.png)
Thousands of protesters have poured onto the streets of Khartoum and elsewhere as part of mass rallies aimed at pressuring Sudan‘s ruling generals to hand over power to a civilian-led administration and seeking justice for the scores of victims of a deadly military crackdown.
Dubbed the “millions march”, the demonostrations on Sunday are the first since security forces on June 3 killed more than 100 people during the bloody dispersal of a protest camp outside the military headquarters, the focal point of the protesters’ months-long struggle for democracy.
They come as the African Union (AU) and neighbouring Ethiopia stepped up efforts to mediate the ongoing crisis between the protest organisers and the ruling Transitional Military Council (TMC), which seized power in April when it overthrew long-time President Omar al-Bashir in the wake of mass protests against his autocrat rule.
Rights groups have demanded the TMC guarantee the safety of demonstators but on Saturday, on the eve of the rallies, the ruling generals warned that they would hold the protest movement responsible for any deaths or damage.
Images posted on social media appeared to show heightened security around the capital, with the feared paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) deployed in pick-up trucks mounted with machin eguns in several Khartoum squares.
RSF chief General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, whose forces are blamed by protesters for the deadly crackdown at the sit-in, warned on Saturday he would not tolerate any “vandalism” at the protests.
“There are vandals, there are people who have an agenda, a hidden agenda, we don’t want problems,” said Dagalo, who is widely known as Hemeti and is also the TMC’s deputy head.
‘Break barrier of fear’
In the run-up to the protests, which also mark the 30th anniversary of the coup that had brought al-Bashit to power in 1989, many Sudanese said they fear new violence.
“I expect large numbers … and it’s very possible that security forces will use force,” said 25-year-old Mustafa, who gave only his first name for security reasons, adding he planned to participate.
Talal, 29, added: “Even if only a few rallies take place in Khartoum, they will break the barrier of fear and more people will take to the streets” in the coming days, he said.
|
Sudan braces for ‘millions march’ as defiant protesters regroup |
The umbrella opposition group behind the protest, the Freedom and Change alliance, said demonstrators in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman would march to the homes of some of the protesters killed on June 3.
A doctors group linked to the protest movement say at least 120 people were killed in the crackdown, but officials have cited a death toll of 61.
The TMC insists it did not order the sit-in’s bloody dispersal but acknowledged “excesses” after orders were given to purge a nearby area allegedly notorious for drug peddling.
AU-Ethiopia joint proposal
Tensions remains high since the sit-in raid, which followed the collapse of talks over who should lead a new governing body – a civilian or soldier.
Ethiopia and the AU have proposed a blueprint for a civilian-majority body, which the generals say could be a basis for resuming talks.
Demonstrators’ “right to peacefully protest and express their views on 30 June, or on any other date, remains key,” the European Union said.
Amnesty International’s Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said the TMC “must not allow the country to slide back into yet more repression.”
“The world is watching.”
But mobilising protesters has become a challenge since the raid, as the TMC has imposed a widespread internet blackout.
In the lead-up to al-Bashir’s fall, tens of thousands of demonstrators were mobilised through social media, but now protest leaders have to resort to neighbourhood campaigns to keep the movement alive.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
