf, said that he and a group of lawyers will work on issuing criminal cases and arrest warrants against the directors of the companies if the internet is not restored.

He called on the Sudanese public to join a lawsuit demanding compensation for the internet outage.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Conclusions of SPLM-N workshop violate Sudan’s peace body decisions: official

9/11/2020: Sudan Tribune - Conclusions of SPLM-N workshop violate Sudan’s peace body decisions: official

 Sudan Tribune report that the head of the Sudanese government delegation for the peace process, Lt Gen Shams al-Din Kabbashi said that the rejection of the recommendations of the informal workshop on secularism with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction of Abdelaziz al-Hilu (SPLM-N al-Hilu) was in line with the position of the Higher Peace Council.

 Kabbashi told Sudanese newspaper al-Youm al-Tali that the Hamdok-Hilu agreement that preceded the secularism workshop was not approved by the Higher Peace Council, chaired by head of state Lt Gen Abdulfatah al-Burhan, as it stipulates that SPLM-N al-Hilu retains the right to self-determination until separation between religion and state are actualised.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Former militia warns against al-Bashir handover to ICC

9/11/19: Sudan Tribune - Former militia warns against al-Bashir handover to ICC

 Sudan Tribune reports that pro-Islamist militia the Popular Defence Forces (PDF) has issued a statement threatening “a mass fire that will spare no one” if the Sudanese government hands over Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court.

 Although the statement said that the PDF is not opposed to trying al-Bashir inside Sudan, they warned that any attempt to prosecute him abroad may result in “unexpected” consequences.

 The PDF, which is established in 1989 after the coup that brought al-Bashir to power, is now part of the Sudanese army. However, according to the Small Arms Survey, the group has a “weak central coordination, and tensions between its political and military wings.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Elections should be organized if Sudan’s transition overwhelms government: al-Mahdi

9/11/19: Sudan Tribune - Elections should be organized if Sudan’s transition overwhelms government: al-Mahdi

 Sudan Tribune reports that the leader of the National Umma Party, Sadiq al-Mahdi, has announced the NUP’s unwavering support for the transitional government, but warned that the magnitude of their tasks could lead to calls for premature general elections.

 Al-Mahdi criticised some of the NUP’s allies in the Forces of Freedom and Change, and stressed that al-Bashir’s regime still exists via its party institutions, private companies, media agencies and "masked militias.”

 He also criticised the Sudanese Communist Party, labelling it as “Communist Salafist Party” that is reckless and destructive.

 Al-Mahdi also called for the Sudanese Professionals Association to develop their organisational structure and form a democratic political party similar to the British Labour Party, or return to their traditional professional union structures.