How can Sudan's violent power struggle be resolved? | DW News

exactly four years after the dictator Omar al-Bashir was ousted Sudan is gripped by a bloody conflict that has led to the deaths of hundreds of people these are scenes from the capital Khartoum where people have been Sheltering from constant gunfire and bombardment as rival forces battle it out for key points in the city the violence started a week ago when fighting broke out between forces loyal to the Army Chief Abdel fatah Bohan and his Deputy Mohammed hamdan dagalo who commands the paramilitary rapid support courses or rsf in a moment I'll be asking an analyst if and how the situation can be resolved but first we want to take you back to 2018 when rare protests broke out in the country triggering the Sudan Revolution it was the skyrocketing price of bread in 2018 that started the protests in Northern Sudan they quickly spread across the country and anger turned towards president Omar al-Bashir the longtime autocrat responded with the security Crackdown that left dozens dead [Music] [Applause] it's the people of Sudan still kept pouring into the streets many of them women [Applause] then after 30 years the military generals turned on their leader Omar al-Bashir was removed I'm announcing here as defense minister and head of the Supreme Security Council we are removing this regime and detaining its head after he was arrested in a safe Zone protesters packed the streets in celebrations but they were to be short-lived after a transitional military government was set up many were not happy with the military still in charge and vowed to keep demonstrating demanding civilian rule then negotiations between the generals and pro-democracy leaders broke down foreign 2019 armed men moved in on the peaceful protesters killing over 120 people [Applause] shortly after civilian and Military factions came together and agreed to share power the military promised elections in 2023 Economist Abdullah hamdock was appointed as prime minister for the transitional period and the new government moved quickly to carry out key reforms but many months of political wrangling hardly got them anywhere and in October 2021 Army Chief Abdel fatah al-bahan and the military removed hamdock from office this effectively ended civilian rule in Sudan leaving burhan and the head of the paramilitary rapid support forces General Mohammed hamdan dagolu widely known as hamedi in charge both made their names during the brutal conflict in Sudan's Darfur region the pro-democracy movement nonetheless tried to keep hope alive and took to the streets early this year but instead of turning to democracy on the 15th of April the two generals turned on each other Revolution I'm joined in the studio by Ahmed Islam he is a Sudanese artist and activist he took part in the revolution protest that led to the al-star of Sudan's longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in 2019 welcome Ahmed it's really good to be talking to you again the last time was around at the time of the protests I just want to begin by asking you how you feel about what's happening right now back in your home country for the personal feeling is very terrifying I mean it is the first time that we witnessed a very large-scale war that where where the conflict is around my family houses and my friend houses so actually my friends are the the battlefield grounds their buddies are the battlefield ground and I think it's a very terrifying moment or trying to navigate through that and create a political effort Ahmed in many ways this started in in 2018 when when Sudanese people began protesting we know that those months-long protests later the Ulster of former president Omar al-Bashir just remind us again about how that came about because you were involved in those protests so um the the revolution of since 2018 in December and it was organized after um after like a long rage and anger but also part of this revolution demand people came together because they want to end the high militarized political political spaces on public spaces which has actually led to the conflict now so the revolution demand is ending the Bashir power because Bashir ruled the country through the military and through violence and they wanted to end that long series of violence yeah you now have this power struggle involving the two most powerful men in in the country um who do you blame now because all my other Shares are the way he's in prison yeah who is responsible for where Sudan is today now four years after it was like since like for the last four years it was it was a struggle again it's just two guys those two people like uh the the hemiti and al-burhan two of them there were they made a military coup in 2015 2000 sorry 21 to end the transitional period where the shared power with the civilian government and they also start to suppress the evolution and killing activists who participated on this revolution wanted to to have the Monopoly of power as a military again which is something that which is activists fought against people fought against Bashir not Bashir himself or so Bashir infrastructure which year military power and sheer military power it's which governing Sudan now a Bashir military power is the one that's fighting now against each other so the paramilitary which is heavy tea is a paramilitary group that that made by Bashir but burhan as a head of the military he sustained the power of heavy tea and he gave a gift he gave him to all of the all of the resources to to kind of expand his Empire as a as a militia that supporting the military and supporting uh suppressing the revolution I'm interested to know if you still believe uh or are hopeful that Sudan could One Day become a democracy the Democracy that you began fighting for in 2018. yeah it is not only my belief it's the belief of the people who is activists in the streets um they are actually is still there is a people now when they are looking at the conflict in Sudan they look at two party which is burhan and hamiti but there's a third party which is the majority part of the policy of the Revolution the part of of the people who actually asked for a long time for a Civic government for ending of militarization of society and that that voices of the existing committee's political parties alternative Sandy cats and Doctor unions they were all fighting to end those kind of conflict fearing this moment and it's still their voices is loud and they're still there using the spaces that they have in the middle of this Battleground to intensify this discourse for civilian government for ending the war but also ending any form of violence violent militant organizations that actually govern the country now all right Ahmed Isam thank you for your time and also get some analysis on the power struggle that has triggered the violence in Sudan we've invited Fidel owuso into the program he is an international relations and security analyst he works for conflict research Consortium for Africa he's based in Accra welcome to DW news uh Fidel can you help us understand the issue at heart that has led to the current situation in Sudan um first off I would like to um thank you for this opportunity um the issue at hand is the reintegration or the integration of the paramilitary force known as the rapid support forces led by General degao de garro into the regular army in fact this paramilitary force foughts in the Darfur conflict during the 2000s and the Sudanese people think that it's about time that they are reintegrated or they are integrated into the regular forces so that it will ensure some stability and General Security of the country because that substance did it seems that we have two powerful military groups or armed groups that being the regular forces and the Parliamentary group and this really integration or the integration has caused these problems in in in in the country and Fidel what are the possible outcomes of of of this conflict yes um us we understand and finding peace that has become very elusive because um one the paramilitary force that the rsf is not comfortable about the integration and they thought that if um there's going to be some reintegration into the regular forces it's not going to secure their economic and political interests and so the outcomes are that one if they feel that they are at the advantage in the current conflict happening they are not going to lay down their arms neither are they going to hit to the ceasefire that is being called from all over the world and again if they think that they are going to be defeated that is when they will sit around the table but as it stands now they are at um head and neck and neck with the military and they feel that you they will still have to continue other than that um they will have to sit around the table and talk anyways and and what do Regional leaders need to do to help bring stability to Sudan right now yeah interestingly Sudan is in an is in an area or a region that is very tumultuous and very volatile we have in South Sudan a very divided country in Ethiopia we still have some Rebellion that was recently quenched uh we have um authoritarian regime in Eritrea and a parasites there and in the northeast of Sudan we have Libya and this can mean a refugee a group or a people flocking through the eastern North Eastern Corridor into a southern Europe crossing the Mediterranean Sea to southern Europe but I got that is the intergovernmental Authority on development which is the original body is supposed to um ensure that there is peace recently they held a meeting and they've asked the Sudanese president um the Kenyan president and the president of Djibouti to intervene or to represent the group in basophia nothing has happened and because of this this has the potential of engulfing the whole region into a very um destabilized States wow okay so hopefully we can get that resolved before uh the situation uh escalates to that point uh that is uh Fidel also talking to us from Accra thank you for your time and insight you're welcome

Channel: DW News

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Id: IG9GQ5hv5hE

Length: 12min 23sec (743 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 23 2023