Sudanese pro-democracy activists mark anniversary with protests

The new delay in the signing of the agreement to restore the military-civilian transition provoked new protests.

Pro-democracy activists in Sudan marched against the army and paramilitaries as the civilian opposition marked a key anniversary in the decades-long fight against military rule with new protests.

April 6 is a symbolic date for Sudan’s civil opposition. It marks the anniversary of the 1985 and 2019 uprisings that ended with the ouster of two leaders who had seized power in coups.

In downtown Khartoum on Thursday, protesters could be heard chanting “no militia can rule a country.”

Huge crowds blocked main roads and marched in several other cities, facing heavy tear gas fired by security forces.

Many were seen breaking their Ramadan fast in the street.

Protesters also chanted “Soldiers back in the barracks” and “People want civilian rule” as well as chants calling for the disbandment of the government-linked militia known as the Janjaweed.

Accused of committing war crimes in Darfur in 2003, the Janjaweed were led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the second-in-command behind Sudan’s military ruler. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

Marches were also reported in Wad Madani, south of Khartoum, and in Darfur itself, where protesters carried banners asking “Where is peace?”

Sudan is still ruled by Burhan, the military leader who seized power in an October 2021 coup, aborting the transition to civilian rule agreed upon after the 2019 ouster of Islamist general Omar al-Bashir, who seized power in a coup from 1989.

a new delay to the signing of a deal to restore the transition, which had been rescheduled for Thursdayit incited the civil opposition to launch protests across the country.

The agreement, which provides for the formation of a civilian government and has the strong support of the international community, aims to end the political vacuum that followed the 2021 coup.

But the signing was postponed for a second time late on Wednesday because the army and powerful paramilitaries Rapid Support Forces (RSF) negotiations continued on the compromises they would make on military restructuring.

Created in 2013, the RSF grew out of the Janjaweed that Bashir unleashed a decade earlier against non-Arab ethnic groups in western Darfur. Since then, the militia has been accused of war crimes.

The deal faces opposition from pro-democracy “resistance committees” that reject negotiations with the military and have led anti-militarist protests since the coup, which derailed an earlier political transition.

The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC), a coalition of civilian parties backing the deal, blamed the postponement on members of Bashir’s banned National Congress Party, who in recent weeks have made public appearances at banquets during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as well as other events.

“We know that elements of the ousted regime are actively trying to derail the political process and sow discord among the military institutions,” said prominent civilian politician and FFC leader Khalid Omer Yousif.

The signing ceremony was delayed “due to the resumption of talks between the soldiers,” the FFC said.

Analysts say the sticking point has been the integration into the regular army of the powerful paramilitary RSF, led by Burhan’s lieutenant, Dagalo.

He two have disagreed on the timetable for the integration of RSF and analysts have pointed to a deepening gap between them.