The Sudanese Front Against the Coup
(The Sudanese Front Against the Coup is an open coalition of democratic politicians, grassroots activists in resistance committees, professional unions, media professionals, and members of civil society who together aim to resist the October 25, 2021 coup in Sudan.)
October 28, 2021

Situation update 2

On October 26, a few hours after the leader of the putschists, General Al-Burhan, admitted in a press conference, the kidnapping of the legitimate Prime Minister, Dr. Abdullah Hamdok, and forcing him to stay in the guest house next to the putschist’s house, the Prime Minister was returned to his residence under heavy security, headed by the second commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Abdel Rahim Daglo.

The manifestations of the military siege and tight security control around the Prime Minister’s house continue, in what appears to be an attempt to continue hijacking his political will and preventing him from communicating with the Sudanese national political movement.

The kidnapping of the prime minister’s political will was the main reason for his arrest, after he refused to submit to the blackmail of the putschists by supporting their coup.

Also, the leader of the putschists, General Al-Burhan, stated in his press conference on October 26, his intention to form a civilian government consisting of people who were satisfied with them by the military component, and also stated that they would not allow any political activity that does not conform to the political orientations of the military component. He also announced the dissolution of trade unions and professional associations to curb mass resistance to the coup, as happens in every traditional coup.

On the other hand, the campaign of arrests continued to include the leader in the Umma Party (Al-Siddiq Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi), the trade unionist (Ismail Al-Taj), and the journalist (Fayez Al-Silik), who was arrested immediately after an interview with Al-Jazeera on October 26. The Minister of Health (Omar al-Najib), Minister of Irrigation (Yasser Abbas) and (Dr. Hassan Nasrallah), the advisor to the Prime Minister for Federal Governance Affairs, who were on an official negotiating mission related to the eastern Sudan crisis, were also arrested.

The various states of Sudan have also witnessed the arrest of large numbers of activists and members of the resistance committees, which are currently being counted, and the numbers that have been registered so far: 39 detainees in Gedaref State (most of them are volunteers with the Dismantling Committee), 15 in Gezira State, and an unconfined number exceeding 47 detainees in South Darfur State. In Khartoum state, a number of politicians’ houses were raided separately by the Rapid Support Forces and Military Intelligence, without success in arresting them so far. It seems that there are multiple and separate lists of arrests under the supervision of each of the coup partners.

So far, no detainees have been released except for the prime minister and his wife, who have been transferred to their residence. There is frequent information that a number of detainees have been subjected to ill-treatment amid the absence of any information about their place of detention, specifically Minister of Cabinet Affairs Khaled Omar, Minister of Culture and Information Hamza Balloul and former Minister of Industry Madani Abbas Madani.

Peaceful resistance to the coup continued, and the various Khartoum neighborhoods witnessed: (Jabra, Al-Imtiadad, South Belt, Berri, Halfaya Al-Malouk, Khartoum East, Seteen Street, Hillat Hamad, Bahri Al-Amlak, Shambat, Al-Sababi, Al-Jarif West, Al-Jarif East, Al-Sababi Extension, Bait al-Mal, Althoura, banat) witnessed continuous demonstrations from the resistance committees. Also, most of the streets of Khartoum continue to be closed by protective gears to prevent the security and rapid support vehicles from attacking the demonstrators. The states of Al-Jazeera, Alqadarif, Kassala, South Darfur, Sennar, Northern State, South Kordofan, North Kordofan, also witnessed mass demonstrations against the coup.

Meanwhile, several professional organizations announced a political strike, complete civil disobedience, and preparations for a massive, million-strong demonstration on October 30 calling for the return of the civilian government. Doctors, Bank of Sudan employees, customs officials, workers at Khartoum Airport and workers in the oil production areas went on strike immediately after the announcement of Al-Burhan’s coup.

The coup authority continues to cut off telecommunications and internet services to prevent the exchange of photos and video recordings documenting their violations.
Although many countries and regional organizations have taken clear positions in rejecting the coup.

However, the United Nations Security Council failed to take a strong action against what happened since the dawn of the 25th as a result of the Russian position in support of the putschists. We find this accompanied by the non-issuance of a condemnation by the Emirates and Egypt of the coup against the path of democratic transformation in Sudan, confirming the information contained in our previous report about the regional and international hands in pushing the coup efforts.

We in the Sudanese Front Against the Coup remind these forces of the danger of this absurdity and that the Sudanese people will never forget those who contribute to tampering with their ambitions and dreams of stability and democracy to serve their self-interest.

Accordingly, the Sudanese Front Against the Coup affirms the following:

1- The putschists still taking vigorous steps to impose a new fait accompli that is rejected by the Sudanese people, by continuing to arrest members of the legitimate civilian government. The release of Dr. Abdullah Hamdouk, without allowing him to return to his office and exercise his duties, and to hold a full meeting of the legitimate cabinet with the aim of leading the country out of this political crisis, is meaningless.

2- The current political situation in Sudan has two camps. The putschists camp, which includes the military component, the Rapid Support Forces, the Justice and Equality Movement led by Jibril, the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minawi, the Social Justice Alliance party, which was recently made by the military, and the Tamazuj movement, whose establishment was supervised by the Military Intelligence, which are the forces that turned against the legitimate government and are trying to stop the path of civil democratic transformation in Sudan in order to create a new totalitarian dictatorship.

The other camp includes all the forces of freedom and change, the Sudanese national political movement, resistance committees, professional organizations and civil society that seek to complete the revolution’s path towards a democratic civil state in Sudan. Al-Burhan represents the first coup camp as he appeared to read the coup statement and repeat its demands, while we find the legitimate Prime Minister, Dr. Abdullah Hamdok and his currently detained cabinet are representatives of the second side. This is the new reality of today in Sudan.

3- Any attempt to appoint a new government in Sudan without considering the choices of the Sudanese political movement, and the attempt to seek the help of the forces of the remnants and remnants of the former regime to tamper with the transition equation will meet strong resistance from the Sudanese street. And trying to continue responding to the Sudanese street with violence will be a new crime to be added to the crime of the massacre at the sit-in on June 3, 2019 and the rest of the crimes committed by the Military Council.

To view previous reports of the Front: https://sfac2021.blogspot.com/