In Sudan, the peaceful revolution is bombed to the ground

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A state of war has been in effect in Africa’s third-largest country since Saturday evening. Fighting is raging in almost all parts of Sudan, especially in the capital Khartoum and in the western region of Darfur. Opposing are two generals and their men: the Sudanese military SAF under de facto head of state Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (63) and the paramilitary RSF under General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (48).

The power struggle between the two rival men escalated into a bloody civil war last week. It is a civil war without civilians – but with heavy weapons, artillery and fighter jets. The fighting has already claimed hundreds of lives and thousands of injuries.

Instead of peaceful surrender, there is war

It really shouldn’t have come this far. The two men already agreed in December to relinquish power on April 11 this year. Then a civilian government should have taken over. But nothing came of that. Instead, they went to war on April 15.

To achieve surrender, the two men would have to agree on how quickly they wanted to join forces. This move was an essential part of the now-failed agreement. Al-Burhan wanted to integrate the enemy RSF into his regular army within two years. Dagalo called for a ten-year transition period. The generals turned against each other, the transfer of power erupted.

It would have been the last major step in the revolution that began in December 2018, Spiegel writes. At the time, the citizens of Sudan demonstrated until the then dictator Omar al-Bashir (79) was removed from office in April 2019 – after 30 years.

So Sudan has long become a symbol of what a peaceful popular uprising can achieve. But over the years, hope dwindled and democracy never came. Instead, al-Burhan and Dagalo seized power.

But the Sudanese are not giving up, emphasizes Marina Peters, president of the German association Sudan & Südsudan Forum, in an interview with Blick. “This unbroken will to resist, which the population has shown since 2018, is still there.” Because it is clear to the population: “The dictatorship must end once and for all, it cannot go on like this anymore”, Peters explains.

Source: Blick