♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦

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

Hemeti ‘astonished’ as Sudan opposition groups eschew AU-IGAD-UN dialogue

May 11 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Vice President of the Sovereignty Council, Mohamed ‘Hemeti’ Dagalo, says that he met with a number of leaders of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) and expressed his astonishment at their refusal to enter into a dialogue with the military.

The UNITAMS), African Union, and IGAD trilateral mechanism is hosting talks between a wide spectrum of Sudanese stakeholders to facilitate a Sudanese-led political process with the aim of restoring a civilian-led transition to democracy. Some rebel movements and protest groups, including the FFC and the Resistance Committees of Khartoum, refuse to participate in the tripartite initiative or take part in any dialogue with the military coup authorities and those who support them as they fear that this will legitimise the coup.

Four children injured in explosion, insecurity persists after 'genocide' attacks in West Darfur

May 6 – 2022 KEREINIK / KHARTOUM Four children between the ages of 9 and 14 were seriously injured when an unexploded ordnance (UXO) detonated in Kereinik, West Darfur. The exploded device was a remnant of the attacks on Kereinik last month, which are described as a genocide by the Higher Committee to Stop the Massacres in West Darfur.

According to the witnesses, the exploded projectile was one of the remnants of the attacks on Kereinik last month, which led to the death of more than 200 people, the injury of at least 136 others, and the displacement of more than one hundred thousand. Kamal El Zein, a member of the Higher Committee to Stop the Massacres in West Darfur, said that what happened in Kereinik is genocide and a planned, systematic liquidation of people. He accused the Rapid Support Forces and the coup authorities of mismanaging the matter with the aim of controlling resources.

Sudanese farmers killed by Ethiopian ‘shifta’ in cross border attack
May 18 – 2022 GALABAT Two Sudanese farmers were killed and another wounded in an attack by Ethiopian gunmen (called shifta in the region) near Galabat in eastern Sudan on Monday. Sources from Galabat in El Gedaref report that the attack resulted in the deaths of farmers Arbab and Mohamed Adam.
 
Lawlessness in Sudan’s Nuba Mountains: at least three killed in April
May 17 – 2022 KADUGLI / ABU KERSHOLA / ABU JUBEIHA / RASHAD Lawlessness and insecurity continue in South Kordofan’s Nuba Mountains according to new reports by the Human Rights and Development Organisation (HUDO). At least three people were killed by armed men in the past few weeks, of which one by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) as they attacked a gold mine.
 
12 injured during Sudan anti-coup demos, disabled person imprisoned
May 17 – 2022 KHARTOUM / KHARTOUM NORTH / OMDURMAN The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) said that it counted 12 injuries during the May 14 anti-coup demonstrations, of which seven in Khartoum and five in Khartoum North (Bahri). The findings were published in a field report. A disabled person was arrested and imprisoned during the March 12 protests.
 
Armed robbery, security tensions in North, South, and Central Darfur
May 16 – 2022 TAWILA / MUKJAR / MERSHING Security forces in North Darfur have killed one suspect, wounded another, and arrested a third, after the armed robbery of passengers in two vehicles heading for Tawila market on Saturday. At least three civilians were also injured in the clashes.
 
AU-IGAD-UN trilateral mechanism holds ‘indirect talks’ with Sudan opposition and women’s groups
May 16 – 2022 KHARTOUM The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), African Union, and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) trilateral mechanism, has held meetings with several Sudanese stakeholders, including the Women’s Rights Support Group, the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), the forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change, and the Resistance Committees in Khartoum state.
 
Tripartite mechanism: First round of indirect negotiations started in Sudan
May 13 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Forces for Freedom and Change-National Accord group (FFC-NA) announced the start of the indirect round of talks on the Sudanese crisis, at the invitation of the tripartite mechanism, at the headquarters of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) in Khartoum. Separately, resistance committees from Khartoum launched the 'Charter for the Establishment of the People’s Power' on Wednesday.
 
Mysterious injuries during yesterday's Marches of the Millions in Sudan
May 13 – 2022 KHARTOUM / PORT SUDAN Sudanese people went out in massive processions and demonstrations in Khartoum and a number of other cities in the country as part of the Marches of Millions called by the resistance committees against the military coup regime. Mysterious injuries, possibly caused by a new weapon, were reported.
 
Intl. activists call for ‘targeted US sanctions on Sudan coup leaders’
May 11 – 2022 KHARTOUM / WASHINGTON A diverse phalanx of 108 international and Sudanese organisations and human rights defenders signed an open letter to the White House in Washington, urging the US administration to impose targeted sanctions on Chairman of Sudan’s Sovereignty Council Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan and deputy Chairman Mohamed 'Hemeti' Dagalo for their involvement in serious human rights abuses following the military coup d’état they led on October 25 last year.
 
Ariab gold production company closed by Beja protesters
May 10 – 2022 HASSAI / PORT SUDAN Protesters in Red Sea state closed the gates of the Ariab gold production company grounds in Hassai in protest against what they consider the targeting of the deputy general manager of the company, Mohamed Hagwab, a Beja from the region.
 
Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker: ‘What Happens in Darfur Doesn’t Stay in Darfur’
May 9 – 2022 EL GENEINA / KEREINIK The wave of recent violence in West Darfur has left many shocked observers asking: who was involved in the mass atrocities that occurred, and what are the drivers of the violence and its root causes? In what ways does the violence relate to the October 2020 Juba Peace Agreement that should have brought peace to Darfur and other conflict areas in Sudan but is obviously failing to do so? Finally, what does the violence mean for the junta?
 
Education resumes in North Darfur, incl exams
May 6 – 2022 EL FASHER Idris Mohamed Abdallah, the Director-General of the Ministry of Education in North Darfur, announced the resumption of studies in all schools in the state as of next Sunday, with exams to start for all education levels during the month of May.
 
Report: ‘Sudanese Pound decreased 20 times in five years’
May 4 – 2022 KHARTOUM The economic situation has continued to deteriorate in Sudan during 2022. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Sudan revealed the continued deterioration of the economic situation. Reports indicate that the value of the local currency has decreased 20 times (2,000 per cent) during the past five years.

Sudan doctors count at least 200 dead in West Darfur attacks – hospitals severely overstretched
May 1 – 2022 EL GENEINA / KEREINIK The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) has confirmed that the violence in El Geneina and Kereinik in West Darfur over the past week claimed at least 200 lives, including nine women, 24 children, and 23 seniors. Medical facilities to deal with dozens wounded in the strife are severely overstretched, the doctors say.
 
Int'l envoys from the Troika and EU have started talks in Sudan
April 29 – 2022 KHARTOUM Representatives of the Troika countries (USA, UK, and Norway), senior officials from France, Germany, and representatives from the European Union (EU) started their talks with Sudanese parties to discuss the current crisis in Sudan. The Forces for Freedom and Change and Resistance Committees refuse to participate in talks with the coup authorities.