Sudan Is Burning

By Shaik Amer Arafath

The neo-Political unrest in Sudan was started on 19th December 2018 due to the economic deterioration since couple of years under its Premier Omar Al-Bashir who was ruling the north-eastern African country since 1989 as a dictator. Initially, the protestors demanded for rapid economic reforms but it soon turned out to be an anti-incumbency factor against the President who was faced with massive corruption charges and the huge possession of foreign currency.

Though Omar was toppled in April 2019, the demand of public was the smooth transition of power into the hands of elected civilian government but the military took over it and crushed the civilian protestors in a violent form. The Khartoum Massacre on June 3rd by the Sudanese military had embroiled the country further as more than 110 civilian died and about 40 dead bodies were thrown in the Nile River. Many families were terrorized and about 70 women were raped. There was a complete blackout of Internet in Sudan since then.

Background

The Arab Spring which was started through social media way back in 2011 from Tunisia took a inverse U-turn Geographically to Sudan via Syria for uprooting the monarchies and to elect the civilian government resulted in about 61,000 deaths in MENA (Middle East & North African) region.

The Arab Spring failed in its very purpose there by bringing insurgency in Iraq, Military coup in Egypt and un-ending civilian wars in Yemen, Libya and Syria which made MENA region unstable geopolitically hampering its demographic, economic and social fabric. Instead of giving democratic elected government, it gave rise to the deadly ISIS, repression of Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, sectarianism (Shia vs Sunni), proxy wars (Saudi vs Iran vs Israel) and demolition of ancient towns like Palmyra, Mosul, Aleppo and Sana'a.

Reactions

The international community & organizations reacted sharply to the Sudanese civil war and appealed to peace by hashtags on internet like #IAmTheSudanRevolution and #SudanUprising to raise awareness against the ongoing humanitarian crises. Several Social media influencers are changing their Instagram DPs to Blue Color (#BlueforSudan), as a mark of respect to Mohammed Mattar whose favorite was blue color, one of the civilians killed on June 3rd. The 55 countries of African Union called for a peaceful resolution in Sudan.

Way Forward

The failure of International Criminal Court can be seen clearly in this case as it failed to arrest Omar since it issued a warrant against him in 2009 for genocide in Darfur valley. The international organizations like UNO, Amnesty International and UNHCR should mount pressure along with the African Union and powerful MENA countries to immediately stop the ongoing crises. A relief aid should be sent to Sudan by the international community, confidence building measures and peace/dialogue process should be started considering all the stakeholders for a humanitarian cause and to stop it from further destabilization.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are personal opinions of the author and not those of the organisation

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