New Internationalist - 11.2019 - 12.2019

In the News

INTRODUCING...

FORCES FOR THE

DECLARATION OF

FREEDOM AND CHANGE

platforms. Consequently, the

number of deaths caused by

snipers shooting from the air

has doubled since 2018.

The scenario got worse still

on 24 September when Witzel

ended a reform that used to

reward police officers who had

helped to decrease the use of

lethal force. And there is little

hope of him doing anything

to reduce police impunity – a

key and proven way to reduce

violence across the board.

‘Investigations are slow,

the crime scene is often

manipulated,’ explains Adilson

Paes de Souza, a retired

police officer with a Masters

in Human Rights. ‘They do

everything to obstruct the

evidence. We can only accuse

someone when we know whose

gun the shot came from.’

Paes de Souza believes

that until the upper classes

are directly affected by police

violence, there will be no

change.

BEATRIZ MIRANDA

It has become commonplace

among cynical commentators

to say that the Arab Spring

of 2011 and 2012 has come to

nought. But while repression

has certainly solidified

in Cairo and Damascus,

democratic reverberations are

still being felt in places like

Algiers and particularly in the

Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Sudan has witnessed

months of incredible bravery

by thousands of protesters

led mostly by women and the

young. They have withstood

brutal assaults from the police

and the notorious Rapid

Support Forces (RSF) that

grew out of the Janjaweed

militia of Darfur genocide

infamy.

Sudanese activists ousted

corrupt dictator Omar

al-Bashir, who was deposed

in a coup on 11 April 2019

after large-scale protests,

and are now taking on the

Transitional Military Council

set on maintaining a military

dictatorship with a civilian

façade. Hundreds have been

arrested, wounded, tortured

and killed but the pressure

from below for democratic,

civilian rule has not faltered.

The movement (referred

to by a frustrated Bashir

as a ‘ghost battalion’) has

spread beyond the streets of

the capital to smaller towns

throughout the country and

into diverse sectors such as

Port Sudan dockworkers.

Women – who were frequently

targeted under Bashir

and the military clique by

fundamentalist morality

laws designed to control

their everyday behaviour –

have placed themselves at

the centre of this revolution

and remain at the forefront,

despite sexual harassment and

even rape. Dr Ehssan Fagiri,

a 65-year-old prominent

psychologist and head of End

Women’s Oppression Now has

been arrested by security

forces on several occasions.

The generically named

SERIOUSLY?

Gateskeepers

He was chief minister of

Gujarat during anti-Muslim

pogroms that left thousands

dead, allegedly instructing

the police to let Hindus ‘vent

their anger’.

As Indian PM, he revoked

the special constitutional

status of Kashmir and placed

a blackout on communi-

cations from the region.

Thousands of Kashmiris have

been arrested, their wherea-

bouts unknown.

And now, Narendra Modi

has been... honoured by

the Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation.

The Global Goalkeeper

Award is given for progress

towards the UN’s Sustain-

able Development Goals

(SDGs). Modi’s gong is for

his sanitation programme

(see page 73). And while

it’s great to build toilets, the

SDGs also include Goal 16:

Peace, respect for human

rights and the rule of law.

Campaigners presented

a 100,000-strong petition

urging the foundation to

reconsider and actor Riz

Ahmed pulled out from the

ceremony. But the Gates

Foundation didn’t budge.

Not since Tony Blair

won Save The Children’s

Global Legacy award (or

Henry Kissinger the Nobel

Peace Prize) has an award

so flagrantly contradicted

its own spirit. Time to put an

end to these self-congratu-

latory, whitewashing galas

altogether.

Sudanese Professional

Organization (SPO) has been

key to amplifying the protest

movement. This shadowy

group was crucial in making

the so-called Transitional

Military Council back down

after a particularly brutal

attack on demonstrators

outside the military head-

quarters in Khartoum on

5 July this year.

The SPO has now

joined with a collection

of opposition groups, both

radical and moderate, to

form the Forces for the

Declaration of Freedom and

Change. The political process

has now entered a tricky

phase involving the setting

up of a joint civil-military

‘Sovereignty Council’ that will

govern Sudan until elections

in 2022, a settlement brokered

by the Ethiopian government. 

Many members of the

Sudanese democratic

movement are sceptical of the

process and the military’s

motives. Its insistence on

holding complete control

over the defence and security

ministries is reminiscent

of the failed transition in

authoritarian Egypt.  

A great deal of trust must

reside with the civilian

appointees to the Council such

as the new President Abdalla

Hamdok, a well-respected UN

bureaucrat, and Raja Nicola

and Aisha Musa el-Said, the

first two women ever to govern

in modern Sudan. Can they

resist the push-back of a

military trying to maintain

control and avoid paying for

their brutal violations of the

rights of ordinary Sudanese?

If not, the activists who have

stood so tall and unafraid

will be the last line of defence

for a country desperate for

a peaceful and democratic

future. 

RICHARD SWIFT

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2019 9

ILLUSTRATIONS: EMMA PEER