Tag: Sudan

Sudan’s military said Saturday it has handed over to the attorney general the findings of an investigation into the killing of two demonstrators at a recent rally that called for justice for victims of violence against protesters in 2019.

The Sudan Tribune reported separately that seven army personnel had been arrested and were due to be handed to prosecutors for interrogation, citing the Attorney General.

On Tuesday, several hundred protesters gathered outside the army headquarters in Khartoum to mark two years since the violent dispersal at the same location of a sit-in by the popular protest movement calling for the departure of former president Omar al-Bashir.

Tuesday’s rally was dispersed by security forces, leaving two dead and dozens injured.

“General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane, chairman of the Sovereign Transitional Council and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, handed over the results of an armed forces investigation into the events … to Attorney General Tagelsir al-Hebr,” the army said in a statement Saturday.

The results include a list of soldiers suspected of involvement in Tuesday’s events and an order “to lift their immunity,” it added.

“This will allow the General Prosecutor’s Office to initiate legal proceedings and reach final results,” the army said.

The 2019 sit-in was held in a large camp set up in front of the army headquarters.

In June of that year, armed men in military fatigues then violently dispersed the camp. The days-long crackdown left at least 128 people dead, according to doctors linked to the protest movement.

The generals in power at the time denied ordering the bloody dispersal and ordered an investigation into the events.

Sudan has been led since August 2019 by a civilian-majority transitional administration, which has promised to bring justice to the victims and their families.

Source: africanews.com

Hundreds of protesters in Sudan took to the city of Omdurman on Tuesday to demonstrates against the torture and killing of the pro-democracy activist Bahaa Eddine Nouri.

They allege members of the powerful Rapid Support Forces paramilitary are responsible for his death.

The RSF largely drew its personnel from the Janjaweed militias, which were accused by rights groups of committing atrocities in the Darfur conflict that began in 2003.

“The Rapid Support Forces are explaining how the killing took place, but we do not want half of the truth, we want the whole truth, we want to know the reason,” said Mohammed Nory, brother of Bahaa Eddine Nouri.

Bahaa Eddine Nouri, 45, was snatched on December 16 from a cafe in the southern Khartoum district of Kalakla by men in plainclothes who were driving a vehicle without license plates, according to local media.

His body was found days later bearing signs of torture at a hospital morgue in Omdurman, the capital’s twin city, triggering a public outcry.

His family collected his body from a hospital morgue in Omdurman, the capital’s twin city, and demonstrators followed for the burial.

“Enough with disparaging the people’s blood,” read one banner, also referring to the protesters killed during months of unprecedented demonstrations in 2019.

Those months-long, youth-led protests spurred the military to depose autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

The rallies continued for months afterward as civilians demanded the generals hand over power, culminating in a fragile power-sharing arrangement from August last year.

State news agency SUNA reported on Monday that the Rapid Support Forces had referred its intelligence chief and other personnel for questioning over Nouri’s arrest and killing, without providing names.

It later quoted the prosecutor’s office as saying that proceedings were underway to “arrest immediately… all members of the Rapid Support Forces involved in the arrest and subsequent death of Nouri so they can be prosecuted”.

Source: africanews.com

Protests in Sudan have turned deadly after one person was reportedly killed and a dozen others were wounded, according to a group of doctors linked to the movement that led to the downfall of President Omar al-Bashir.

The demonstrations on Wednesday in the cities of Khartoum and Omdurman are over the country’s worsening economic situation. Protesters are also demanding justice for the hundreds killed during the 2019 uprising, which led to Bashir being toppled.

‘We demanded freedom, peace and justice’

Eyewitnesses said police fired teargas to disperse the small gatherings of about 100 protesters.

“There has not yet been any sentencing for the martyrs,” said one protester.

“We demanded freedom, peace and justice and neither achieve peace, neither freedom nor justice.”

Sudan has embarked on a rocky three-year transition since then under a joint civilian-military administration but has struggled with severe economic woes and skyrocketing consumer prices.

High inflation and a shortage of hard currency mean people are finding it difficult to even buy the basics. Long queues outside grocery stores have also become the norm as have power cuts that can last up to six hours.

Authorities have vowed to rebuild the economy and to bring to justice those responsible for killing protesters.

More than 250 people were killed during the anti-Bashir protests and the ensuing unrest, according to doctors linked to the protest movement.

The transitional authorities have been pushing to end the country’s isolation and to rebuild its economy.

On Monday, President Donald Trump declared his readiness to remove post-Bashir Sudan from a US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, a move Khartoum hailed as a vital step towards securing debt relief and spurring economic recovery.

Source: africanews.com

Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has sacked the governor of the eastern Kassala province, barely three months after he appointed him.

Governor Saleh Ammar’s appointment sparked ethnic protests in the province that barred him from reporting to work.

He had to stay in the country’s capital, Khartoum, as protesters from the rival Beja community demonstrated for weeks. The governor is from the Beni Amr community.

The protests had turned deadly with several people reported to have died.

Sudan’s main port was blocked by the protesters for three days last week.

The protesters had also forced the closure of the road linking the eastern city of Port Sudan to Khartoum.

Governor Ammar’s sacking on Tuesday sparked fresh protests in the province as members of his community cried foul, according to Associated Press.

Prime Minister Hamdok appointed 18 civilian governors sparking ethnic rivalries in some states.

Source: bbc.com

The transitional government of Sudan has signed a peace deal with five rebel groups at a ceremony in neighbouring South Sudan.

The deal is aimed at ending 17 years of conflict in the western region of Darfur and southern states.

This is a significant step towards ending multiple conflicts in the country, reports the BBC’s senior Africa correspondent Anne Soy.

But two key rebel groups refused to sign the deal, which covers issues such as land ownership, power sharing and the return home of the millions displaced by the fighting.

Previous agreements to end the long-running conflict have failed to hold.

Source: bbc.com

At least two people were killed when a protest march turned violent in Sudan’s Kassala state over the appointment of a new governor.

Two ethnic groups – Beni Amer and Beja – clashed over the nomination of Governor Salah Ammar of the Beni Amer community.

Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has sent a ministerial delegation to the state.

The acting governor Arbab El Fadul has imposed a three-day curfew in the state and police have been deployed to enforce it.

Supporters of the new governor want him to quickly arrive in Kassala and assume office, while the rival ethnic community has rejected his appointment.

The disputed governor in his Eid al-Adha address said his arrival had been delayed because of the protests over his nomination.

Prime Minister Hamdok appointed 18 civilian governors sparking tribal rivalries in some states.

Source: bbc.com

The Sudanese government has announced that it has discovered a mass grave dating to 1990.

The attorney general on Thursday said the mass grave had 28 military officers believed to have been involved in a failed coup against former President Omar al-Bashir.

“The attorney has found strong evidences that there is a mass grave of military officers that were killed in 1990 and the grave is now under the protection of the authorities until the investigations would finish,” read a statement.

Mr Bashir’s regime foiled a military coup in 1990 and many reports said that the officers involved were killed.

He is currently facing charges over the military coup that brought him to power in 1989.

If convicted, the former president who ruled Sudan for 30 years – could face the death penalty.

Mr Bashir has also been indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and genocide in the western Darfur region.

He was overthrown last year after months of pro-democracy demonstrations.

Source: BBC

Sudan has declared a state of emergency in the western region of Darfur, according to state media.

The move follows an escalation of clashes between demonstrators and security forces after weeks of protests.

The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur said it had sent a team to the town of Kutum following the reported burning of a police station and cars.

On Sunday, security forces fired live rounds to disperse another protest, reportedly killing five people.

There have been peaceful demonstrations and sit-ins in many parts of the region, calling for the dismissal of corrupt officials and the withdrawal of armed militias from towns and villages.

The Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Sunday pledged to address the insecurity.

Source: bbc.com

Sudan’s prime minister has replaced four key ministers after protests over the slow pace of reform following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir as president last year.

Abdalla Hamdok dismissed the health minister and accepted the resignations of the three others – in charge of finance, foreign affairs, and energy, the government said.

Correspondents say the Sudanese economy was already in a crisis before the impact of the coronavirus so the new finance minister faces a daunting task amid worsening food and fuel shortages.

On Sunday Mr Hamdok – who heads a power-sharing interim government with the military – replaced the police chief and his deputy.

Source: bbc.com

Sudan has sent 300 military vehicles to South Darfur state following ethnic clashes which have killed dozens of people.

The deputy commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, Major General Abdel-Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, is leading the force.

He said his troops had recovered more than 10,000 head of livestock stolen during the clashes.

The fighting between the Arab al-Raziqat and African al-Falata was sparked by a dispute over livestock.

There has been conflict in the Darfur region in western Sudan for the past 17 years.

Source: bbc.com

Sudan’s prime minister has survived an assassination attempt after his convoy was attacked in the capital, Khartoum.

“An explosion hit as Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok’s car was driving by but thank God no-one was hurt,” Ali Bakhit, in the PM’s office, told AFP.

Mr Hamdok was appointed to head Sudan’s transitional government last August, a few months after the overthrow of long-time President Omar al-Bashir.

He has reportedly been moved to a safe location.

Pictures on state television showed several damaged vehicles at the site of the blast, the AFP news agency reports.

According to the Reuters news agency, witnesses say the attack happened near the north-eastern entrance to Kober bridge, which connects Khartoum North to the city centre, where the prime minister’s office is based.

The convoy appeared to have been targeted from above, the witnesses said.

Mr Hamdok is a respected former UN economist and says one of his main priorities is to solve Sudan’s economic crisis.

He was appointed by Sudan’s Sovereign Council, made up of six civilians and five military officers, to lead a three-year transition to civilian rule after Mr Bashir was ousted.

Source: bbc.com

Sudanese security forces deliberately killed scores of people, possibly as many as 241, in a crackdown on a pro-democracy protesters last June, an international rights group said on Thursday.

It was the deadliest episode of a months-long protest movement that kicked off in late 2018 and led to the resignation of veteran President Omar al-Bashir in April 2019 and to civilian rule later that year.

Thousands of Sudanese protesters had camped outside the army headquarters in capital Khartoum, demanding al-Bashir’s removal and kept up their sit-in even after his departure to protest against the military rule.

On June 3, armed men in military fatigues moved in on the protest camp and dispersed thousands of demonstrators. In the ensuing days-long crackdown, many were killed and wounded.

Doctors linked to the protest movement have said at least 128 people were killed in the violence. Authorities gave a lower death toll of 87, and denied ordering the violent dispersal.

But in a scathing report titled Chaos and Fire, the US-based NGO Physicians for Human Rights said the crackdown was a “massacre” that could have claimed up to 241 lives, according to estimates.

“Sudanese security forces launched a series of planned, violent attacks against pro-democracy protesters that killed up to 241 people and injured hundreds more,” the report released on Thursday said.

Unconscionable acts

The group said its findings were based on multiple witness testimonies, consultations with health workers, and analyses of thousands of online video footage and images of the dispersal.

“Sudanese security forces were responsible for perpetrating unconscionable acts of violence against pro-democracy demonstrators,” said the report.

Those acts included “extrajudicial killings and torture, excessive use of force, sexual and gender-based violence, and the forced disappearance of detained protesters,” it added.

Phelim Kine, the group’s research and investigation director, called the dispersal “an egregious violation of human rights”.

The group called on the United Nations member states to sanction Sudanese officials responsible for the violence.

Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan was in the capital when the shooting began last June.

“We were in Khartoum when the attack on the citizens happened, and we do remember hearing the gunshots opened on protesters at the sit-in,” she said.

“People ran for their lives and into buildings and hospitals and those were targeted. The report does match up to what we experienced on 3 June.”

In August, Sudan’s military and protest-movement leaders formed a civilian-majority body to rule the country for a transitional period of three years.

The new authorities set up an independent commission to investigate the events of June 3, 2019. The team has yet to release its findings.

Source: aljazeera

Sudan’s former president Omar al-Bashir will be handed over to the International Criminal Court to face war crimes charges, it was announced Tuesday.

Bashir, who was ousted in April 2019 after months of nationwide protests, faces five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes at the ICC in The Hague. The crimes were allegedly committed during Sudan’s military campaign in Darfur between 2003 and 2008.

A member of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council said Tuesday that all Sudanese wanted by the ICC would appear before it. A senior government source confirmed to CNN that Bashir was among them.

The move is part of a proposed agreement between the Sudanese government and Darfur’s rebel movement, according to the source, who asked not to be named for security reasons. No timeline has been set.

ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah told CNN: “We are aware and following the news in relation to Mr. al-Bashir. We have no official confirmation on our side at this moment.”

In a video statement, a member of Sudan’s ruling sovereign council, Mohammed al-Ta’ashy, said: “We cannot achieve justice unless we heal wounds with justice.”

The ICC issued two arrest warrants for Bashir, first in March 2009 and then in July 2010. It now considers him to be “at large.”

Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades, was the first sitting president to be wanted by the ICC, and the first person to be charged by the ICC for the crime of genocide, according to the court’s website.

Last December, he was sentenced to two years in a correctional facility after being found guilty of corruption and illegitimate possession of foreign currency.

Sudan had previously said it would not extradite Bashir.

source: BBC

Sudan has agreed to compensate the families of 17 US sailors who died when their ship, the USS Cole, was bombed by al-Qaeda at a port in Yemen in 2000.

This is a key condition set by the US for Sudan to be removed from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The US ruled Sudan was responsible for the attack as the two suicide bombers involved were trained in the country.

Removal from the US blacklist would allow sanctions to be lifted, a major objective of Sudan’s new government.

High inflation and shortages of fuel and foreign currency helped trigger the protests which led to the downfall last April of the long-serving President Omar al-Bashir.

It is not clear how much Khartoum has agreed to pay to the families, but the Reuters news agency quotes a source close to the deal as saying it is $30m (£23m).

Why now?

Sudan’s new rulers are desperate to end the country’s economic isolation and gain access to the dollar-based international financial system to attract loans and investment.

The compensation is one of several steps taken recently to appease Sudan’s critics.

At least 40 people were wounded in the attack in 2000

The transitional government has agreed that Mr Bashir should be handed over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face genocide and war crimes charges allegedly committed in the country’s Darfur region.

Earlier in the month, Sudan’s top general Abdel-Fattah Burhan met Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda in an apparent effort to normalise relations after decades of enmity.

The country’s information minister told the Associated Press that figures for the USS Cole compensation could not be revealed as negotiations were ongoing to reach a similar settlement with families of those killed in the 1998 al-Qaeda bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

More than 200 people were killed in those attacks.

Why was Sudan put in the US blacklist?

Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden lived in Sudan for five years in the 1990s as a guest of Mr Bashir’s government. Sudan was added to the US terrorism list in 1993.

The families of those killed in the USS Cole say Sudan gave al-Qaeda and Bin Laden financial and technical support. They say this allowed the group to establish training bases, run businesses and even use Sudanese diplomatic passports to carry explosives.

Sudan is suffering from acute shortages including fuel and people queue at station for hours

But Sudan has always insisted this was not the case, and a justice ministry statement has reiterated this point.

“The government of Sudan would like to point out that the settlement agreement explicitly affirmed that the government was not responsible for this incident or any terrorist act,” the state-run Suna agency quoted the statement as saying.

“It entered into this settlement out of [its] determination to settle the historical allegations of terrorism left over by the former regime, and only for the purpose of fulfilling the conditions set by the US administration to remove Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism in order to normalise relations with the US and the rest of the world.”

What happened to the USS Cole?

On 12 October 2000 two Yemeni suicide bombers in a rubber dinghy packed with up to 225kg (500lb) of high explosives rammed the US destroyer, leaving a gaping hole in the side of the warship.

Seventeen crew were killed and at least 40 people were wounded in the attack on the ship as it was refuelling in the port of Aden.

The ship was refuelling in the port of Aden in Yemen at the time of the attack

Last year, Jamal al-Badawi, a militant linked to the attack, was killed in a US air strike on Yemen.

The attack’s alleged planner, Saudi-born Abd al-Nashiri, is being held in US custody at Guantanamo Bay.

Last year, the US Supreme Court overturned, on procedural grounds, a 2012 ruling ordering Sudan to pay more than $300m to the victims’ families.

Source: BBC

A Sudanese military plane has crashed in West Darfur state killing at least 18 people, including four children.

The aircraft crashed five minutes after taking off from an airport in the state capital of El Geneina.

It had been delivering aid to the area, where there have been deadly clashes between ethnic groups in recent days.

South Sudan declares state of emergency in flood-hit areas

Army spokesman Amer Mohammed al-Hassan told AFP that among the victims were seven crew members, three judges and eight civilians, four of them children.

It is not clear what caused the Antonov 12 aircraft to crash. Mr Hassan added that an investigation was under way.

This week, at least 48 people have been killed and 241 wounded in the violence that has broken out in West Darfur, according to Sudan’s Red Crescent.

Clashes broke out between Arab and African groups in El Geneina on Sunday night, and continued until the following day.

Source: bbc.com

Sudan’s former President Omar al-Bashir has arrived at court to face corruption charges, which his lawyers say are baseless.

Mr Bashir was ousted in April after months of protests bringing an end to his nearly 30 years in power.

In June, prosecutors said a large hoard of foreign currency had been found in grain sacks at his home.

On Sunday, pro-democracy activists and the country’s military leaders signed a deal paving the way for elections.

There was heavy security outside the courthouse in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, witnesses say,

The former president arrived with a large military convoy, AFP news agency reports.

In June, Omar al-Bashir was seen in public for the first time outside the prosecutor’s office in Khartoum

What are the corruption charges?

The former president faces charges related to “possessing foreign currency, corruption and receiving gifts illegally”.

In April, Sudan’s military ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said more than $113m (£93m) worth of cash in Sudanese pounds and foreign currency had been seized from Mr Bashir’s home.

Mr Bashir’s defence team rejects the charges.

The ousted leader had been due in court in July – but the trial was postponed for security reasons.

What other charges does Mr Bashir face in Sudan?

In May, Sudan’s public prosecutor charged Mr Bashir with incitement and involvement in the killing of protesters.

The charges stem from an inquiry into the death of a doctor killed during protests that led to the end of Mr Bashir’s rule in April.

There have been protests on the streets of Sudan for months

The doctor had been treating injured protesters in his home in Khartoum, when police fired tear gas into the building.

A witness told the BBC that the doctor had walked out with his hands in the air, told the police he was a doctor and was instantly shot.

What about the transition to democracy?

Mr Bashir’s trial will be seen as a test of whether the new authorities are able to deal with the alleged crimes of the previous regime.

On Saturday, Sudan’s ruling military council, which took over after Mr Bashir’s ousting, and civilian opposition alliance signed a landmark power-sharing deal.

The agreement ushers in a new governing council, including both civilians and generals, to pave the way towards elections and civilian rule.

Mohamed Hamdan “Hemeti” Dagolo, widely regarded as Sudan’s most powerful man, has pledged to abide by its terms.

The members of the new sovereign council were supposed to be sworn in on Monday, but the ceremony has been postponed for 48 hours after a request from pro-democracy activists, the Reuters news agency quotes a military spokesman as saying.

Source: bbc.com