The Sudanese General Abdel Fattah al Burhan dissolved this monday transition authorities in the country, whose civilian members were mostly detained, and decreed a state of emergencywhile, in the streets, there have already been two deaths and dozens of injured among pro-democracy protesters.
Since the morning of this Monday, the “coup“denounced by the international community is being carried out in stages. Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, his wife, various ministers and all the civil members of the Sovereign Council -the highest authority of the transition- were arrested.
The movement brought dozens of people to the streets of Khartoum in protests pro-democracy, in which, for now, at least two people died and more than 80 were injured, according to a doctors union.
“Two people were killed in a shootout by the council forces of the military coup“, indicated the Central Committee of Doctors of Sudan, an independent union, that specified that the medical personnel counted” more than 80 wounded “.
The state television is in the hands of the military and, midday, Abdel Fattah al Burhan made a statement; although he does not stop repeating that he wants “a civil transition and free elections in 2023“, after 30 years of dictatorship of Omar al Bashir, the general has already ceased their functions to all the leaders.
The government is dissolved, including the Sovereign Council, he said. The prefects and ministers are dismissed and the state of emergency is in force throughout the country, he added. He also announced that he would form a “government with competent people“, in charge of creating various state institutions such as a Supreme Court.
They protest against the coup
Quickly after the announcements of the head of the Sudan Army, the different unions, activist groups of the 2019 revolt and other pro-democracy movements urged the population to adhere to a mobilization of “civil disobedience” and “general strike”, along the lines of the call to “demonstrate” against the “coup” launched by Hamdok’s office.
Fearing for the life of Hamdok, held “in an unidentified place”, his office warned the military authorities that they were responsible for “all responsibility for his life” or his death, in a country where there was already a coup attempt a few years ago. month.
For his part, the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, condemned the “military coup” and demanded the “immediate release of Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok and all the other leaders” detained, and that the “constitutional charter” be respected.
That text, signed by all those responsible anti-bashir in 2019, it foresees elections in late 2023 and a civil transition, with which General Burhan affirmed to remain committed as soon as a new government and a new Sovereign Council are appointed. United States, whose emissary Jeffrey feltman He was in Hamdok’s office the day before, warning that “any change in the transitional government threatens US aid.”
For his part, the head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell urged the international community to “get the Sudanese transition back on track”, and the Arab league He also expressed his “deep concern” and called on “all parties to respect” the power-sharing agreement.
Faced with these calls, General Burhan said that the country would respect the international agreements signed. Sudan is one of the four Arab countries that recently normalized relations with Israel.
Citizens refuse the military regime
On the streets of Khartoum, where telecommunications are increasingly random, many Sudanese protested and booed General Burhan, confirmed journalists from the AFP agency. “We will not accept a military regime. We are ready to give our lives for the democratic transition, “said one of them, Haitham Mohamed.
“We will not leave the streets before the return of the civil government,” said Sawsan Bachir, also between Sudanese flags.
Sudan faces an unstable political transition, marked by divisions and power struggles since the overthrow of Bashir in April 2019.
Since August of that year, the country has been under the command of a civic-military administration in charge of bringing the country to a full democratic transition under civil command, with the ultimate goal of organizing by the end of 2023 the first free elections in 30 years.
But in recent days, the tension between the two camps increased. On October 21, tens of thousands of Sudanese marched in various cities to support the full transition of power to civilians and to counter a sit-in that began days earlier in front of the presidential palace in Khartoum to demand the return to military command.
With information from AFP
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