Sudan rises up against military coup d'état in huge protest

Hundreds of thousands of people marched Saturday through the streets of Khartoum to protest against the coup d'état perpetrated on the 25th by the Sudanese military leader, Abdelfatah al Burhan, in a day that has resulted in three deaths and more than a hundred injured, despite international pressure to prevent violence.

A leader of the central committee of the opposition Freedom and Change Force, Haider al Taghi, told Efe that the call has been "a success and hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to express their rejection of the coup and with a clear message that there is no place for the military to rule".

The demands of this large demonstration have been clear since the coup, with opponents calling for General Al Burhan to reinstate the deposed Prime Minister, Abdullah Hamdok.

"If Al Burhan does not respond to these demands, we will increase civil disobedience and political strike," said Al Taghi, who stressed that "today's demonstration is the beginning of resistance to Al Burhan's measures."

Al Burhan dissolved last 25th the transitional bodies and declared a state of emergency in the country after a month of tensions between the military and civilian components of the government over an alleged coup attempt last month, which also led to the arrest of Hamdok, although he was released the next day and remains in his residence without leaving.

A day of deaths

Despite repeated warnings from countries and organizations, such as the UN, to avoid violence in today's demonstrations, the day has ended with two deaths due to "shootings" by security forces, according to the Doctors Committee.

This organization, which since the revolution that overthrew the dictator Omar Al Bashir, in April 2019, attends to the demonstrators and counts the victims, assured in a statement that one of the demonstrators died from a shot in the head, while another perished from a bullet in the stomach.

Likewise, the committee published a list with the injured people, which increased so far to 110, the vast majority by asphyxiation due to tear gas fired by the security forces.

"We affirm that we and the revolutionaries are watching everything and the whole world is watching the crimes of the coup plotters," said the organization, which added that "no criminal will remain unpunished."

"The more crimes the coup plotters commit, the closer they are to their overthrow by popular anger," it concluded in the message.

On the other hand, the Sudanese security forces said in a statement that the death of these demonstrators has an undetermined origin since they assured that they have not used live ammunition today.

However, they asserted that groups of demonstrators "attacked the police", which forced them to fire tear gas "to disperse the citizens", and added that an officer "was shot", without giving further details.
The international community has warned security forces not to use "excessive force" against protesters to avoid bloodshed as has happened on other occasions in the African country.

On June 3, 2019, security forces brutally dispersed with live fire and tear gas against a massive sit-in in Khartoum, as a result of which more than 100 people were killed and at least 700 injured, according to Amnesty International (AI).

Protests without internet 

The marches in which slogans such as "The people want the fall of Al Burhan" were chanted have been experienced today with telecommunications service disrupted, according to Netblocks, a London-based portal that monitors Internet censorship.

Despite the fact that the Internet connection has been disrupted since the 25th, this has not prevented some videos from appearing on social networks and televisions confirming the large turnout of people at the demonstrations.

Although Al Burhan dissolved the government and arrested members of the civilian component, who share powers by an agreement signed after the overthrow of Al Bashir, he has promised to reestablish the three bodies created for the democratic transition.

In fact, a source in Al Burhan's office told Efe, the general is considering that Hamdok could resume office despite having been deposed.