Sudan Coup Explained: Latest News, Protests & Abdel al-Burhan & Abdalla Hamdok's Deal скачать в хорошем качестве

Sudan Coup Explained: Latest News, Protests & Abdel al-Burhan & Abdalla Hamdok's Deal

What's going on in Sudan? Over the past few weeks a lot has happened. The military, led by General al-Burhan, staged a coup and seized power. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and civilian leaders were arrested. It sparked massive protests around the country many of which have been met with violence. So far dozens of protesters have been killed and hundreds have been injured. So how did it come to this? Let's start with a bit of background on Sudan and its military. Sudan first gained independence in 1956. For about 2 years it enjoyed a brief spell of democracy. Before spending 52 of the next 60 years under the control of the military. Sudan's longest serving leader during this time was Omar al-Bashir, one of Africa's longest serving dictators. From 1989 he ruled with an iron fist. It wasn't until 30 years later in 2018 that the people of Sudan had finally had enough. Mass protests took off around the country and within months Al-Bashir was gone but the military refused to allow a civilian government to be established so the protests continued. Then came the Khartoum massacre on June 3rd 2019 where armed forces killed more than 100 people during a sit-in protest. With tensions rising and pressure from the international community growing eventually an agreement between the military and civilian leaders was finally reached. A transitional government was established that would lead Sudan until 2023 giving the country time to prepare for a full transition to democracy. Within this government power was shared between the military and civilians. There was a sovereign council led by General Al-Burhan with both sides holding seats and a civilian cabinet led by Prime Minister Hamdok. International sanctions were lifted and foreign aid resumed. So, why did military leaders decide.on October 25th to declare a state of emergency and seize total power back from the civilian leaders? According to the General the military was forced to step in to prevent the country from sliding into civil war. But not everyone's convinced that's the case. For one thing General al-Burhan's time in charge of the sovereign council was about to run out. Handing over power to civilian leaders makes it more likely that the general and other military members may be investigated and potentially punished and sent to the International Criminal Court for things that happened while they were in charge like the Khartoum massacre. Also military leaders in Sudan have a lot of economic power and control of a number of key industries. If they lose their political power the wealth they've built up might also be at risk. All of this brings us to what's happening now. When the military took over on October 25th communication services went down and soldiers took to the streets. Protests against the coup have been met with violence by security forces with reports of live rounds of ammunition and tear gas being fired at protesters. And then on November 21st something unexpected happened. After weeks of protesting and pressure from the international community the military announced it had made a deal with Abdulla Hamdok to reinstate him as Prime Minister and to release political prisoners. To many especially outside of Sudan it looked a win for the protesters and a sign the situation was resolving. Inside the country the reaction has been very different The Prime Minister says he agreed to the deal to stop the bloodshed but Hamdok's willingness to sign a deal with the military. was seen by many as betrayal. The General has been criticised for weakening the powers that civilian leaders had before the coup and for threatening Sudan's plans to achieve democracy in 2023. While several civilian leaders have been released since the deal was announced many important figures journalists and protesters are still in custody. Even if this deal was a genuine effort by the military to return things to the way they were before the coup the fact is that after once again seeing so many protesters killed by the military many Sudanese simply don't want things to go back to the way they were before the coup and finally want the military gone from politics for good. So what happens next? The military says it's committed to delivering free, open elections and democracy to Sudan by 2023 and that they will work with Prime Minister Hamdok and a transitional government to make that happen. The important question for many in Sudan though, is do they actually mean it, or are they just saying what they think will calm down people in Sudan and make the international community stop paying attention? Time will tell. But in the meantime the military says it isn’t going anywhere and protesters say they don't want to wait until 2023. They say the military is the biggest threat to Sudan's hopes for democracy they need a complete civilian government right now and that protests won't stop until that happens.