Khartoum-Alyurae- (AFP) – Sudanese anti-coup activists called for mass protests on Sunday, as medics said the number of people killed since last month’s military takeover had risen to at least 40.
Both the United States and African Union have condemned the deadly crackdown on protesters and called on Sudan’s leaders to refrain from the “excessive use of force.”
Sudan’s top general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on October 25 declared a state of emergency, ousted the government and detained the civilian leadership.
The military takeover upended a two-year transition to civilian rule, drew wide international condemnation and punitive measures, as well as provoking people to take to the streets.
The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) have urged protesters to keep up their campaign.
On Saturday, pro-democracy activists made online calls for mass anti-coup protests with a “million-strong march on November 21”.
The SPA is an umbrella of unions which were instrumental in the months-long demonstrations that led to the ousting of president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.
Protests on Wednesday provoked the deadliest day so far, with the toll of those killed now standing at 16 after a teenager who was shot in the head died, medics said.
“One martyr passed away… after he succumbed to severe wounds after being hit by live rounds to the head and the leg on November 17,” the independent Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said. He was aged 16, it added.
‘Abuses and violations’
Most of those killed on Wednesday were in North Khartoum, which lies across the Nile river from the capital, medics said.
Police officials deny using any live ammunition and insist they have used “minimum force” to disperse the protests. They have recorded only one death, among demonstrators in North Khartoum.
On Friday, small groups of protesters rallied in several neighbourhoods after prayers against the military coup, especially in North Khartoum, where people were seen building barricades across the roads. Security forces sporadically fired teargas to disperse them.
The SPA reported that security forces had “stormed homes and mosques” in there on Friday.
“We call for those responsible for human rights abuses and violations, including the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, to be held accountable,” US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
“In advance of upcoming protests, we call on Sudanese authorities to use restraint and allow peaceful demonstrations,” the US added.
The African Union, which suspended Sudan after the coup, also condemned “in the strongest terms” Wednesday’s violence, in a statement released Saturday.
AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat called on Sudan’s authorities “to restore constitutional order and the democratic transition” in line with a 2019 power-sharing deal between the military and the now-deposed civilian figures.
Sudan has a long history of military coups, enjoying only rare interludes of democratic rule since independence in 1956.
Burhan, the top general, insists the military’s move “was not a coup” but a step “to rectify the transition” as factional infighting and splits deepened between civilians and the military under the now-deposed government.
He has since announced a new civilian-military ruling council in which he kept his position as head, along with a powerful paramilitary commander, three senior military figures, three ex-rebel leaders and one civilian.
But the other four civilian members were replaced with lesser known figures.
Activists in the sudanese capital’s coordination against military rule staged sunday’s demonstrations, while doctors supporting civil rule announced that the number of civilian deaths had risen to 70 after a boy died saturday of serious injuries sustained On Wednesday.
“The spirit of 16-year-old Mohammed Adam Haroun was raised this morning by live bullets to the head and man in #مليونية17نوفمبر,” the Sudan Central Medical Committee said in a statement.
On Wednesday (November 17th), the highest number of people was killed, mostly in the northern Khartoum suburb, which is connected by a bridge to the Sudanese capital, according to the pro-democracy doctors’ union.
This brings the death toll since the demonstrations began on October 25th to 40, most of them demonstrators.
Police say they do not open fire on demonstrators, with only 31 protesters injured by tear gas, compared to 89 policemen.
Pro-democracy activists on social media on Saturday called for a “million-man demonstration” on Sunday.
In a tweet, the Sudanese Professionals’ Caucus, which played a pivotal role during the uprising that toppled Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, called for a series of rallies throughout the week, including a “million-man demonstration” on Sunday and similar demonstrations on Thursday.
Abuses and violations
Small groups of protesters gathered Friday after prayers in several neighborhoods, particularly in the northeastern suburb of Khartoum Bahri, where the largest number of casualties occurred on Wednesday. Protesters set up barricades in the streets, but security forces fired tear gas canisters to disperse them. The gathering of professionals said security forces “raided houses and mosques”.
The United States and the African Union condemned the bloody crackdown on protesters and called on Sudan’s leaders not to “use excessive force.”
A State Department spokesman called for “accountability for human rights violations and abuses, including excessive use of force against peaceful protesters.”
“Before the upcoming demonstrations, we call on the Sudanese authorities to show restraint and allow peaceful demonstrations,” he said.
The African Union said in a statement Saturday that it “condemns in the strongest terms” wednesday’s violence.
