EU condemns Sudan crackdown on protesters, journalists

BRUSSELS: The European Union condemned a violent crackdown on protesters in Sudan against last month’s coup that let six dead and demanded the release of detainees including journalists.

The EU called on the junta that seized power on Oct.25 “to return to the path of a fair and open dialogue with civilians, as they have done in August 2019.”

In a statement by the spokesman of the EU’S top diplomat Josep Borrell, the 27-member bloc warned of “serious consequences” for continued EU support.

Sudanese security forces stepped up pressure on the media Sunday with the arrest of the Khartoum bureau chief of the Al Jazeera broadcaster.

The EU statement reiterated a “call for the release of all detainees including journalists” arrested since the putsch.

“We will hold authorities accountable for violations of human rights and lack of protection of civilians, which has been induced since the end of the democratic transitional process,” it said.

Saturday was one of the bloodiest days since top general Abdel Fatah Al Burhan ousted the government, detained the civilian leadership and declared a state of emergency.

Among those killed were two teenagers, according to a medics’ union.

Sudan has a long history of military coups, enjoying only rare interludes of democratic rule since independence in 1956.

The October 25 coup derailed a transition to full civilian rule, sparking international condemnation and provoking regular protests.

It triggered punitive measures by Western countries and the World Bank, imperilling the impoverished country’s sources of investment and aid.

The protests, including by tens of thousands of people nationwide on Saturday, have continued despite internet outages forcing demonstrators to communicate via graffiti and SMS messages.

Burhan insists the military’s move on Oct. 25 “was not a coup” but a push to “rectify the course of the transition.”

Two more Sudanese protesters died in hospital from wounds ater being shot during mass protests against last month’s military coup, a doctors union said on Monday.

That raises the death toll from Saturday’s protests to seven, all but one from gunshots, the Sudan Doctors Commitee said.

More than 200 others were wounded when security forces used live ammunition and tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital city of Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, the commitee said.