CAIRO: Protesters took to the streets in Sudan’s capital and elsewhere across the country amid tight security on Thursday, demanding justice for the victims of a 2019 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators.
The marches commemorate the second anniversary of the deadly June 3 breakup by security forces of a major protest camp outside the military’s headquarters in Khartoum and others in Sudan. The violence came shortly after the military overthrew longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir amid a public uprising against his nearly three-decade rule.
Sudan is now on a fragile path to democracy and is ruled by a transitional military-civilian government that faces towering economic and security challenges.
Protest organizers say security forces killed at least 128 people during the dispersal and subsequent crackdown in June 2019, which was a turning point in the relationship between the generals and the protest movement that led the uprising against al-Bashir.
The crackdown also involved what activists describe as a campaign of rapes and sexual misconduct by troops ordered by the military to crush the pro-democracy movement.
Thursday’s demonstrations were called by the Sudanese Professionals’ Association, and the so-called Resistance Committees, which were instrumental in leading protests against al-Bashir.
Ahead of Thursday's protests, security forces closed off major roads and streets leading to the government and military headquarters in Khartoum. Video footage later shared online shows protesters gathering outside the Cabinet headquarters and carrying Sudanese flags and posters of those killed in the uprising.
The marches came amid mounting frustration among activists who accuse the government of delaying and obstructing investigations and trials related to the crackdown.
“Today’s protest is another test for the commitment of the government to seek justice and protect the freedom of assembly,” said activist Nazik Awad, adding that families of the victims “are losing faith in the ongoing investigation process."
The protest organizers also renewed calls for an international investigation into the crackdown — calls that the army generals have repeatedly dismissed.
The government established an independent committee in 2019 to investigate the crackdown, but the panel kept missing its deadlines, angering the victims’ families and rights groups.
Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said in a statement late Wednesday that his government has done its best to achieve justice. But he admitted that its “complicated ties” with security agencies overseen by the generals, “has sometimes slowed down justice and delayed the submission of information” prosecutors need for their investigations.
“It is travesty of justice that two years since this senseless and unprovoked attack on unarmed protesters took place claiming dozens of lives, no investigation report has been published and no-one responsible for the bloodshed has been held accountable. Instead those demanding justice have faced further attacks,” said Deprose Muchena, a regional director at Amnesty International.
Last month, two protesters were killed when troops opened fire on a demonstration in the capital at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The June 2019 disposal of the Khartoum protest camp also coincided with the end Ramadan.
Sudanese demand justice for those slain in 2019 crackdown
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Sudanese demand justice for those slain in 2019 crackdown
- The marches commemorate the second anniversary of the deadly June 3 breakup by security forces
- Violence came shortly after the military overthrew longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir amid a public uprising
Syria, Kurdish forces race to save integration deal ahead of deadline
- Discussions have accelerated in recent days despite growing frustrations over delays
AMMAN/RIYADH/BEIRUT/ANKARA: Syrian, Kurdish and US officials are scrambling ahead of a year-end deadline to show some progress in a stalled deal to merge Kurdish forces with the Syrian state, according to several people involved in or familiar with the talks.
Discussions have accelerated in recent days despite growing frustrations over delays, according to the Syrian, Kurdish and Western sources who spoke to Reuters, some of whom cautioned that a major breakthrough was unlikely.
The interim Syrian government has sent a proposal to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that controls the country’s northeast, according to five of the sources.
In it, Damascus expressed openness to the SDF reorganizing its roughly 50,000 fighters into three main divisions and smaller brigades as long as it cedes some chains of command and opens its territory to other Syrian army units, according to one Syrian, one Western and three Kurdish officials.
’SAVE FACE’ AND EXTEND TALKS ON INTEGRATION
It was unclear whether the idea would move forward, and several sources downplayed prospects of a comprehensive eleventh-hour deal, saying more talks are needed. Still, one SDF official said: “We are closer to a deal than ever before.”
A second Western official said that any announcement in coming days would be meant in part to “save face,” extend the deadline and maintain stability in a nation that remains fragile a year after the fall of former President Bashar Assad.
Whatever emerges was expected to fall short of the SDF’s full integration into the military and other state institutions by year-end, as was called for in a landmark March 10 agreement between the sides, most of the sources said.
Failure to mend Syria’s deepest remaining fracture risks an armed clash that could derail its emergence from 14 years of war, and potentially draw in neighboring Turkiye that has threatened an incursion against Kurdish fighters it views as terrorists.
Both sides have accused the other of stalling and acting in bad faith. The SDF is reluctant to give up autonomy it won as the main US ally during the war, after which it controlled Islamic State prisons and rich oil resources.
The US, which backs Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and has urged global support for his interim government, has relayed messages between the SDF and Damascus, facilitated talks and urged a deal, several sources said.
A US State Department spokesperson said Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkiye and special envoy to Syria, continued to support and facilitate dialogue between the Syrian government and the SDF, saying the aim was to maintain momentum toward integration of the forces.
SDF DOWNPLAYS DEADLINE; TURKEY SAYS PATIENCE THIN
Since a major round of talks in the summer between the sides failed to produce results, frictions have mounted including frequent skirmishes along several front lines across the north.
The SDF took control of much of northeast Syria, where most of the nation’s oil and wheat production is, after defeating Daesh militants in 2019.
It said it was ending decades of repression against the Kurdish minority but resentment against its rule has grown among the predominantly Arab population, including against compulsory conscription of young men.
A Syrian official said the year-end deadline for integration is firm and only “irreversible steps” by the SDF could bring an extension.
Turkiye’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, said on Thursday it does not want to resort to military means but warned that patience with the SDF is “running out.”
Kurdish officials have downplayed the deadline and said they are committed to talks toward a just integration.
“The most reliable guarantee for the agreement’s continued validity lies in its content, not timeframe,” said Sihanouk Dibo, a Syrian autonomous administration official, suggesting it could take until mid-2026 to address all points in the deal.
The SDF had in October floated the idea of reorganizing into three geographical divisions as well as the brigades. It is unclear whether that concession, in the proposal from Damascus in recent days, would be enough to convince it to give up territorial control.
Abdel Karim Omar, representative of the Kurdish-led northeastern administration in Damascus, said the proposal, which has not been made public, included “logistical and administrative details that could cause disagreement and lead to delays.”
A senior Syrian official told Reuters the response “has flexibility to facilitate reaching an agreement that implements the March accord.”
