Sudanese Hold Fresh Anti-coup Protests

December 13, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese demonstrators massively took to the street in the capital, Khartoum, and at least 10 other cities across the country, on Monday, to express their rejection of the military-led transition in the country.

At the opposed of 2018-19 protests, the anti-coup campaign is led and managed by the youth-controlled Resistance Committees which refuse any compromise with the military component and its allied groups.

The protests are held under the slogan of “No negotiation, No partnership, No legitimacy” for the participation of the coup leaders in the transition as they are accused of seeking to hold a tight grip on power.

The protests of December 13 in Khartoum state were more organized as the demonstrators in Khartoum headed to the presidential palace while the protesters in Khartoum North crossed the Nile river to march in Omdurman.

The police forces used tear gas and batons to disperse the peaceful rally heading to the presidential palace.

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) said 55 people were wounded or suffocated by tear gas. In addition to three injured by batons.

The security forces fear that the protesters would hold a sit-in if they reach the premises of the military-controlled Sovereign Council.

The other protests in Khartoum state held a joint rally in Omdurman. Participants from Khartoum North, Eastern Nile and Haj Youssif towns gathered first in North Khartoum and then joined demonstrators in Omdurman who gathered in an area not far from the bridge linking the two towns.

During the peaceful rally in Omdurman, the participants launched balloons with the names of the “revolution martyrs”.

However, the security forces dispersed the protesters using tear gas and batons.

The independent medical group reported that six people were wounded including three suffocated and one injured by baton.

Over 44 people were killed and hundreds wounded after the 25th October coup. After his reinstatement on November 21, Prime Minister Hamdok sacked the police chiefs.

Also, the Rapid Support Forces and fighters of Darfur armed groups stopped their participation in the joint anti-demonstration forces.

On Monday, the newly appointed Attorney General Khalifa Ahmed Khalifa formed a committee to investigate the violence committed by the security forces since October 25, 2021.

Similar protests were organized outside the capital in several towns in northern Sudan including Atbara, Dongola and Al-Bariq. In eastern Sudan, rallies were held in Port Sudan, Kassala and Gadaref.

The Resistance Committee in central Sudan held demonstrations in Damazin, Singa and Wad Madani. In Western Sudan, protests were also organized in Nyala of South Darfur and El Fasher, of North Darfur.

The official news agency, for the first time after the coup, released two short news reports about the protests in Madani and Omdurman. SUNA omitted the demonstration in Khartoum and the police violent repression of protesters.

(ST)