♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact digest of the past week’s most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.

Sudan activists: El Burhan and Hemedti speeches ‘deny reality’

02/01/2024 – DABANGA SUDAN. The speeches of Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, commander of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and chair of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, and Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), to the Sudanese people on the eve of the 68th anniversary of the country’s independence triggered widespread criticism. Journalist and activist Shamayel El Nour called El Burhan and Hemedti “completely disconnected from the reality the Sudanese are now experiencing in all parts of the country”.

In an interview with Radio Fabanga, human rights defender Majdi El Naeem described El Burhan’ speech as contradictory: “He denounced those who advocate for an end to the war and at the same time he said that he supports calls for peace”. El Nour described Hemedti’s apology to the residents of El Gezira, West Darfur, and other areas subjected to human rights violations as “irresponsible in the literal sense”. “What is wanted now from Hemedti is not an apology but a ceasefire.”

‘What is wanted now is not an apology but a ceasefire’

Beja leader: security situation in eastern Sudan ‘extremely fragile’

03/01/2024 – EL GEDAREF / WASHINGTON DC. The Grand Market of El Gedaref has been closed for four days now, out of fear of an invasion by the RSF. Rumours have spread that “RSF sleeper cells in El Gedaref state are waiting for action calls”. The general mobilisation of civilians in the region only fuels the fears of clashes in eastern Sudan. “The security situation in eastern Sudan has become extremely fragile,” a Beja leader warned.

Security agents meanwhile continue to detain activists and volunteers in the city. A medic who was detained by military intelligence, security, and police forces expressed his concern that “the joint security force continues, just like during the regime of Omar Al Bashir, to target members of the grassroots resistance committees, teachers, and other activists with frenzied detention campaigns”.

Sudanese dying of thirst and hunger in Omdurman
07/01/2024 – OMDURMAN / NYALA. According to reports of Sudanese on social media, the extremely dire humanitarian situation in Omdurman has led to people starving to death in the past weeks. The neighbourhood committees of El Abbasiya are urging relief organisations to provide aid as soon as possible. 
 
Sudan’s RSF commander Hemedti received by President of Rwanda
07/01/2024 – KIGALI. Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, commander of Sudan’s paramilitary  RSF arrived in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Friday, as part of an African tour that has taken him to Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Kenya, and South Africa.
 
Six Sudan activists released amidst rise in military detentions
05/01/2024 – EL DINDER. The El Dinder Resistance Committees in Sennar said that six of its members were released by Military Intelligence on Wednesday, while two remain in detention. Several Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Sudan have condemned the increased military detentions, that target activists and human rights defenders in particular.
 
Sudan war: Khartoum clashes, El Gezira airstrikes, and humanitarian crisis in Darfur
04/01/2024 – KHARTOUM/WAD MADANI/BELEIL/JEBEL MOON/EL FASHER. Battles continued in Khartoum and its sister cities on Wednesday. In El Gezira, the Darfur Justice Platform condemned the SAF bombing of El Haj Abdallah. In Darfur, residents and displaced alike face extremely challenging conditions as food, shelter, and telecommunications are largely unavailable.
 
Addis Ababa Declaration stirs controversy among Sudan’s stakeholders
04/01/2024 – ADDIS ABABA / PORT SUDAN / AMSTERDAM / PARIS. The signing of the Addis Ababa Declaration Agreement between the Civil Democratic Forces alliance (Tagaddum), headed by former PM Abdallah Hamdok, and RSF Commander Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo on Tuesday has elicited diverse responses from Sudan’s various political stakeholders.
 
Sudan war: RSF ‘ready for a ceasefire’, signs declaration with Tagaddum civil alliance
03/01/2024 – ADDIS ABABA. The meeting between RSF Commander Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo and a delegation of the Tagaddum Civil Democratic Forces alliance in the Ethiopian capital concluded with the signing of an agreement. Hemedti said the RSF are ready to agree on an immediate ceasefire with the army.
 
Hemedti calls on Sudanese ‘to engage in dialogue to end the war’
01/01/2024 – SUDAN. RSF Commander Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo has called on Sudan’s “true democratic civilian forces and their leaders” to engage in a dialogue that ends the war and leads to the formation of a Sudanese government “free from the domination of the elites…”
 
Sudan’s El Burhan: ‘Countries receiving Hemedti are partnering in RSF crimes’
01/01/2024 – PORT SUDAN. Sudan’s junta leader, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, has lashed out at those countries that have received RSF Commander Hemedti during his current tour in the region, as “partnering in the crimes committed by these murderers”.
 
JEM calls on UN Security Council for non-fly zone over Sudan after airstrikes
31/12/2023 – KHARTOUM. Sudan’s Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has sent an urgent appeal to the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone within the cities affected by the war, to limit the indiscriminate killing practiced by what it called “the Islamist remnants of the Al Bashir regime”.