Two more protesters killed, Sudan doctors report

More demonstrators were killed yesterday, on a day that dozens of demonstrations against the Sudanese regime took place simultaneously. Muslim scholars have called on the government of President Al Bashir to protect the right of peaceful freedom of expression.

University student Abdelazim Babikir was shot dead by a bullet fired directly at his chest by security forces in one of the protests, according to the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors.

Another person, Mahjoub El Taj, a second year student at the Faculty of Medicine of El Razi University, reportedly died after being “subjected to torture in a detention centre of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS)” according to the Doctors’ Committee’s statement after the unrest on Thursday.

The committee mourned the loss of the two people and expressed concern at the Sudanese army which is sitting idly, “watching all these killings, without intervening to save the country and the people or protect peaceful Sudanese protestors”.

Government officials stated the death toll has now risen to 29 people, a lower number compared to the at least 40 people that have been reported killed according to human rights groups earlier this month. In addition, five people were killed this week, with the two reported deaths by the Doctor’s Committee and the three killed men in Burri.

One week ago, protests in Burri in Khartoum on Thursday resulted in the killing of three people at the hands of security forces, including a student who later succumbed to his wounds. The other two victims were doctor Babikir Abdelhamid and Muawia Khalil. Both were attacked while treating injured protesters.

Yesterday the security and police forces continued the use of excessive force and the arbitrary detention of protesters, despite calls by the international community and a pro-government clergy group, the World Union of Muslim Scholars.

Union of Muslim Scholars

On Thursday, the group released a statement condemning whoever is proved to be involved in killing demonstrators and doctors, and said it will hold officials accountable for their negligence of the situation.

The muslim scholars called on President Omar Al Bashir to abide by the Sudanese Constitution and protect the right to peaceful freedom of expression. “Sudan is passing through a major juncture as a result of a suffocating economic crisis of money, fuel, bread and medicine, which are above the affordability of people and their patience, prompting them to go out in masses to express their discontent with the situation.”

يؤلمنا ما يحدث في #السودان الحبيب
وندعو الحكومة والمتظاهرين إلى الالتزام بما يأتي:
-حرمة القتل والتخريب والإفساد
-احترام الإنسان وحقوقه والتعبير عنها بجميع الوسائل السلمية المعروفة
-البدء بعلاج المشاكل المزمنة ومعاقبة المفسدين
-تشكيل مجلس من ممثلي المتظاهرين والحكومة لحل الأزمة

— د. علي القره داغي (@aliqaradaghi) January 1, 2019

The Secretary-General of the World Federation of Muslim Scholars, Ali Qara Daghi, also said on Twitter that both the government as demonstrators should abide by the rules, and a council of representatives of the Sudanese government and the demonstrators should be formed to resolve the current crisis in the country.