Rebel groups say Sudan Call declaration does not ban armed action
March 29, 2018 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) – led by Minni Minnawi said they stick to the armed struggle to achieve change in Sudan despite their adherence to the Sudan Call Constitutional Declaration which calls for nonviolent means to reach peace and democratic reforms.
On 17 March the Sudan Call forces elected its leadership council and issued a political declaration reiterating their commitment to the roadmap agreement brokered by the African Union mediation for a negotiated settlement to the Sudanese crisis.
Activists and supporters of the armed groups from the western Sudan region slammed the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement-Minnawi for picking Sadiq al-Mahdi as the leader of the opposition umbrella and their commitment for a political solution.
“The Revolutionary Front stresses that it is committed to achieving a comprehensive structural change in the way the country organization is run, beginning with the removal of the NCP regime. Also, it is committed to the armed struggle as one of the means of change along the means provided in its statute,” said SRF spokesperson Mohamed Zakaria Farajullah in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.
“The Revolutionary Front has the possibility of weighing the different options in accordance with the requirements of the stage and its necessities without dropping any of them,” he added.
“The Front assures everyone that it would continue with vigour and determination to achieve its objectives in cooperation with its partners in the Sudan Call and the broad opposition”.
On 21 March, JEM leader Girbil Ibrahim issued an opinion article in Arabic denouncing those who criticized the SRF for adhering to the Sudan Call constitutional declaration.
He added that the Declaration emphasized on the political nature of the Sudan Call collective activity which has nothing to do with the option of war.
“The civil entities of the Sudan Call are entitled to protect themselves from the consequences of armed action because they are not a party to it,” he further stressed.
Days after the conclusion of the Sudan Call meetings in Paris, President Omer al-Bashir recalled that his government bans any contact with the armed groups and opposition leaders may face justice when they return to the country.
Al-Mahdi who felt targeted by the statement retorted that the armed groups are not terrorist groups and the regime itself is negotiating with them under the auspice of the African Union
“Despite all that, we issued a constitutional declaration providing that the Sudan Call is a political institution, and that military component is outside the Sudan Call, yet the leaders of the armed movements are committed to a defensive position (within the framework of a unilateral cessation of hostilities declaration) until a peace agreement is concluded,” said al-Mahdi in a speech in London on 25 March.
(ST)