Sudan In The News Weekly Report (11-18)

@khalidalbaih cartoon depicting tug-and-pull between a Sudanese civilian and the military council, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and the US.

The transitional military council (TMC) launched a propaganda campaign this week, although the internet black-out seems to have backfired after social media went #BlueForSudan, and graphics details of the rape campaign have been published in the western media.

Increased US engagement has been supplemented with calls for western diplomacy to avert a Sudanese civil war, although the military’s Arab, Russian and Chinese allies continue to back them. Meanwhile, war crimes are continuing in Darfur.

News developments

Multiple sources (June 16) reported that former president Omar Al Bashir made his first appearance since he was ousted, as he faced corruption charges.
Following the TMC’s release of political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, Sudanese protest leaders (the Declaration of Freedom and Change) called off the civil disobedience and agreed to resume talks with the military (multiple sources, June 11).
Nonetheless, by June 17, AP reported that the Declaration of Freedom and Change said they began a “revolutionary escalation,” calling for night-time rallies and demonstrations to condemn the June 3 massacre, and continue calling for civilian rule.
The TMC held a press conference, in which they acknowledged violations in the sit-in dispersal, and said that an investigation was underway (multiple sources, June 14). Several officers are allegedly detained for “deviating” from the plan to disperse the sit-in.

The press conference reflected the TMC’s public relations campaign this week, as they try to legitimise themselves.

TMC Propaganda.

The TMC picked reputable western media outlets as the place to whitewash their image, and portray themselves as guarantors of stability.

The BBC (June 11) reported on a propaganda trip “which went awry,” as Sudanese security forces showed the BBC crew a laboratory which it said was ransacked by protesters, and medical facilities which it claimed were functioning normally. Witnesses that the BBC spoke to disputed the claims.

Two senior TMC figures spoke to the western media this week.

RSF commander Himedti interview with the New York Times.

Air force chief Salah Abdelkhalig told the Financial Times (June 13) that military rule is justified as a protection against rebels and Islamists.

In response to international pressure following the June 3 massacre, TMC deputy Himedti, the de-facto leader of Sudan, “wants to present himself as Sudan’s saviour, not its destroyer.” (New York Times, June 16).

In a rare interview with a western journalist, Himedti told Declan Walsh that the Rapid Support Forces under his leadership, were provoked by a protester waving his genitals at them – before carrying out the June 3 massacre. Himedti also said that Sudan “would be lost” if not for the RSF protecting it.

Ishaan Tharoor (Washington Post, June 18) suggested that the RSF’s portrayal of itself as the guarantors of national stability - “a mantra often preached in [Saudi Arabia and the UAE]” – may indicate they are supplementing their financial support for Himedti, with lessons in messaging.

2. #internet_blackout_in_Sudan.

The TMC’s “desperate” attempts to project an image of stability, and show its Saudi and Emirati financiers that it is worth backing, has led it to block the internet since June 5. (Washington Post, June 13). 5 days into the blackout, Sudan lost $228.9 million, money that it cannot afford to lose amid the ongoing economic crisis which fueled the protests.

As a result, Sudanese people have been reliant on “old-fashioned phone calls,” SMS texts and hard-to-find landline internet connections. (BBC, June 17).

3. #BlueForSudan.

The internet blackout may also be viewed as an extension of the TMC’s propaganda campaign, an attempt to prevent the world from seeing the crimes committed. This has backfired, as the #BlueForSudan hashtag continues to gain momentum – trending internationally on Twitter as people seek to raise awareness for Sudan, in Mohammed Hashim Mattar’s memory. (Multiple sources, June 14)

A mark of #BlueForSudan’s popularity is that fake Instagram accounts are hijacking the Sudan solidarity campaign to gain followers (CNN, June 18).

Antoine Buyse ((Guardian, June 18)) credited #BlueForSudan for reflecting how global protest movements worldwide are adapting to dictators attempts (like the internet blackout) to stifle them - by carrying “the flame of protest…beyond a country’s borders by its diaspora and sympathisers.”

In getting the Sudanese people’s message out during the internet blackout, it will show that “the deaths and rapes have not worked,” argues Nesrine Malik, who called for readers to “shame” the world into applying pressure on the TMC and its Saudi and Emirati funders, to ensure that the atrocities are not normalized. (Guardian, June 16).

4. Rapes.

Nor has the internet blackout failed to prevent the media from reporting on the rapes committed during the June 3 massacre, starting with the Guardian (June 11). Dozens of women, men and children are believed to be among the victims of the mass rape. ((The Independent, June 16)).

The most graphically detailed article was published in the BBC (June 15). An anonymous male witness recalled being shot at when trying to prevent an RSF gang rape. The RSF troops then attempted to rape him too. An anonymous ambulance driver said he overheard RSF troops arguing over who gets to rape a dead woman first.

Sulaimi Sharif, who heads a trauma centre, suggested that the RSF is exporting their usage of rape as a weapon of war from Darfur to Khartoum. She said that the rapes are “all about degradation, humiliation and beating of the spirit,” and the numbers are likely to be higher than reported due to social stigmas.

5. Western diplomacy.

This week, the US finally took diplomatic steps to attempt to solve the Sudanese crisis. Multiple sources (June 12) reported that veteran diplomat Donald Booth was named the US special envoy for Sudan. Booth, and US assistant secretary of state for Africa Tibor Nagy, both met with TMC leader Abdulfattah Al Burhan (Reuters, June 13).

Nagy, who also spoke to June 3 massacre victims, called for an “independent and credible investigation.” He added that the bad-blood between the TMC and the opposition made direct talks “impossible,” and outside mediation is needed. (Multiple sources, June 14).

Meanwhile, the EU blamed the TMC for the massacre (AFP, June 17), and the TMC accused the UK ambassador to Khartoum, Irfan Siddiq, of breaching diplomatic protocol in his condemnations. (Reuters, June 12).

With western actors seemingly more sympathetic towards the Sudanese protesters, they offer the best hope for a diplomatic solution.

6. How to prevent a civil war.

The diplomatic solutions offered this week have tended to highlight how western diplomacy may provide the civilian government that will avert a civil war.

Kate Ferguson (Guardian, June 13) warned that Sudan can become an ISIS-base in the absence of UK support. Therefore, she called for the UK to dissuade the TMC from holding “premature elections,” which would be too early to disarm paramilitary groups.

The Economist (June 15), called for the US to press for a power-sharing agreement in Sudan that is led by civilians. The Economist note that how Khartoum is a “time-bomb” amid “distrust” within different elements of the TMC.

Matters are complicated by the TMC’s main supporters – Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE – supporting different TMC elements. Saudi-Emirati support for the RSF, differs from Egypt’s preference for the army, with Egypt not wanting a militia with Islamist ties (the RSF) on its border. Thus, the Economist call for the US to the US to persuade those Arab states of their common interests in keeping Sudan stable.

@KhalidAlBaih cartoon depicting RSF Himedti getting to the throne via dead bodies.

7. TMC’s allies.

However, as Iyad El-Baghdadi (New York Times, 11 June) noted, the Saudi and Emirati backing of the TMC is driven by fears of a major domestic upheaval if “a major Arab country transitions to democracy.” El-Baghdadi questions Saudi-Emirati rhetoric in claiming that their support for TMC is aimed at preserving stability by fighting Islamist extremism, noting that the Sudan uprising has been against Islamists from its outset.

The TMC’s other main international allies are Russia and China, who supported the TMC in their calls for the UN and African Union to withdraw its peacekeeping mission in Darfur (AFP, 14 June).

Russia’s support for the TMC should come as no surprise, given the Telegraph’s (June 11) that a Putin-linked businessman tried to help Omar Al Bashir crack down on the protests by painting protesters as "pro-Israel…pro-LGBT, and anti-Islam.”

As Reem Abbas (Washington Post, June 13) noted, the TMC “continues to sustain [Omar Al] Bashir’s blood-tarnished legacy,” with the killing in Darfur continuing.

8. Darfur.

The TMC backed down on their demands for the UN-AU to withdraw from Darfur (AP, June 15). However, Amnesty International warned that war crimes are continuing in Darfur (AP, June 11). The UN confirmed that 17 were killed in an RSF massacre last week. (Reuters, 13 June).

As a result, Reem Abbas (Washington Post, June 13) called for peaceful collective resistance between all of Sudan – stating that the RSF-inflicted state of terror which “has been the norm in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan for years,” is reaching Khartoum.

TMC Propaganda.