Sudan’s president overthrown by military following civilian protests
KHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudan’s president was deposed Thursday the same way he came to power 30 years ago — in a military takeover.
Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s downfall, however, did not come with the flying bullets or middle-of-the-night escapes many expected from a leader who survived numerous past crises. Instead, the biggest peaceful demonstrations in a generation precipitated his ouster, culminating in a vast sit-in attended by hundreds of thousands in the capital, Khartoum.
The apparent coup in Sudan capped a season of protest and political churn in North Africa, recalling the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that toppled autocratic leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen. In Algeria, protests that started in February forced North Africa’s longest-serving leader out of power earlier this month.
But amid the euphoria in Algeria and Sudan, demonstrators have appeared more keenly aware of the looming dangers than their counterparts eight years earlier, vowing to remain in the streets until their broad array of demands were met. Protesters at the sit-in in Khartoum received the announcement of new military leadership Thursday with a mixture of disappointment and disbelief.
Sudan’s defense minister, Awad Ibn Auf, declared on state radio the takeover of a two-year transition government administered by the military with him in charge, adding that the constitution would be suspended, a three-month state of emergency would be put in place and a curfew imposed.
State media reported that all political prisoners, including leaders of the protests, were in the process of being released from jails around the country. But protesters were angered that their demands for a civilian government were not met and vowed not to let the curfew end their sit-in.
“Did we go through all this trouble for this?” asked Khalid Osman, a protester at the demonstration Thursday. “It’s the same story.”
Home to 43 million people, Sudan is Africa’s thirdlargest country by area and occupies a strategic location along the Nile River. Bashir used his geographical leverage to become a regional power-broker, presiding over peace agreements in neighboring South Sudan and Central African Republic, as well as water disputes between Ethiopia and Egypt.
The protests here were sparked in December by price hikes on basic goods but also reflected a deeprooted desire for the replacement of Bashir’s regime. Bashir is accused of committing crimes against humanity and genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region and has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.
The protests were initially organized by the Sudanese Professionals Association, a group that drew many doctors, lawyers and students. The protesters’ demands included Bashir’s prosecution and justice for protesters who had been killed.
Ibn Auf was a key military leader during Bashir’s suppression of rebels in Darfur and is unlikely to give Bashir up for prosecution. The U.S. government also imposed sanctions against him in 2007 for his role in Darfur.
Western governments remained largely silent after Ibn Auf’s declaration on Thursday. The secretary general of the United Nations simply reiterated his “expectation that the democratic aspiration of the Sudanese people will be realized.”