‘Frenzied campaign’ against December 25 Sudan demos – 235 injured

The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors reports that at least 235 demonstrators were injured in the Marches of the Millions in Sudan on Saturday. Most of the injuries, 173, occurred in Khartoum, as Sudanese security forces responded to the anti-coup demonstrations with volleys of live ammunition, tear gas, and stun grenades, as protestors converged on the Republican Palace. A litany of other violations has been reported during demos across Sudan, with forces raiding hospitals and neighbourhoods, in what the Sudanese Professionals Association called “a frenzied campaign”.

In a statement on Sunday, the doctors’ committee say that six of the injured sustained bullet wounds, three of them are unstable and one is in intensive care. The committee announced that 20 demonstrators were injured by tear gas canisters, including an unstable case, and a case of amputation of fingers as a result of being hit by a stun grenade. This is in addition to 32 other cases of head injury as a result of beating with batons.

The Khartoum Security Affairs Coordination Committee said that 58 policemen were injured while dispersing the Marches of the Millions in Khartoum on December 25, and 114 demonstrators were detained.

The committee said in a statement yesterday that the police forces dealt with the demonstrators “using the minimum amount of force to contain the situation, in particular in Khartoum North, where protesters attempted to attack the main police station, smashing the windows of four patrol cars, and destroying advertising boards and traffic signals”.

Hospital raids

In a separate statement, the Joint Doctors Office reported that police stormed the Port Sudan Teaching Hospital in search of demonstrators. They detained a wounded activist and a number of medical personnel who confronted them.

In Khartoum, security forces attacked the Khartoum Teaching Hospital, beat medical staff and patients, and fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades in the hospital campus.

The Joint Doctors Office also listed other violations, including preventing ambulances and medical personnel from crossing bridges, and cutting off all means of mobile communication.

Political forces, civil society organisations and activists condemned the closure of the Mak Nimir Bridge between central Khartoum and Khartoum North with large freight containers, in “a dangerous precedent that occurred for the first time in Sudan”.

Telephone, internet restored

Telephone and Internet service returned to Sudan at 22:00 on Saturday, after a 12-hour interruption. The security authorities had ordered the telecommunications companies to cut off the Internet and telephone services at 10:00.

In a statement, the Forces of Freedom and Change condemned the cutting off of internet and communications services. The FFC affirmed working with all the revolution’s forces, especially the United Popular Front, to meet the requirements of the current situation, and to confront and overthrow the coup.

Port Sudan

The authorities in Port Sudan, capital of Red Sea state, detained 47 demonstrators on December 25, and its hospitals received four cases of head and leg injuries from tear gas canisters, including a young woman.

Lawyer Mohamed Abdelhamid told Radio Dabanga that the security forces detained demonstrators in various places in the city, and filed complaints of disturbance and breach of public safety against them. He explained that most of the detainees were released on the same Saturday evening with personal pledges, except for a doctor who opened a complaint under Article 99 and was released on bail.

In Kosti in White Nile state, dozens of activists were held, including minors. Four demonstrators were wounded in the chest and legs by tear gas canisters, Mahmoud Habiballah of the Kosti Resistance Committees told Radio Dabanga. More than 25 cases of fainting occurred due to the use of heavy tear gas against the demonstrators. He said that the security forces detained dozens of protesters, including minors, and some of them were still in police custody on Sunday.

The Sudanese Professionals Association said on Saturday evening that security forces launched “a frenzied campaign” in many cities and towns in Sudan, where they raided neighbourhoods and randomly detained people and abused them, transferred them to detention centres and police stations, and at the same time prevented wounded protesters from being treated and transported to hospitals.

In a press statement, the Association called on lawyers and jurists to move quickly to detention sites and police stations, to confront the campaign of detentions and illegal practices by the so-called militias, to support the protesters and to work for their release.