Sudan: thousands march for protesters killed in June violence

Tens of thousands demonstrated in cities across Sudan on Saturday to mark 40 days since security forces killed dozens of protesters in the capital Khartoum. The latest demonstrations were the first since the ruling military council and civilian opposition agreed in principle to a power-sharing arrangement before elections – a deal that has yet to be finalised and signed. A meeting between the two sides planned for Saturday was postponed until Sunday, a leader of the Forces for Freedom and Change coalition told Reuters. But the military council denied the meeting was being delayed. The session had been arranged to “discuss the constitutional document as determined by the mediation,” state news agency SUNA earlier said, citing the council. An African Union mediator, Mohamed Hassan Lebatt, said on Thursday the council and the FFC would meet on Saturday to study and ratify a constitutional declaration. They had agreed to a political declaration that determines the transition’s different institutions, he said. After that meeting, the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, which leads the FFC, said: “The draft constitutional declaration is ‘not final’ and is not open to final signature in its current form.” The constitutional declaration’s signing was pushed to Sunday for further consultations based on FFC’s wishes, Lebatt said on Sky News Arabia earlier on Saturday. In Khartoum on Saturday, thousands protested on Sitteen Street, a major thoroughfare in the capital, a Reuters witness said. Some lit candles to remember those killed at the protest camp on June 3, while others lit the torches on their mobile phones. “We came out to express our opinion and convey our voice and salute the memory of our eternal martyrs,” said protester Mostafa Sayed Ahmed. Six vehicles belonging to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, each carrying about six men armed with assault rifles and sticks, drove through a portion of Sitteen Street as protesters chanted “Civilian!” at them, a Reuters witness said. “The fate of the former regime, to us, until now, is vague and many things are unclear,” said Osama Iskandar, a young protester, referring to the government of Omar Al Bashir, who was overthrown by the military on April 11. “We will be on the Sudanese street level until our demands are fulfilled,” he said. A Reuters witness also saw more than 20 RSF vehicles carrying men in riot gear at Abu Janzir Square in central Khartoum. “Look at these crushed people,” said Hussein Ismail, a middle-aged demonstrator who was chanting “We either get their rights or die like them!” “Their demands are clear, which are a civilian government, a democratic state, which is a people that calls for justice and peace and love.” Several hundred also demonstrated in Khartoum’s Burri district, a working-class area and the cradle of many of the protests. RSF troops stood on roads surrounding Burri, armed with sticks. “Blood for blood, even if [we get] civilian rule!” protesters chanted. Security forces used barbed wire to block a main road leading to the Defence Ministry compound, the site of the protest camp crushed by security forces in June, a Reuters witness said. At least 128 people were killed during the raid and in the two weeks that followed, said doctors linked to the opposition. The government confirmed at least 61 deaths. Across the Blue Nile, hundreds protested in the districts of Shambat and Al Mazad in Sudan’s third city, Khartoum North, also known as Bahri. In Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman, hundreds demonstrated on Al Arbaeen Street, a major artery. Thousands also turned out in Wad Medani, the capital of Al Jazirah state, while others protested in Port Sudan and Al Ubayyid, the capitals of Red Sea and North Kordofan states respectively. Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, deputy head of the Transitional Military Council and head of the RSF, which controls Khartoum and whose members are accused of violently dispersing the sit-in outside the Defence Ministry, defended the latter’s role in maintaining security. “Rapid Support are not angels, but we prosecute every offender,” Gen Dagalo, known by his nickname Hemedti, said in a televised speech. “Were it not for Rapid Support, Khartoum’s situation would have been different.”