2018–2019 protests and political upheaval
The Sudanese revolution () was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état deposed President Omar al-Bashir on 11 April after thirty years in power, 3 June Khartoum massacre took place under the leadership of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) that replaced al-Bashir, and in July and August 2019 the TMC and the Forces of Freedom and Change alliance (FFC) signed a Political Agreement and a Draft Constitutional Declaration legally defining a planned 39-month phase of transitional state institutions and procedures to return Sudan to a civilian democracy.
In August and September 2019, the TMC formally transferred executive power to a mixed military–civilian collective head of state, the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, and to a civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok and a mostly civilian cabinet, while judicial power was transferred to Nemat Abdullah Khair, Sudan's first female Chief Justice. While it is mainly about this eight-month period, there are debates on the definition of the Sudanese revolution, which may also be interpreted to include the period during the prime ministership of Hamdok, who promised that the transitional period would carry out "the program" of the revolution.
Overview.
On 19 December 2018, a series of demonstrations broke out in several Sudanese cities, due in part to rising costs of living and deterioration of economic conditions at all levels of society. The protests quickly turned from demands for urgent economic reforms into demands for President Omar al-Bashir to step down.
The violence of the government's reaction to these peaceful demonstrations sparked international concern. On 22 February 2019, al-Bashir declared a state of emergency and dissolved the national and regional governments, replacing the latter with military and intelligence-service officers. On 8 March, al-Bashir announced that all of the women jailed for protesting against the government would be released. On the weekend of 6–7 April, there were massive protests for the first time since the declaration of the state of emergency. On 10 April, soldiers were seen shielding protesters from security forces, and on 11 April, the military removed al-Bashir from power in a coup d'état.
Following al-Bashir's removal from power, street protests organised by the Sudanese Professionals Association and democratic opposition groups continued, calling on the ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC) to "immediately and unconditionally" step aside in favour of a civilian-led transitional government, and urging other reforms in Sudan. Negotiations between the TMC and the civilian opposition to form a joint transition government took place during late April and in May, but stopped when the Rapid Support Forces and other TMC security forces killed 128 people, raped 70 and injured others in the Khartoum massacre on 3 June.
Opposition groups responded to the massacre and post-massacre arrests by carrying out a 3-day general strike from 9–11 June and calling for sustained civil disobedience and nonviolent resistance until the TMC transfers power to a civilian government. On 12 June the opposition agreed to stop the strike and the TMC agreed to free political prisoners.
After renewed negotiations, a deal, called the Political Agreement, was agreed verbally between the TMC and the civilian protesters represented by the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) on 5 July 2019 and a written form of the agreement was signed by the TMC and FFC on 17 July. The TMC and FFC announced that they would share power to run Sudan via executive and legislative institutions and a judicial investigation of post-coup events, including the Khartoum massacre, until elections occur in mid-2022. The Political Agreement was complemented by the Draft Constitutional Declaration, which was initially signed by the FFC and the TMC on 4 August 2019 and signed more formally on 17 August. The transition plan creates the Sovereignty Council as head of state, with a mixed civilian–military composition and leadership to be transferred from a military leader to a civilian leader 21 months after the transitional period begins, for a total 39-month transition period leading into elections.
The TMC was dissolved and the mostly male Sovereignty Council was created on 20 August 2019. Abdalla Hamdok was appointed prime minister on 21 August 2019. The Transitional Cabinet, with four female and 14 male civilian ministers and 2 male military ministers, was announced in early September. A "comprehensive peace process" between the Sudanese state and armed opposition groups was scheduled to start on 1 September 2019. Nemat Abdullah Khair was appointed as Sudan's first female Chief Justice on 10 October. Street protests continued during the transitionary period.
Background.
Al-Bashir had ruled the country since 1989 when he led a successful coup against the elected, but increasingly unpopular, prime minister of the time, Sadiq al-Mahdi. The International Criminal Court (ICC) has indicted Al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the western region of Darfur.
Since the Bashir regime gained control of the country in 1989, the opposition had been very fierce from all political parties, due to the oppressive "Islamist" policies and heinous human rights violations. Multiple failed coup attempts, protests, and strikes had been dealt with extremely harshly, and key opposition members such as Sadiq al-Mahdi, Amin Mekki Medani, and Farouk Abu Issa were even arrested and expelled from the country. In particular, the 2011–2013 Sudanese protests, which coincided with the Arab Spring, saw a period of heightened protest and repression, as well as shifts in organizational dynamics within the Sudanese opposition and a restructuring of the regime's coercive apparatus. In January 2018, large protests started on the streets of Khartoum, Sudan's capital, in opposition to the rising prices of the basic goods including bread. The protests grew quickly and found support from different opposition parties. Youth and women's movements also joined the protests.
The Sudanese government devalued the local currency and removed wheat and electricity subsidies. Sudan's economy has struggled since Omar al-Bashir's ascent to power, but became increasingly turbulent following the secession of South Sudan in 2011, which, up until then, had represented an important source of foreign currency, because of its oil output. The devaluation of the Sudanese pound in October 2018 led to wildly fluctuating exchange rates and a shortage of cash in circulation. Long lines for basic goods such as petrol, bread, as well as cash from ATMs were a common sight. At the time, Sudan had around 70% inflation, second only to Venezuela.
In August 2018, the National Congress party backed Omar Al-Bashir's 2020 presidential run, despite his increasing unpopularity and his previous declaration that he would not run in the upcoming elections. These measures led to rising opposition from within the party calling for respect of the constitution, which currently prevents Al-Bashir from being reelected. Sudanese activists reacted on social media and called for a campaign against his nomination.
Terminology.
The protests and the planned 39-month phase of transitionary institutions were widely referred to as "the revolution" or the "Sudanese revolution". Two earlier Sudanese civil disobedience uprisings that led to major changes of government include the October 1964 Revolution and the March/April 1985 Revolution. Since December 2018, sustained civil disobedience was referred to by protestors as a revolution, with chanted slogans including "Revolution is the people's choice". Women participating in the protests called them a "women's revolution" in March 2019 and following the April 2019 coup d'état, Transitional Military Council chair al-Burhan referred to "the uprising and the revolution". Gilbert Achcar of "Jacobin" described the transfer of power to the Sovereignty Council and the plan for a 39-month period of transitional institutions as the "fourth phase" of "the revolution". Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok stated, after taking power in August 2019, that "The revolution's deep-rooted slogan, 'freedom, peace and justice,' will form the program of the transitional period."
The Sudan Revolutionary Front, an alliance of armed groups created in 2011 in opposition to President Omar al-Bashir, argued that the August 2019 creation of the Sovereignty Council was a "hijacking of the revolution", and that the revolution had been started by the armed rebel groups in 2003.
Opposition groups and figures.
The Sudanese opposition to al-Bashir was initially fractured, but in January 2019 unified in a coalition called the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC, or Alliance for Freedom and Change). The Freedom and Change Charter signed by the alliance participants called for the removal of the government and a transition to democracy under a civilian government.
Multiple groups and coalitions were organised at multiple levels. Local grassroots groups that had started organising as a loose network in 2013, called the resistance committees, played a major role in organising civil disobedience and pressuring the TMC.
One of the key groups active in coordinating the protests is the Sudanese Professionals Association. The group is a civil society organisation and an umbrella group of trade unions for professionals. The group is composed of doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers, journalists, pharmacists, and others. The group, established in 2012, operated mostly clandestinely during al-Bashir's regime in order to avoid arrest. The core of the group consists of urban middle-class professionals.
Other Sudanese opposition groups include the Sudan Call (Nidaa Sudan in Arabic), a movement founded by many political figures including, Farouk Abu Issa and Dr. Amin Mekki Medani, (and included the Umma Party, the Sudanese Congress Party, the Sudan Revolutionary Front) and the National Consensus Forces (consisting of the Sudanese Communist Party and the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party – Region of Sudan).
"Jacobin" described the political movement organised by the Sudanese opposition groups as "perhaps the best organized and politically advanced in the [Middle East/North Africa] region".
Women's activism.
1 January declaration that created the FFC included two major women's coalitions, the Women of Sudanese Civic and Political Groups, Sudanese Women's Union, No to Oppression against Women Initiative, and MANSAM. Women played a major role in the protests, sometimes constituting 70% of the daily street protestors. In August 2019, during the Sudanese transition to democracy period that followed the first 2018–2019 civil disobedience, coup and massacre phases of the Sudanese revolution, these organisation argued that since women had played as significant a role in the revolution as men, positions chosen by civilian–military consensus in the Cabinet of Ministers should be allotted equally between men and women, stating that Sudanese women "claim an equal share of 50–50 with men at all levels, measured by qualifications and capabilities".
Timeline.
December 2018.
The 2018–2019 wave of protests began on 19 December 2018 in response to the tripling of the price of bread in Atbara, then quickly spread to Port Sudan, Dongola and the capital Khartoum. Protestors set fire to the national party headquarters in Atbara and Dongola. Authorities used tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition to disperse demonstrators, causing dozens of deaths and injuries. The former prime minister, Sadiq al-Mahdi, returned to the country on the same day.
Access to social media and instant messaging was cut on 21 December by the country's major service providers, with technical evidence collected by the NetBlocks internet observatory and Sudanese volunteers indicating the installation of "an extensive Internet censorship regime". Curfews were issued across Sudan, with schools closed throughout the country.
Darfuri students in Sennar and Khartoum were arrested by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) and tortured into confessing membership in the Sudan Liberation Movement in an effort to create a narrative that the protests were race-based. These forced confessions were broadcast on both Sudanese state television and Facebook on 29 December.
January 2019.
The generals' position has been strengthened by the security forces' use of force. In the worst of these instances, a crackdown on protestors in the capital city of Khartoum on June 3 resulted in the deaths of dozens of people, some of whose remains were dumped into the River Nile. On the same day, Mohamed Nagi Alassam, SPA secretary, delivered a statement demanding the government to step-down. He and over 100 opposition members were arrested the next day.
By 7 January 2019 over 800 anti-government protesters were arrested and 19 people, including security officials, were killed during the protests.
On 9 January, thousands of protesters gathered in the southeastern city of El-Gadarif.
Protests organised by the Sudanese Professionals Association led to a doctor being shot on 17 January, as hospitals were being targeted by security forces.
The erstwhile allies of Bashir, the National Congress Party, announced that it was withdrawing from the government and later called on for a transfer of power to a transitional government, signalling