Sudanese anti-war groups protest AU endorsement of military-led dialogue

September 2, 2026 (ADDIS ABABA) – Sudanese anti-war groups have lodged a formal complaint with the African Union Commission, protesting its endorsement of a military-sponsored internal dialogue initiative, according to a joint petition seen on Wednesday.

The coalition, operating under the forces of the Declaration of Principles, includes the Somoud alliance, Abdel Wahid al-Nur’s Sudan Liberation Movement, a faction of the National Umma Party, and the Popular Congress Party, as well as various civic bodies.

In the petition addressed to the AU Peace and Security Council, the groups said the commission’s welcoming stance contradicts the pan-African body’s own mandates, which set a humanitarian truce and immediate ceasefire as preconditions for any political process.

The AU suspended Sudan’s membership after army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan led an October 2021 coup that toppled the civilian transitional government of Abdalla Hamdok.

War later erupted in April 2023 between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The coalition argued that backing a process orchestrated from military-controlled areas without a ceasefire effectively endorses the de facto partition of Sudan while excluding millions of displaced citizens.

They also said the move risks transforming the diplomatic Quintet group – comprising the UN, AU, IGAD, the EU, and the Arab League – into an external cover for talks tailored by the military leadership.

The petition demanded that the AU Commission formally clarify its position and called for the total exclusion of the dissolved National Congress Party of former autocrat Omar al-Bashir and its Islamist allies from any future political roadmap.

The anti-war groups requested an urgent meeting with the AU Peace and Security Council to present their conditions for a credible peace process.