Sudan activists, authorities ready for June 30 mass protests

Resistance groups continue their preparations for the launch of the June 30 anti-junta mass Marches of the Millions all over Sudan tomorrow, calling for a civilian-led government, while the authorities have announced strict security measures. A shut-down of telephone traffic and the Internet is expected as well. The resistance committees in the country are working on the unification of the two ‘Power to the People’ charters issued earlier this year.

Members of resistance committees active on grassroots level in Sudan, supported by political and professional opposition groups, continue to run propaganda parades and vigils calling on the Sudanese to join the June 30 ‘intifada’ demonstrations calling for the overthrow of the October 25 2021 putschists.

The Resistance Committees Coordination in Khartoum have set the Republican Palace as the destination for the June 30 Marches of the Millions.

Sources reported from Khartoum that security forces have been carrying out a detention campaign against activists in the past few days.

Propaganda parades in various Khartoum neighbourhoods on Monday were met with excessive violence by government forces, which led to the injury of seven people, the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD) reported yesterday. One demonstrator was hit by live ammunition in the arm, one was hit in the head by a tear gas canister, two others had head wounds after being hit by “hard objects”, and the other three sustained minor wounds.

The CCSD added that June 30 will also witness a campaign calling for the prohibition and criminalisation of the use of violence against peaceful protest marches, in particular the use of shotguns.

Yesterday, the CCSD, the Committee of Consultants and Specialists, and the Emergency Lawyers announced the formation of  joint observatory teams” to register human rights violations, provide legal aid and treat the injured. 

In a statement on Sunday, the doctors central committee already stressed its “full readiness to treat protesters on the 30th of June in field aid teams and hospital emergency wards”. The doctors also stated that they are working on the formation of committees and elected union bodies to establish a genuine Sudan Doctors Union.

The states

The Northern State Resistance Committees Coordination announced on Monday that they would barricade the highway connecting Khartoum with the Egyptian border (the Artery of the North road) on Tuesday. Soheib Osman, member of the Kerma Resistance Committees, told Radio Dabanga that they will organise a mass march in Dongola on June 30, before heading to the Hafeer Mashho area, where the highway is blocked.

Activists in River Nile state organised a vigil in front of the Atbara courts in solidarity with the families of protesters killed during anti-junta marches and to call for mass participation in the June 30 marches.

In eastern Sudan, members of resistance committees in El Gedaref marched to the town’s Grand Market on Monday to promote the June 30 protests.

The El Gezira and Managil Farmers Alliance called on all its members to participate in the June 30 Marches of the Millions.

Security plan

Sources reported from Khartoum that the authorities have decided to close all bridges and main roads in Khartoum on June 29 and 30 as part of a comprehensive security plan to confront the June 30 Marches of the Millions.

The authorities have also ordered the evacuation of hotels and rented apartments in and around the Soug El Arabi, south of the Republican Palace in central Khartoum, until July 1.

According to the sources, it is expected that telephone communication and the Internet will be blocked completely – as was done for weeks following the coup d’état of October 25 last year.

The Sudanese police forces confirmed in a press statement yesterday its readiness to protect and secure people and property, as well as “strategic and sovereign sites” in the country. The police forces will use tear gas, batons, and water cannons to disperse the crowds when needed.

Volker Perthes, UN Special Representative for Sudan and head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) in a tweet yesterday called on the Sudanese authorities to stay committed to the right of peaceful gathering and freedom of expression. He appealed to everyone to “not to give any opportunity to spoilers who want to escalate tensions in Sudan”.