June 17, 2019

Why the world should not let Sudan sink into anarchy

located:	Sudan
editor:	Bob Koigi

The death of 26 year old Mohamed Mattar, a Sudanese engineer who was shot dead by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) while trying to shield two women as the military tried to disperse and break the protesters sit-ins at the capital Khartoum, has spotlighted the harrowing situation in the North African country, which is now teetering on the brink of a precipice.

Ordinary citizens continue paying a heavy price with their only mistake being a quest for democratic power. Since former despot Omar Bashir was removed from office through protests that lasted some 11 months, the protesters have been pushing for the military to hand power to its rightful owners: the people.

In early June, the RSF, a paramilitary group seen as a scion of the ruling Transitional Military Council, descended on peaceful protestors in an exercise that has shocked the world. Up to 100 people, including 17 children have been reported killed, dozens of women raped, tents where protestors have been sleeping burnt, with eyewitness accounts painting a picture of a massacre and a bloodbath.

Protestors were shot in the head or chest and survivors shot again. Bodies were thrown into the expansive River Nile, only for families to find them days after the corpses drifted with the current. Doctors trying to access hospitals to treat the wounded have been beaten and harassed according to humanitarian organisations on the ground. The military transitional government has launched a total internet blackout, locking citizens from the outside world as it seeks to hide its atrocities. The latest move is a clear tactic to scare the people to give up hope for a civilian rule.  

Mediation has failed as the military continues to pay lip service to relinquish power from the people. Yet the country that is home to some 40 million peace-loving citizens, should not be allowed to sink into any further abyss at a time when the region continues to grapple with conflicts from Egypt, Libya and Horn of Africa. 

While the solidarity on social media through the blue for Sudan hashtag, the online petition for peace and order to be handed to the UN Secretary General and fundraising initiatives gain momentum and remain highly commendable, the international community must also step in with force.

The African Union has set a good example by suspending Sudan from all the organisation’s activities until the effective establishment of a civilian-led Transitional Authority while also threatening with sanctions and punitive actions against those orchestrating the violence.  The rest of the world should follow suit and hold criminally responsible individuals at the heart of the massacre. Sudan must not be allowed to sink as the world watches.

Image via Getty/Brendan Smialowski/AFP