Sudan at war with itself

Without a viable third force, one thing is certain — the people of Sudan will continue to suffer

Violence in Sudan continued through the weekend despite a ceasefire supposedly being agreed to, as forces loyal to two generals continue their brutal attacks to fulfil their respective leaders’ lust for power. Sudan has been ruled by military dictators for almost all of its modern history — the last democratically-elected government was deposed in 1989 after just three years in power. The rest of its 60-plus year history is a tale of coups, counter-coups and failed coups, littered with some of the world’s worst corruption and human rights abuses, leading to the resource-rich and historically wealthy country becoming a basket case. The current violence is such that even aid workers delivering food are being murdered by the ‘trained soldiers’, leading to several charities suspending aid operations. Sudan is heavily dependent on food aid, and a few weeks of supply interruption could lead to a combination of widespread starvation and increased violence if food riots are added to the mix.

Apart from 500-plus people killed in two weeks, over 3,500 have been injured and 11 health facilities have been attacked by the warring parties, whose leaders are following the “glorious history” of Sudanese dictators by drenching themselves in war crimes. Since taking power from fellow dictator and accused war criminal Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s ruler, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has led a reign of terror, with reports of bodies of regime opponents being thrown into the Nile after being raped and tortured on the streets of Khartoum. Vying to replace him is his former deputy, Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, whose paramilitary force “repeatedly attacked villages, burned and looted homes, beating, raping and executing villagers” during the war in Darfur almost a decade ago, and similar conduct is being reported today. In the interim, the regularly murdered and raped men and women who were peacefully protesting for democracy or basic human rights. Without a viable third force, however long this war takes, one thing is certain — the people of Sudan will continue to suffer.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2^nd, 2023.

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