By Marvin
There is light at the end of the tunnel
On July 5th 2019, Sudanese citizens took to the streets of Khartoum after news broke out that the military leadership and the pro-democracy movement had reached a power sharing agreement. This deal could bring to an end months of unrest and bloodshed that has befallen this northeast of Africa nation. In talks that were mediated by Ethiopia and the African Union, the two feuding sides agreed on forming a joint sovereign and rotating council that will govern for the next three years or a little longer. The joint sovereign council will be comprised of five members of the military and six civilians with the sixth civilian chosen by consensus from both groups. So how exactly did Sudan find itself in this squabble?
Sudan uprising women protestors – Vox 
Sudan woman iconic image 
Sudan – People marching calling for fall of Transition Military Council
Towards the end of last year, the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) – an umbrella association of lawyers, doctors and journalists, led sit-in (at government and president offices) protests on the rising cost of living in the country. The goal of the protests later morphed to ones against the leadership of the country’s president of over three decades, Omar al-Bashir, and called for his ousting. While still in power, al-Bashir was facing charges of five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crime and is still considered at large by the International Criminal Court (ICC). After months of sustained protests, al-Bashir was removed from power in a military coup and is believed to be under house arrest.
After the ousting and arrest of Bashir, his government was dissolved and the Transitional Military Council (TMC) took over power. The celebratory mood that had ensued the fall of Bashir’s dictatorship quickly turned into one of dissatisfaction as the SPA viewed the TMC as a continuation of the old regime. They called for further sit-in protests, this time at military headquarters, and called for a civilian led transitional government and democratic elections to be held. In addition to the sit-in protests, the SPA also called for civil disobedience in attempt of intensifying their objection the TMC. It is worth noting that every action the SPA called for was peaceful.
On June 3rd 2019, a paramilitary unit called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) affiliated to the TMC, opened fire on civilians during one of the sit-in protests that is believed to have killed at least 118 people. According to some eye witnesses, the RSF targeted female protesters and even raped some of them an allegation which the TMC has refuted. The massacre that happened this day horrified human rights activists and governments worldwide. It is these heinous acts of this day that gave birth to the color blue campaign on social media, the petition of signatures calling for the UN to investigate the Sudanese government and the GoFundMe campaign for raising money for medical supplies for the victims.
Clearly Sudan has been through a lot over the last couple months and this truce between the TMC and SPA is a much needed and welcomed breath of fresh air. Even with this power-sharing agreement in place, it is our hope that the perpetrators of the June 3rd massacre will not go unpunished. Impunity as a culture and especially for crimes on human rights should no longer be a way of life.
