Every day since the coup d’état of October 25, Sudan has resounded with cries, tears and gunshots heard in the great metropolis of Khartoum. Hundreds of thousands of people are in the streets to demand the departure of the soldiers. Processions, barricades, occupations, all peaceful, never cease to challenge the power of the army.
Until now, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who governs the military junta, does not want to cede power, even if it means integrating some “technocrats” to create the illusion of a return to “normality”. He suspended the Constitutional Charter accepted in 2019 and declared a state of emergency. Admittedly, this general enjoys the support of a majority of the army as well as of powerful paramilitary organizations which sow terror with complete impunity.
The Sudanese military is also supported by some regional powers, including Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. In front of this powerful device is being organized a very broad alliance of civil society and opposition parties which, despite their differences, are united to send the soldiers back to the barracks and start a democratic process.
This clash reproduces a situation that has existed for a long time in Sudan. In 1969, General Gaafar Muhammad Nimeiry seized power to be finally overthrown by a popular insurrection in 1985. After a democratic spring animated by unions, civil associations and the political opposition, a new coup d’etat carried out in 1989 brought the army back to the fore with General Omar al-Bashir, then assisted by Islamic factions falsely claiming religion to sow destruction in several regions of the country, especially in Darfur where more than 300 000 people have been killed, according to the UN.
In 2019, finally, the popular fed up forces the departure of Bashir, then prosecuted for crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court. The soldiers are then taken aback, but remain protected, like a state within a state, because they are in control of the country’s economy.
An economy of predation
In the west of the country, particularly in the provinces of Kordofan and Darfur, companies under military control exploit vast territories where sesame, cotton and peanuts are cultivated and where there are also mines. gold and huge amounts of cattle. These resources, exported mainly to the petromonarchies of the Gulf, represent revenues of more than $ 2.5 billion.
Heavily militarized, held by militias controlled by the warlords and the army, these activities are carried out in a quasi-slave mode, with wages of one dollar a day for the farm workers who constantly live on the edge of the river. famine.
Elsewhere in Sudan, the population barely survives thanks to international aid controlled in large part by the military and above all thanks to the remittances of millions of Sudanese workers who occupy low-paid and dangerous jobs in agriculture and services in the region. .
Some of the military would be willing to side with the people, but they fear the security apparatus of General al-Burhan, structured around the formidable elite troops who are not afraid to shoot in the crowd and torture young people caught. randomly in the streets of Khartoum.
Under international pressure, the general has been trying since the October coup to restore his image by inviting some leaders of the former democratic government to form a coalition, with the support of former Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok. But so far, few people have responded to this call, which at first appears to be an attempt at a “makeover” that would preserve the power of the military. The massive opposition found in the streets is almost unanimous in calling for an outright return of the army to the barracks.
The hope of democracy
The current resistance has acquired a particular character because it results from an irruption “from below”, that is to say from districts and villages where “popular assemblies” prevail and where everyone has a voice. chapter, both on the issue of security and that of the food and medical supply.
The volunteers who populate civic groups naturally want the support of the opposition parties, but without subordination (they are mainly grouped together in the “Forces for Freedom and Change” coalition). From this vast civil and political alliance emerges, in the wake of the 2019 transition plan, a project that would move the country towards social justice, the end of corruption, federalism, secularism and respect for cultural differences.
While the military government claims to want to restore peace, the clashes multiply. Despite this situation, the United States and several of its allies, including Canada, with the support of the UN and the African Union, say they are encouraged by the general’s calls to negotiate with part of the opposition. around ex-prime minister Hamdok.
However, the popular opposition does not want to know anything about a “power-sharing” agreement that would leave the military apparatus intact. For the moment, the unity of the opposition is based on a triple rejection of negotiations, “partnership” and the legitimacy of the army.