How Sudan goes after the dismissal of its brutal leader

Omar al-Bashir, President of Sudan, brutally crushed all the dissent during the three decades that ruled the nation of North Africa. But its reversal in April did not mark the beginning of peace. Instead, the military council that replaced him was accused of the worst cases of violence in the capital, Khartoum.

A repression early June took the lives of more than 100 protesters who protested the stalemate in the talks between the army and the opposition to form a civilian government. Then, in early July, the two sides reached a power-sharing agreement offering hope to end the violence.

1. How has Sudan reached this point?

The coup against Bashir on April 11 came after four months of protests across the country due to rising food, medicine, fuel and transportation prices. Many people are dead. When the 75-year-old leader, accused by the International Criminal Court of alleged war crimes and genocide in the western region of Darfur, refused to resign, some of his former military and security allies have forced out. They promised to hand over power to civilians within two years, but protesters, skeptical about the fact that a group made up of the former Bashir guard would pbad on democracy, protested to demand a transition immediate. A general strike that began on June 9 paralyzed much of Khartoum.

2. Why is the world alert?

Few nations lamented the fall of Bashir, who took power in 1989 and led an Islamist revolution that for a time in the 1990s transformed Sudan into a haven for terrorists like Osama bin Laden. The African Union and Ethiopia, a neighbor of Sudan, mediated between the army and democracy advocacy groups on how to form a transitional government. Regional heavyweights such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have not hidden their desire for a discreet transition in order to avoid a repeat of the revolt that has rocked the Arab world in late April, they extended the lifeline of the new Sudanese leaders $ 3,000 million of aid.

Horror in Sudan about the case of a woman raped and sentenced to death

3. How will the power sharing agreement work?

A presidential council will be formed and its presidency will be replaced by a rotation between military and civilians. The agreement also provides for the establishment of a civilian council of ministers and an independent national inquiry commission to investigate the killing of protesters. The military council is headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, a former lieutenant general, but his deputy Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), an infamous Janjaweed militia group that terrorized Darfur. RSF was responsible for the attack against the protesters and is the main armed presence in the streets of Khartoum. As part of the power-sharing agreement, more than 230 rebels have been released from prison.

4. How have things deteriorated in Sudan?

Sudan was involved in a civil war for two decades before the 2005 peace agreement that divided the country six years later. South Sudan has taken control of three quarters of the oil deposits, depriving much of its income and foreign currency to the north. Lower oil prices have further reduced the incomes of what remains of Sudanese production.

The government has tried to diversify the economy by encouraging mining activities, but it is still a fledgling industry and most of the 40 million people in the country depend on it. subsistence agriculture. Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world and ranks 167 out of 189 on the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Program.

5. What is the economic impact?

Beyond the humanitarian concerns, there are commercial problems. Prior to the succession to the south, Sudan was ranked as the third largest oil exporter in sub-Saharan Africa and still produced 72,000 barrels of oil a day in 2017. It also serves as a conduit for all crude oil produced in the south. The Government of Sudan has signed an agreement with Rosneft Oil Co. and Rosgeologiya OAO, of Russia, for the construction of a 200,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Port Sudan, Red Sea. The country is also the world's largest exporter of gum arabic, a sap extracted from acacia and used in non-alcoholic beverages and pharmaceuticals.

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