To: Detroit/Seattle
Workers' Voice mailing list
March 9, 2022
Re: The Sudanese resistance sets a more radical course
by Pete Brown, Detroit Workers’ Voice
True to their word, the resistance committees of Khartoum issued their draft of a new national charter at the end of February. (1) The main point of the new charter is the need to condemn the October 25 military coup last year and to call for a new government based on opposition to the coup. Forces that supported the dictatorship of al-Bashir up until his fall on April 11, 2019, would be excluded from any new government. Leading forces of the so-called Transitional Military Council, the main governmental power after al-Bashir fell, would also be excluded. (2) The charter repudiates the August 2019 Constitutional Declaration signed by the TMC and the Forces for Freedom and Change, the leading civilian coalition at the time, since the October 25 coup invalidates that Declaration. And it demands that any organization that had tried to negotiate power-sharing with the TMC must go through a period of review, issue statements of re-evaluation and make a formal apology before they will be allowed to participate in any new government. Thus, the charter seeks to forge a new path to a civilian democratic Sudan.
In addition, the charter calls for several reforms that have been demanded by progressive organizations for years, such as the integration and unification of all armed forces. At present Sudan is plagued by a multiplicity of regional and semi-official militias such as the RSF (Rapid Support Forces). And the charter stipulates some arrangements for arranging elections and so forth. There are some differences here between the resistance committees of Khartoum and those of Wad Madani, whose draft charter emphasized decentralization away from Khartoum and the tri-cities area. These differences need to be worked through as the RCs throughout Sudan develop their unified struggle against the TMC’s junta.
Meanwhile, the struggle continues. RCs throughout Sudan promised
regular “Marches of the Millions” every Monday in February, and they
kept at it. But since the junta seemed well prepared to deal with
demonstrations on those days, activists also surprised the regime with
“irregular” demonstrations on Thursdays. The police, taken by surprise,
reacted with especial ferocity on Thursday, February 17, and afterwards
roamed through Khartoum arresting anyone they suspected of being an
activist organizer. Afterwards over 100 detainees announced the
beginning of a hunger strike. Most were released in a few days, but
government forces kept finding more activists to detain. This included
correspondents from news organizations like BBC. (3) Detainees are held
without charges and are not allowed visitors or lawyers. Thus, the
march on Monday, February 21 focused on the demand that all detainees
be released, under the slogan “Break the Chains.” (4)
Another large, powerful demonstration was organized for Monday, February 28. This led to fierce repression by the police, with two protesters killed and 130 injured. (5) Even after being taken to hospitals, the injured were not safe. Police attacked one hospital, smashing its windows and tossing tear gas canisters inside the operating room. They then stormed inside, threatening doctors with guns and chasing women doctors through the hallways. Afterwards, as usual, Western ambassadors and UN observers issued statements condemning the police violence, but also as usual the junta’s rulers ignored them.
Another strong demonstration of opposition to the junta took place in Darfur when military rulers went there to consolidate their rule in the west. As they arrived in the state capital of El Fasher, they were met with demonstrations organized by local resistance committees. Professional associations that were supposed to meet them issued statements condemning the coup and boycotting the visit. The junta’s police went crazy on the demonstrators, firing tear gas at them and beating them with sticks, batons, rifle butts and metal chains. Then they rounded up RC leaders and local politicians. (6)
Poor economic conditions are what originally led to the revolt against
al-Bashir in December 2018. Since then, conditions have steadily
worsened regardless of changes to the political situation. Western
nations began to loosen sanctions and revive aid programs in 2020-21,
but also insisted on a strict structural adjustment program designed by
the World Bank. Since the October 25 coup, aid from the West has once
again been cut off, while the junta maintains the structural
adjustments. This means cutting off subsidies for basic goods like food
and electric power. The junta has lifted price controls, allowing
prices to soar while the Sudanese currency plunges in value. (7)
Electric bills have jumped by 500 per cent in some places in one year!
Farmers in northern Sudan have been devastated by these prices, as they
rely on electricity to run water pumps for irrigating crops. This has
given rise to another front of struggle, as the farmers set up
blockades on local roads and the main highway to Egypt. (8)
Historically, Sudan was self-sufficient in food and a big exporter of
cotton and other crops. (9) But government corruption and
mismanagement, together with sectarian politics and reliance on
imperialist countries, have decimated Sudanese agriculture. At the same
time, global warming has made agriculture more and more difficult in
East Africa. Starvation is looming, not only for the refugees in Darfur
but for the urban masses. The junta responds to this crisis with
military operations against farmers. The generals and their cronies sit
fat and happy atop their royalties from the export of oil while working
people suffer.
The West – the EU, the U.S., Canada, Norway, Britain, etc. -- repeatedly condemn the atrocities of the junta and call on it to hold talks with the opposition and to restore the transition to democracy. But the junta goes on shooting protesters, raping women, whipping them with chains, etc. Any government that was set up as a joint venture with the present military leaders would be just a fig leaf for fascism. What’s needed is not talks with the junta leaders, but their overthrow and a complete overhaul of the security forces, as the RCs’ proposed charter calls for. Western nations have refused to directly support the resistance committees, even though they constitute the main force in the democratic struggle, while some other countries, such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, directly back the military regime. Some sanctions have already been placed on the regime, but the junta gets around them and builds up military supplies with aid from neighboring allies – Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It’s not the Western powers and their sanctions that are moving Sudan towards democracy, but the mass struggle led by the resistance committees. Calling for talks with the generals is like asking Hitler to provide more soap for the showers in Dachau.
Recently, as Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Sudanese general
‘Hemeti’ Dagalo, vice-chairman of the Sovereignty Council, paid a
friendly visit to Moscow. Hemeti is head of the notorious RSF (Rapid
Support Forces), the main force in murdering and raping anti-coup
demonstrators. The RSF led the attacks on villages in Darfur, forcing
the evacuation of hundreds of thousands while the RSF seized the gold
mines there and used them to finance their semi-private militia. While
in Moscow, Hemeti gave statements in support of Russian operations in
Ukraine. Later, the Sudanese foreign ministry issued a watered-down
official statement, asserting they are simply for peace.
It’s far from a condemnation of the Russian invasion, however,
since it calls on Russia and Ukraine both to “refrain from
escalation of the conflict” – as if Ukraine were attacking Russia! The
statement also emphasizes Russia’s right to “protect itself and its
people”, which seems to imply support for Russian intervention in
eastern Ukraine, at least.
The foreign ministry statement goes on to say Hemeti’s visit helped
strengthen all-sided ties with Russia, and this includes going ahead
with approval of Russia’s plan to build a naval base on the Red Sea
near Port Sudan. Hemeti also encouraged Russian investment in the
Sudanese oil business, which makes up well over 90% of Sudan’s exports.
In the past, the main investor and supplier of technology for oil
extraction has been China, along with other Asian countries, but Sudan
is anxious to build more wells and pipelines. So Putin, the murderer of
Ukraine, has found a friendly soul brother in the genocidal killer
Hemeti. (10)
1. “Resistance Committees in Sudan capital release new charter ‘to
overthrow October 25 coup’”, Radio Dabanga, February 28, 2022.
2. The military leaders governing Sudan still pretend to be working on transition to a democratic, elected government. But since October 25, and especially since the resignation of figurehead president Abdalla Hamdok at the end of December, this “transition” has been in limbo. So today they are known simply as the Sovereignty Council.
3. “Sudan putschists pressurhttps://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-putschists-pressure-press-freedom-as-bbc-reporters-detainede freedom as BBC reporters detained”, Radio
Dabanga, February 8, 2022.
4. “At least 200 injured in ‘Break the Chains’ Marches of the Millions
in Sudan”, Radio Dabanga, February 22, 2022
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/at-least-200-injured-in-break-the-chains-marches-of-the-millions
5. “Slain protesters buried in Sudan”, Radio Dabanga, March 2, 2022
6. “Sudan: 6 protesters arrested, 5 injured as coup leaders snubbed in
North Darfur.” Radio Dabanga, February 3, 2022.
7. “Sudanese pound plunges – people's basic daily needs unaffordable.”
Radio Dabanga, February 27, 2022.
8. “Resistance committees rebuild road blockades in Northern Sudan”,
Radio Dabanga, February 8, 2022.
9. “Interview with Darfuri agricultural engineer Souad El Tayeb on food
scarcity: ‘There is no justification for the current scarcity’”, Radio
Dabanga, October 12, 2021.
10. "Hemeti charts official Sudan policy on Russia-Ukraine conflict”,
Radio Dabanga, March 3, 2022.
Picture: Thousands come out on Monday, February 21, for the “Breaking
the Chains” demonstration demanding the release of detainees.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/uploads/cache/article_detail_image/uploads/media/6214c879504d1.jpeg
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