The African country Sudan has been in the middle of a political crisis ever since long-standing ruler Omar al-Bashir was overthrown in April. The pro-democratic party and the military joined forces to achieve this. In February 2019, Bashir even declared a state of emergency and fired cabinet and regional governors in an attempt to end weeks of protests against his rule. Up to 40 people died here. By May 2019, the military had already overthrown Bashir and had begun talks with opposition regarding a transition to democracy.

Oddly enough, Omar al-Bashir’s reign begun and ended in similar ways. He seized power in a military coup in mid-1989, and he was overthrown in April 2019. In December 2018, the government began making significant cuts to bread and fuel. They even stopped people from taking money out, and they increased the price of everyday things like food and general goods. These changes in economy angered the population of Sudan and sparked the beginning of many protests, which eventually spread to the capital, Khartoum. The protests evolved into protests against Bashir and his government, not just the cuts made.

Once the military successfully overthrew Bashir, the country was run by a military council. The military and protestors both came to an agreement that there would be a 3 year period in which the country would be allowed to come under civilian rule. However, around one month and a half later, security forces began shooting innocent protestors outside of the military headquarters in Khartoum-for no apparent reason. Aside from this, they also reduced the 3 year period to nine months.

The military killed hundreds of innocent people and injured thousands, including children. There were several bodies recovered from the Nile River. They would be tied with rocks at their feet so they would sink and drown swiftly. Paramedics would be shot while attempting to heal wounded people on the street.

The protests began in December 2018 and are still going on. They are now standing in demonstration against military rule. Tens of thousands challenged the looming presence of military troops, demanding that they hand over power to civilian-led administration. A Sudanese woman dressed in white has become a symbol of resistance in Sudan. She has been shared widely on the internet. Several clips of her leading protests chants against Bashir went viral. She has been dubbed as Kandaka or “Nubian queen”.

Due to the fact that Sudan was went through severe restrictions of the use of internet, it was up to the rest of the world to draw attention to such an important issue. There were thousands of posts a day regarding the crisis, and calling for fellow social media users to speak out. Something that became popular on social media was for users to put a blue profile picture. This came with the hashtag #BlueForSudan to stand in solidarity with the country. The specific shade of blue was the favorite color of one of any victims, Mohamed Mattar.

Now, the African Union and Ethiopia have both given mediation efforts to end the Sudanese crisis. The TMC (Transitional Military Council) and the Forces of Freedom and Change alliance have signed an accord in Khartoum to form a governing body. But there are still some groups of protesters that claims they their views were not taken into consideration.

Following many sleepless nights of talking, they have agreed to this:

• They will rotate control of sovereign council for a little over three years.
• The council will be made up of five civilians, five military figures, and an 11th council member, which will be a civilian chosen by the first 10.
• For the first 21 months, a military general will be in charge of the council, and the following 18 months there will be a civilian in charge. After these 39 months, elections will come.
• The Prime Minister will be chosen by protestors, but defense and interior ministers will be nominated by the military.

The military has been pushing for immunity from prosecution after protestors’ deaths, but this nowhere to be seen on the deal. There has been a promise to investigate the deaths.

The situation will keep progressing, and we hope with all our hearts that it will go into a good direction.

Sources:

“Sudan Briefing: May – July 2019 Timeline of Events – Sudan.” ReliefWeb, reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-briefing-may-july-2019-timeline-events.

Al Jazeera. “Profile: Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan’s Longtime Ruler.” Sudan News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 11 Apr. 2019, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/04/profile-omar-al-bashir-sudan-longtime-ruler-190411083628141.html.

“Here’s the Story behind the Iconic Image of the Sudanese Woman in White.” Public Radio International, http://www.pri.org/stories/2019-04-10/heres-story-behind-iconic-image-sudanese-woman-white.

Morgan, Hiba. “Sudan in Transition: Opposition Talks Continue in Ethiopia.” Ethiopia News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 21 July 2019, http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/sudan-transition-opposition-talks-continue-ethiopia-190721190846495.html.