At least two protesters were killed by security forces in protests on Sunday (2) against the military government in Sudan, which took power in a coup last October, according to information from the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors.
The organization reported that one of the victims was a man in his 20s who died in Khartoum from head injuries, and the other was also a man, shot in the chest in Omdurman.
The deaths occurred during protests that led thousands to take to the streets after the death of six people in demonstrations on Thursday (30). This Sunday, the police tried to disperse the act, which was walking towards the presidential palace in Khartoum, with tear gas, cut off telecommunications and armed soldiers.
Protesters marched shouting “soldiers in the barracks” and “power to the people”, while young people on motorcycles crossed the crowd, ready to help the wounded, as the ambulances are blocked by the security forces at each mobilization.
The authorities also tried to prevent the act by erecting physical barriers, as has been done in all the protests, which have become regular since General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane’s coup.
For several days now, Khartoum has been surrounded by containers placed on bridges over the Nile River. Internet and telephone networks stopped working this Sunday morning and, on the main roads, members of the security forces in armored vehicles with machine guns watched over passersby.
Still, the Sudanese took to the streets to demonstrate in memory of the martyrs. At least 54 people have died and hundreds more have been injured since the coup. Last Thursday, in addition to the victims in the protests, police officers arrested and beat journalists from two Saudi broadcasters.
In addition to the deaths and telecommunications cuts, security forces are also accused of having resorted to a new tool of repression in December: the rape of at least 13 protesters, according to the UN.
Added to this are the denunciations by the Resistance Committees —small groups that organize demonstrations — of new arrests or daily disappearances in the neighborhoods of Khartoum.
Activists are calling for 2022 to be “the year of resistance”, demanding justice for protesters killed since the coup and for the more than 250 civilians killed during what they call the 2019 revolution, when popular pressure forced the army to remove one of his military, Omar al-Bashir, after 30 years of military dictatorship.
Then generals and civilians agreed to a transitional timetable that called for the handover of all power before free elections in 2023. On October 25, however, General Burhane extended what he calls “correction of the course of the revolution.” maintaining his tenure at the helm of the country for two years, as well as reinstating civilian prime minister Abdallah Hamdok — who has not appeared in public for days, fueling rumors of his resignation increase.
The military has yet to present the 45 million Sudanese with the civilian government it promised in late November in releasing Hamdok from house arrest. In a country almost always under military rule since its independence 65 years ago, protesters proclaim: “neither partnership nor negotiation with the army”.
The military government also faces pressure from the international community. Europeans, USA and UN have already expressed indignation at the situation in the country. All defend the return to dialogue as a prerequisite for the resumption of international aid, which was cut off after the coup.
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