Sudan 2018/19 Revolution 101-PART 3

Sudan 2018/19 Revolution 101- PART 3

June 12 – Most reactions to the suspension of the national civil disobedience are positive, many consider it a pause, not a retreat, some debate whether to trust the Transitional Military Council (TMC) once more. Violent militia attacks continued in Darfur. TMC carried out extensive arrests and layoffs in the army and police ranks, amid rumors of a coup attempt, in the name of investigating the Ramadan massacre. But, the Council kept the Internet blackout, boldly stating: “The Internet is a threat to Sudan’s national security. It will not be back soon.”

The volume of reports, rumors, and opinions on TV news channels, among Sudanese groups, and social media is dizzying. Most questions concern the basic facts about the massacre – who’s behind it, who took part, who was alerted in advance? It turns out there were surveillance cameras at several locations around the Sit-In area. The videos that have come out so far are hard to watch, but they offer incontrovertible evidence of the crime. A key question has to do with the role of the Rapid Support Forces in the attack. Hemedti, their leader and TMC’s second in command, has fallen silent since then, in contrast to his outspoken presence in previous weeks. Anecdotal, but highly detailed, reports suggest that RSF may have been used as a front for a vastly bigger attack force, whose purpose was to inflict the most brutal deadly damage. This is not necessarily an outlandish claim. It was expected that Basheer’s so-called “shadow militias” and “popular defense forces,” among an unknown number of expertly-trained mercenaries would fight back. What took place on June 3^rd was beyond anyone’s imagination. Revealing the magnitude and tentacles of the crime plot will take time.

In this fog of speculation, one must question all news reports. Yet, from what is corroborated in different sources, and the observed behavior of TMC leadership, three things could be stated:

·      TMC remains unable to grasp the people’s three fundamental demands – “Freedom, Peace, and Justice.” It has violated all three by continuing the Internet blackout, doing nothing about the killing of civilians, refusing to take responsibility for the massacre while claiming to be impartially investigating it.

·      TMC is unaware of the weakness of its own position between the Sudanese people’s determination to regain civilian rule, and the diabolically criminal operatives of Basheer’s National Congress Party. It has little control over the situation.

·      If there is such a thing as a silver lining, the massacre has painfully exposed the brutal criminality of the National Congress regime to those in Sudan who did not recognize, ignored, or refused to believe what it was capable of – in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, the South, the Blue Nile, the North, and the East. This makes possible the direct confrontation that needed to take place long ago.

Latest News: FFC met today with US Assistant Secretary of State for African affairs, Tibor Nagy, and US Special Envoy for Sudan, Donald Booth. The two parties agreed on the need for:  

a quick transition to civil authority, an internationally-backed commission of inquiry into the massacre, withdrawal of military and militias from residential areas and restoring security, immediate release of all political prisoners, lifting the ban on Internet services and ensuring media freedoms. Will the soldiers comply? And, what is the extent of the US Administration’s commitment to its current position? #Sudan_uprising.