♦ 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.

More practices from Al Bashir era reappearing in Sudan

July 13 – 2022 NEW YORK / SIRBA / KHARTOUM Reports of violent suppression of freedoms that characterised the 30-year regime of Omar Al Bashir are increasing again in all levels of society. Last month, police forces in Central Darfur’s capital Zalingei held four Christian men in a church in the city. A 20-year-old woman was sentenced to death by stoning in Kosti, White Nile state, and a few days ago four displaced leaders were detained in Sirba in West Darfur.

Since the coup, the military regime has reintegrated remnants of Al Bashir’s fallen regime into the government, including members of the former ruling NCP. The ousted National Congress Party (NCP) welcomed the speech of El Burhan in which he announced the military’s withdrawal from the national dialogue and said that the armed forces “realise the gravity of the mistake they made in August 2019 when they signed the Constitutional Document” with the revolutionary forces.

Sudan opposition blame junta and SPLM-N Agar, for Blue Nile hostilities

July 20 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Forces for Freedom and Change-Central Council (FFC-CC) hold the 2021 “coup authorities” responsible for the crimes that occurred during the clashes in Blue Nile state, Kassala, and in other areas. The Communist Party of Sudan lay the blame at “attempts by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North faction led by Malik Agar (SPLM-N Agar) to seize power and disrupt the fragile peace in the region”.

The FFC-CC said in a statement that “there are historical roots for these violent events, but that they could be ignited these days because of the absence of a national project of the coup authority, which lacks any popular political support”.

More clarity on plans of newly formed Sudanese Alliance of Forces for Radical Change
July 26 – 2022 KHARTOUM The newly formed Alliance of Forces for Radical Change (AFRC) explained more of its plans, including the removal of the military from politics and making its participation punishable by law.
 
RSF assault civilians in Sudan's North Kordofan
July 26 – 2022 ABU HAJJAR At least six people were wounded in an attack by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF)​ on the market of Abu Hajjar and some of the other neighbourhoods of the town in North Kordofan on Saturday.
 
Sudan: Power still off for Blue Nile violence victims
July 25 – 2022 ED DAMAZIN / EL ROSEIRES Locals in Blue Nile state as well as the recently displaced who have fled from the intercommunal violence in the area, have suffered a slew of hardships whilst living in the displacement camps. Multiple sources have stated that the area continues to be in darkness due to an explosion that occurred in the state’s power plant.
 
‘Historic opportunity for genuine democratic transition in Sudan risks being lost’
July 24 – 2022 THE HAGUE Since the military coup in Sudan in October 2021 that derailed the course of the revolution that had overthrown the 30-year Al Bashir dictatorship in April, efforts by western donor governments to facilitate the return of Sudan to a path of democratic transition have helped consolidate the coup, says a new policy brief by the Clingendael Institute, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations, which is an independent think tank and academy on international affairs.
 
Sudan opposition calls for broad front against junta 'to prevent civil war'
July 22 – 2022 KHARTOUM / KADUGLI Several opposition groups have expressed their fear that the clashes witnessed in Blue Nile state last week may be a prelude to more civil wars in the country. They called on fellow activists in the country to join ranks “to send the military back to the barracks” and restore the Rule of Law.
 
Rainy season: 100 homes of Sudanese refugees in Chad washed away
July 19 – 2022 KONONGOU REFUGEE CAMP, CHAD Torrential rains that lasted for five consecutive days led to the collapse of more than 100 homes of Sudanese refugees in Kounongou camp in eastern Chad last week.
 
Hausa protesters torch govt offices in eastern Sudan’s Kassala
Angry young Hausa tribesmen set fire to a number of government buildings in Kassala on Monday, in protest against what they called the laxity of the Sudanese authorities concerning recent tribal clashes in Blue Niles state which left dozens of people dead. Two Kassala protesters reportedly died, and ten others were injured.
 
At least 65 dead, 150 injured in intercommunal clashes in Sudan
July 18 – 2022 ED DAMAZIN / EL ROSEIRES At least 65 people have died and an additional 150 have been wounded in the intercommunal clashes which began a week ago in Sudan’s Blue Nile state. Forces were deployed in the state’s towns of Ed Damazin and El Roseires, in an effort to impose a curfew and quell the violence between the opposing Hausa and Berta ethnic groups.
                                 
US Congress approves resolution condemning Sudan military coup
July 17 – 2022 WASHINGTON The US Congress overwhelmingly approved a draft resolution on Thursday, condemning the October 25 military coup, and voicing support for the people of Sudan. It also demands that the military junta lift the State of Emergency and return the country to the path of democratic transition.
 
Sudan opposition criticises appointment of ambassadors by military
July 15 – 2022 KHARTOUM The Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) condemned the appointment by the head of the Sovereignty Council, Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces, and leader of the military junta, Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, of five retired army and police officers as ambassadors at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs earlier this week.
 
Sudan: Legal delegation visits Darfur detainees in Omdurman prison
July 14 – 2022 OMDURMAN A delegation from the Darfur Bar Association, Emergency Lawyers, and partners visited El Huda Prison in Omdurman on Wednesday afternoon to speak to detainees from El Geneina in West Darfur.
 
Hunger deepens in Darfur camps: WFP in Sudan ‘must make heart wrenching decisions’ amid $366 mln funding shortfall
July 14 – 2022 KHARTOUM / ZALINGEI / GEREIDA / KUTUM Soaring food prices, which have resulted in even the basics becoming unaffordable to the poor, are forcing many destitute displaced people in Darfur to face hunger every day. However, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Sudan laments that due to a funding shortfall of $366 million for 2022, WFP is having to prioritise assistance based on the resources available and "make heart wrenching decisions, knowing that we cannot help everyone in Sudan who needs it”.