Title: Nas Al Sudan Taghyir w/ Sara Elhassan, Kholood Khair, & Bashir Idris

An Introduction to the war in Sudan

 

[ALT text: An infographic, illustrated by @Lizar_Tistry, that is a winding green/brown path, from top left to bottom left of the page, which makes 3 full turns, travelling left to right and back again.  Dates, facts and accompanying illustrations are made along the path, offering an "Introduction to the war in Sudan" based on a discussion by Nas Al-Sudan & Project Taghyir w/ Sara Elhassan, Kholood Khair & Bashir Idris]

 

1956 - Independence from British Colonial Rule (British flag with flames - arrow to blue/yellow/green Sudan flag)

Unresolved questions of National Identity

• Tribe

• Religion

• Region

• Wealth and power distribution 

 

1958 - 1st dictator General Abboud [illustration of a military cap]

1962 - Civil war in South & Anynya Movement

 

1964 - Oct, Revolution & Elected government [illustration: hand holding up sign saying “General Strike!”]

1969 - Military Coup & Nimeiry dictatorship [illustration - head & shoulder portrait of Gaafar Muhammad an-Nimeiry in military attire]

• Political shift away from Africa & toward Middle East

• Brute excessive force

• Right-wing Islamism

• Arabization

 

1972 - Addis Ababa Agreement [illustration - a signed document with a pen next to it]

• Ends Civil War

• Self-rule in South

 

1983 - September Laws & Islamic Sharia

• Undid Addis Ababa Agreement & autonomy of South

• Triggered 2nd Civil War [illustration: hand holding up a bottle, but arm is snapped at wrist]

  • Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) vs.

  • Sudan People's Liberation Mvmt (SPLM)

 

1985 - April Revolution [illustration: 3 arms holding up placards; the front one reads “Down with I.M.F.!]

• Nimeriy overthrown by popular uprising

• 1986 democratically-elected government

 

1989 - Military coup & Bashir dictatorship [illustration: head & shoulder portrait of Omar Al-Bashir in military attire]

• Corruption of natural resources ay expense of population -> extreme impoverishment

• Violent repression of popular uprisings & dismantling of trade unions

• Continuation of Arabization & right-wing Islamism

 

1997 - U.S. Sanctions. Isolates Sudan & destroys economy [illustration: U.S. flag]

 

2003+ - Darfur Genocide [illustration: outline map of Sudan and South Sudan, with a star marking Darfur’s location]

• Bashir arms Janjaweed → restructured into the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in 2013

 

2005 - Peace Agreement

 

2011 - South Sudan Independence [illustration - South Sudan flag - turquoise triangle with yellow star on; horizontal bands of black, red and green, divided by white strips]

 

[illustration: rows if tombstones, as in a cemetery]

• 2 million people killed in South Sudan

• 300,000 people killed in Darfur

• Millions displaced

 

Resistance Committees!!

Popular uprisings intensify despite brutal repression by heavily-funded security forces

 

2018 - Revolution triggered by hikes in food prices [illustration: Kandake of the Sudanese Revolution - woman in white (Alaa Salah) with hand upraised]

 

2019 - April

• Bashir ousted by SAF

• Transitional Agreement ← plan for 3yr joint rule, then elections & civilian rule

 

BUT

 

Civilian political forces undermined by Military Security Establishment from beginning

• → Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan [illustration of Al-Burhan in military garb]

  • High-ranking general under Bashir, portrayed as “neutral”

  • Wants return of Islamists to power

• → Hemidti (Mohamed Hamdan Degalo) [illustration of Hemidti in military shirt]

  • Janjaweed & RSF leader

  • Bashir legitimized RSF after Hemedti threatened war

  • Ingratiating himself into center but no plan for governance

 

2021 - Military Coup

Dissolves civilian cabinet for “security purposes”

 

[35 military coups from 1956 to 2021]

 

From Partnership to Rivalry diverging interests supersede mutual interests [illustration of Al-Burhan and Hemidti sitting talking]

 

2022 - Framework Agreement

• Intentions to return to transitional gov’t & integrate RSF into SAF

 

• Hemidti elevate to Burhan’s equal

• Emboldening of Islamists

• RSF/SAF integration negotiations failed

 

2023 - April - War breaks out btwn SAF & RSF

• Different accounts of who started - relevant for criminal liability but not resolution

→ need to look at conditions & RSF objectives & activity (RSF better funded, stronger allies, more available weaponry)

 

Humanitarian crisis*

• >25,000 people dead

• 80% of people food insecure

• Collapsed healthcare syst.

*numbers are all undercounted

 

[illustration: hand held up, palm outward, in “no/stop” gesture]

Need to refuse belligerents acceptance in any kind of postwar dispensation