Sudanese stage protests in first day of civil disobedience campaign
November 7, 2021 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese staged protests against the 25th October coup in several parts across the country in response to a call for civil disobedience by the Sudanese Professional Association (SPA).
Two weeks after the military takeover, pro-democracy protesters took to the street in Khartoum cities, Madani, Atbara and Nyala, Al-Doyiam of the White Nile despite the internet cuts in the country.
In many neighbourhoods, protesters closed the streets by establishing barricades and burning car tyres.
The police used tear gas to disperse the protesters amid reports of the arrest of activists on the ground in a bid to prevent the rallies.
Calls for a general strike on 7 and 8 November have been generally successful and the capital remained calm on Sunday, the first day of the week in Khartoum.
The SPA plans to gradually intensify calls for protests and general strikes in order to force the military to hand back power to a civilian government.
The official news agency showed the new governor of Khartoum state visiting a school to inspect the resumption of studies, while teachers held a protest outside the Khartoum state ministry of education to protest the appointment of an Islamist affiliated with the banned National Congress Party of Omer al-Bashir.
The police used tear gas and sticks to break up their protest.
Since the 25th of October 14 protesters have been killed and over 300 were injured. However, the authorities on Sunday did not use live ammunition to disperse the demonstrations.
The UN Human Rights Council on 5 November requested the High Commissioner for Human Rights to designate without delay an Expert on Human Rights in Sudan to monitor the human rights situation in Sudan until the restoration of its civilian-led government.
On Sunday, for the first time the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti, for the first time after the coup released a video where he speak about their commitment to achieving democratic transition in the country.
The militia leader also spoke about ensuring Sudanese rights to protest peacefully.
The RSF are accused of opening fire on protesters in the two weeks protests.
Army did not kill protesters
In an interview with Aljazeera English on Sunday, the coup leader Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan denied the Sudanese army killed protesters during the past two weeks.
“The Sudanese army does not kill citizens, and there are investigation committees to reveal what happened,” al-Burhan said.
He did not speak about the involvement of the RSF militiamen
He further reiterated his commitment to respecting the right of Sudanese to peaceful protests.
Gen al-Burhan spoke about the ongoing efforts to form a new cabinet within the coming 24 hours and pointed to the ongoing efforts to include Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok who is under house arrest.
There are many rumours in Khartoum about the new cabinet and the ongoing efforts to persuade Hamdok to lead a military-controlled cabinet.
Officials in the Forces for Freedom and Changes (FFC) say they are not concerned by these efforts adding they have no access to him and that only are allowed those who are supporting the military plans.
(ST)