♦ 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.

Communist party members arrested after visit to Kordofan

May 20 – 2022 KHARTOUM / JUBA / KAUDA Two leading members of the Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS) were detained in Khartoum after their return from Juba, the capital of South Sudan, earlier that day. They had visited South Kordofan to talk to Abdelaziz El Hilu, leader of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), and Abdelwahid El Nur, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement in Darfur.

Mohamed Mukhtar El Khateeb and Saleh Mahmoud were arrested after their return from Juba, where the delegation had also been held in a hotel for one day by the South Sudanese authorities. The delegation had travelled to Kauda, South Kordofan, which is the stronghold of the SPLM-N El Hilu, “without notifying the authorities”. In Kauda, the party leaders agreed with El Hilu and El Nur that there is no real possibility for peace without achieving a full democratic transformation and solving all issues that led to Sudan's decline after independence.

Sudan-Ethiopia border crossing between Galabat and Metema remains closed after shifta killings

May 22 – 2022 GALABAT The crossing between Galabat in Sudan’s El Gedaref and Metema in northern Ethiopia remains closed for the second day after the killing of three Sudanese by Ethiopian gunmen (called shifta in the region) within days. A local told Radio Dabanga that, with the approach of the autumn season, he predicts an increase in shifta attacks “aimed at impeding the work of farmers”.

Ethiopia's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Demke Mekonnen, has described his country’s relations with Sudan as “not good”. Relations between Addis Ababa and Khartoum worsened after Sudan became what Mekonnen calls a springboard for the opposition Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) “against his country”, and he considers this a “declaration of war”.

Angry Sudan soldiers shut Red Sea Suakin port
May 25 – 2022 SUAKIN Suakin Port on Sudan’s Red Sea coast was closed for several hours on Tuesday, for the second time in a week, after angry soldiers barricaded the gates of the port to demand their goods and luggage, which are being held there. The port reopened after the intervention of senior army leaders.
 
Large demonstrations to denounce Sudan junta's violent repression of protesters
May 24 – 2022 KHARTOUM / KHARTOUM NORTH / OMDURMAN / EL GEDAREF / EL GEZIRA A large number of Sudanese took part in the May 23 Marches of the Millions, called for by the resistance committees under the slogan “we will not be broken” to denounce the excessive violence in the face of Saturday's demonstrations.​
 
Sudan's communist party spokesperson detained
May 24 – 2022 KHARTOUM Security officers held Amal El Zein, lawyer and member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS), after a press conference in Khartoum on Sunday afternoon on their cooperation with rebel leaders Abdelaziz El Hilu and Abdelwahid El Nur. The party also launched a sharp attack on the UN-AU-IGAD trilateral mechanism.
 
UNITAMS ‘disappointed’ as Sudan denies senior expert’s visa
May 23 – 2022 KHARTOUM The United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) has issued a statement in light of news reports that incorrectly highlighted the issue of the visa situation of Dame Rosalind Marsden in Sudan and her relationship with UNITAMS and the UN.
 
Popular pressure pauses planned RSF training camp on Sudan’s Red Sea coast
May 23 – 2022 RED SEA COAST A decision to grant land to Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to establish a training camp on the Red Sea coast has been suspended after residents of the area raised several objections.
 
Sudan doctors: Gunshot wounds among 125 protesters injured in Marches of the Millions
May 22 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD) has confirmed that 125 people were injured during the violent suppression by security forces of the May 19 Marches of the Millions in Khartoum.
 
Coup authorities release leading Sudan communists
May 22 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Communist Party of Sudan (CPoS) has confirmed that security authorities in Khartoum released its political secretary Mohamed Mukhtar El Khateeb, and central committee member Saleh Mahmoud, who were detained on Thursday after their return from Juba, capital of South Sudan. Their detention prompted a chorus of condemnation from across the political spectrum.
 
Sudan health system plagued by corruption
May 20 – 2022 KHARTOUM The former director of the Development and Projects Department at the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Nugud, warned that the health institutions in the country are plagued by extensive corruption.
 
June 3 Massacre investigation committee forced to suspend its activities
May 20 – 2022 KHARTOUM Nabil Adib, head of the independent investigation committee researching the violent break-up of the sit-in in front of the army command in Khartoum on June 3, 2019, announced that the committee's work has been suspended. He said that it is not possible to continue activities under the current military authorities.
 
Protesters face heavy violence in Sudan's Marches of the Millions
May 20 – 2022 KHARTOUM / EL GEDAREF / ATBARA Thousands of people took to the streets of Khartoum as part of the May 19 Marches of the Millions, called for by the resistance committees with a plan to head to the Republican Palace in the city centre. Doctors said that the protesters faced excessive violence by security forces.