Sudanese protesters reject prosecutor's report on June sit-in raid | Sudan News

Hundreds of people gathered in parts of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, to call for an independent investigation into a deadly raid on a protest camp in June, after an investigation attributed its bloody dispersal to military personnel "thug."

On June 3, armed men in military fatigues stormed the sit-in in front of the army headquarters in Khartoum, firing and beating pro-democracy protesters who had been camping there for months, initially demand the removal of President Omar al-Bashir, and demand that the generals who overthrow him cede power to civilians.

More than 100 protesters were killed during the raid, according to the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, which is aligned with the protest, while more than 700 others were injured during the attack and the days of violence that followed.

Survivors reported that security forces, mostly members of the so-called Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by the Deputy Chief of the Transitional Military Council (TMC), placed bodies in the Nile, near the site. -in.

On Saturday, a joint investigation by prosecutors and the TMC revealed that RSF paramilitary forces were involved in the raid alongside members of other security forces. The investigation report indicated that "rogue" military personnel had acted alone, however.

& # 39; Orders disobeyed & # 39;

Fath al-Rahman Saeed, chairman of the investigation committee appointed by the prosecutor, said at a press conference in Khartoum that three officers had violated orders by moving forces into the sit-in area , central point of the protests that lasted several months. to the overthrow of al-Bashir on April 11.

Saeed said that the order had been given to the security forces to clean up Columbia, an area located near the protest camp, where it was known that alcohol and drugs – both illegal to Sudan – were sold.

But, he said, a RSF general had separately ordered a colonel to disperse the sit-in, although no such orders come up higher and higher in the chain of command.

"They led the forces … inside the area of ​​occupation and ordered them to get off their vehicles and bad the protesters," Saeed told reporters.

He identified General RSF who allegedly ordered the raid with his initials A.S.A. and the colonel as A.A.M. Saeed said that a RSF captain, identified as H.B.A, was involved in cleaning up Columbia but then took part in the dispersal of the sit-in.

He stated that another group of security personnel, also involved in cleaning Columbia, "disobeyed orders and entered the sit-in area". They "kidnapped barricades, shot with tear gas and shot with intense and random bullets that killed and wounded protesters and set fire to tents," said Saeed, adding that eight officers in total were involved in the attack. attack.

Protesters reject the investigation

Protesters and protesters rejected the findings of the investigation. Hundreds of people took to the streets of Khartoum.

"This investigation does not make sense because we know who suppressed the protesters," said protester Amam al-Tahir at the Associated Press news agency.

Waleed Samy, a resident of Khartoum, said: "I am one of those who were present during the sit-in session and I am 100% sure that the person who was beating me was coming from the Support Forces. fast, there is no one else. "

"We have no alternative but to go back to the streets," he added.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), a coordinating group that runs the nationwide protests, said it had dismissed the investigation "at the procedural level," adding that prosecutors n & # 39; Had no credibility.

"He [the investigation] was ordered by the military council, this calls into question its integrity since the military council itself is accused in this case, "said the group that launched the protests against al-Bashir in December.

Requiring an independent investigation, the SPA insisted that the accused be identified by their full names, rather than their initials, as indicated in the prosecutor's report.

"The commission has established incomplete and erroneous statistics about martyrs, victims and wounded," he said.

Echoing these sentiments, opposition representative Ismail al-Taj said: "We rejected the creation of this inquiry committee from the outset because it has no credibility and we need an independent committee. . "

He added: "As for what happened on June 3, the number of martyrs, the number of wounded and the number of missing persons, the most important is to identify the perpetrators of these violations. committee must find. "

Doctors linked to the protest said 127 people were killed in the June 3 raid, but Saeed made a lower count on Saturday.

He said 17 people were killed on June 3, while 87 people died between that day and June 10.

Days after the raid, the rights group Amnesty International said that the members of "RSF are responsible for … the ongoing bloody crackdown on protesters in Khartoum since June 3".

The sit-in raid provoked the failure of talks between the leaders of the protest and the ruling generals in Sudan, who only resumed a few weeks later, after intense mediation by African Union and Ethiopian diplomats.

The two sides have now agreed to form a new civilian-military joint leadership body for a transition period of 39 months.

This governing body would then install a comprehensive civil administration, as the protesters would require.

Although the generals and leaders of the demonstrations have signed a power-sharing agreement, several issues remain unresolved, including the right of protesters killed since the first demonstrations against al-Bashir in December.