Sudan opposition calls for mass demonstrations

Various opposition groups in Sudan have expressed their support of a mass rally scheduled to take place in Khartoum on Wednesday in protest against the recent austerity measures and the crackdown on civic liberties in the country.

Political parties, civil society organisations, rebel movements, and women and youth groups in Sudan announced they will participate in the ‘Great Salvation Rally’.

The event is to take place on the Shaabiya Square in Khartoum North at 3 pm on January 31. The opposition has called on the people in the rest of Sudan to organise demonstrations on Wednesday as well against the recent austerity measures that caused the prices of basic consumer goods to double and in some case to triple.

‘Miserable reality’

The spokesman for the Darfur Displaced and Refugees Coordination, Sheikh Abdelrazeg Suleiman, told Radio Dabanga that the residents of the Darfur camps for the displaced “back the protest on Wednesday for more than 100 per cent.

“We support all mass movements that aim to topple this murderous regime, which does not know any human dignity,” he stated.

Minni Minnawi, head of the Sudan Liberation Movement-MM and chairman of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF, an alliance of Sudan’s main rebel movements) hailed the new protest movement and called on the Sudanese people to join the mass rally this week.

“This new protest movement stems from the need for food, for adequate health and education services, and a secure life. It is a reaction to the increased suffering of the people and the miserable reality created by this regime,” he told this station in an interview broadcast today.

The head of the eastern faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), announced this group’s support for the January 31 protest as well.

Malik Agar told Radio Dabanga that his movement stands behind the protesters and the hundreds of political activists currently detained by Sudan’s security apparatus. “The SPLM-N has maintained contact with the opposition forces at home. We hope these protests will strengthen the forces of change.”

Protests abroad

Hundreds of Sudanese took to the streets in Canada and France on Saturday, in solidarity with anti-price hike protesters and the political detainees in their home country.

In Toronto, more than 200 Sudanese-Canadians demonstrated against the growing violence, repression, and media intimidation in Sudan.

Protesters in Paris called on the French government to intervene to release the political detainees, stop the wars and dismantle the government militias, and deliver humanitarian aid to the needy in Sudan.

At least 400 political activists are currently being held by the National Intelligence and Seciurity Service (NISS) in the country, including President of the Sudanese Congress Party Omar El Digeir, NUP Co-VP and head of the Darfur Bar Association Mohamed Abdallah El Doma, NUP Secretary-General Sara Nugdallah, Communist Party Secretary-General Mohamed El Khateeb, and member of the party’s Political Bureau Siddig Yousef, in addition to journalists Amal Habani and Kamal Karar.

Reportedly, some of them have been seriously maltreated.