Sudanese schoolchildren killed in rally over fuel and bread shortages
The four deaths highlight the continuing dire economic situation the country still faces
Four Sudanese school pupils were among five demonstrators shot dead on Monday at a rally against bread and fuel shortages in the country’s interior.
The deaths in the central town of Al Obeid underscore the dire economic situation that sparked mass protests against longtime leader Omar Al Bashir last December and led to his downfall in April. The deaths are also a stark reminder that the economic problems remain unresolved.
The military council that has ruled since Mr Al Bashir’s removal and the leaders of protest groups were due to meet for more talks yesterday.
The military council and the protesters signed a power-sharing agreement this month to form a joint administration to lead the country to civilian rule in the coming years, however, numerous details remain to be pinned down.
Despite the talks, there has still been tension between the armed forces and protesters after a crackdown by the Rapid Support Forces, a government-backed militia, on a protest camp on June 3 led to 127 deaths.
However, an investigation by prosecutors and the military council said that just 17 people were killed on June 3 and 87 between then and June 10. It identified eight officers involved in the crackdown on the protest camp, including three from the Rapid Support Forces, but the military council maintains it did not order the militia to clear the sit-in.
However, protesters have rejected the findings and called for an independent inquiry.
US envoy to the country Donald Booth has warned the military council that, no matter how thorough their investigation is, they will face questions of accuracy given their potential role in the raid.
After the deaths of four pupils and one other person in Al Obeid on Monday, protest organisers called for nationwide rallies. The Sudanese Professionals Association, one of the main groups, said live ammunition had been used against a “rally of school students”.
Hundreds of protesters later gathered in Khartoum’s districts of Bahri and Burri and in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman, but riot police confronted the demonstrators and fired tear gas, witnesses said.
The office of North Kordofan’s governor announced an overnight curfew in four towns including Al Obeid, starting from Monday. All schools in the province had been told to suspend classes.
Residents of Al Obeid said the march had been over shortages of bread and fuel in the town but also local services. “Schoolchildren were affected as there is no transport to help them reach their schools. Today, they staged a rally and when it reached downtown there were shots fired.”
Yesterday’s talks between the military and protesters were due to cover issues including the powers of the joint civilian-military ruling body, the deployment of security forces and immunity for generals over protest-related violence, protest leaders said.
The power-sharing deal agreed on July 17 provides for the establishment of a new governing body of six civilians and five generals. It will oversee the formation of a transitional civilian government and parliament to run the country for 39 months, followed by elections.
Also on Monday, a top Sudanese editor who was detained last week in Khartoum was freed. Sadiq Al Rizaigi, who heads the country’s journalists union, was arrested last Wednesday as the military announced that they had foiled a coup bid by elements loyal to Mr Al Bashir.
However, a member of the journalist union’s board, Osama Abdelmajid, said: “We still don’t know why he had been detained.”
During Mr Al Bashir’s three-decade rule, the press was severely curtailed, news media activists said.
Agents from the feared National Intelligence and Security Service regularly cracked down on journalists or confiscated entire print-runs of newspapers for publishing articles deemed critical of Mr Al Bashir’s policies.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders recorded at least 100 cases of journalists being arrested during the months of protests that finally led to Mr Al Bashir’s removal in April.
But in another sign of the major changes in Sudan since the removal of Mr Al Bashir, the Niss has been rebranded. The Niss was one of the main forces of Mr Al Bashir fighting back against protesters in the weeks before he was ousted.
The key tool of Mr Al Bashir to repress dissent will now be called General Intelligence Service, its head, Lt Gen Abu Baker Mustafa, said on Monday.
He said the name change comes after a decree issued by the head of the country’s ruling military council Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan. “The change in the name comes at a time when the security apparatus is being restructured to keep pace with the political changes in the country,” Lt Gen Mustafa said.