The continued fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces is causing the deterioration of services at all levels and creating great suffering for civilians (French)
For more than a week, all my attempts to communicate with my family members and friends inside Sudan failed, as all communications networks are still completely cut off, as well as Internet services, after servers and optical fibers were vandalized and destroyed, in a way that took the Sudanese back to ancient times, when they were not available. Communication, except through carrier pigeons.
Collective punishment policy
The rebel Rapid Support Forces control the main exchange (MSC) in Khartoum, and thus they forcefully control the three major telecommunications companies inside Sudan. They have already adopted the narrative of disrupting the service, and demanded its return to Darfur first to then be allowed to the rest of the states. That is, it wants the Sudanese to be equal in oppression and injustice, through a policy of collective punishment.
But the Rapid Support crimes in Darfur undermine these justifications. It is unthinkable to kill people, rob them of all their property, force them to flee, and then demand Internet services for them! In addition, the arrival of technicians from telecommunications companies to western Sudan currently is almost impossible, and a risky adventure.
There is no doubt that cutting off communications and Internet service to the Sudanese, in any state, is an unforgivable crime, a clear violation of human rights, and a doubling of the suffering of the victims, especially since communications are linked to banking services, money transfers, and the issuance of birth certificates, passports, and official papers, which were also stopped once.
In addition, the war is raging among residential neighborhoods, missiles and bombs are falling over the heads of civilians, and the situation is all catastrophic and does not bode well, and no one knows the truth about what is happening inside amid this complete blackout.
People began to feel anxious and fearful for their families, isolated between villages, cities, and military checkpoints. Phones were the only way to check on them and provide them with financial transfers, but now those phones are no longer useful, and there is a need for alternative options such as satellite Internet “Star Link.” " unofficial.
Search for Star Link
Although Sudan suffers from poor communications services and the lack of good Internet access outside the main cities, in addition to the destruction of the communications infrastructure, the Sudanese Communications and Postal Service banned the use of “Star Link.”
He called for taking the necessary measures to prevent its circulation and use, for motives that are not in the interests of citizens, including the profit motives biased by private telecommunications companies, as well as the required security oversight of these programs, and ensuring that all networks pass through the government service provider.
However, the government did not prevent the rebel forces from using the satellite communications service. Rather, the Rapid Support is conducting its war on the Sudanese army with “Star Link” and Thuraya devices, so how can it allow it to the enemies, and deprive it of the rest of the Sudanese people, who are now searching for “Star Link” in any way? price?
It is disturbing that there is not enough information about the circumstances of the cutting off of communications and Internet networks in Sudan, why it was cut off for so long, and when will it return? But it seems that it has already been subjected to a complete and random closure, and needs connections between the states and the naval station in Port Sudan, to gradually return, without guarantees that it will not be interrupted again, or that the Sudanese war has entered new stages of confrontations, and we have moved to the generation of cyber wars and the militarization of space.
It is a war greater than the capabilities of the Rapid Support, and it bears witness to the involvement of other countries in it with modern technologies, and the victim, of course, is the poor citizen, who does not know where or how the next strike will come from, and he must accustom himself to life in the midst of dangers, under the raining down of deadly bullets, without medicine. No electricity, no communications, or even the Internet to provide him with important information to know the truth about what is happening around him.
The dialectic of service centralization
The idea of cutting off communications from Sudan is criminal behavior, which can never be justified, and it puts the Rapid Support in the position of condemnation, but in return it will push people to revolt against the centralization of all services in one capital or city like Khartoum: factories, banks, currency printing houses, major companies, the main exchange. Communications (MSC), airport, refinery, military industries, universities, research centers, museums, football stadiums, to be vulnerable to any security tensions with that short-term positioning.
The state also did not take precautions for these circumstances, maintain centers for operating necessary services in safe areas, or develop alternative plans in the event of disasters. Perhaps one of the benefits of war, after today, is the importance of thinking about the future, and the necessity of distributing projects and services according to a new map that ensures, At least, developing the rest of the states and making them attractive and attractive to life, and limiting migration to one capital or city, without sufficient capabilities. By attacking or occupying it, all of Sudan will collapse.
We are now living in a stage of complete chaos, killing, looting, displacement, and depriving citizens of their most basic rights. Rapid support does not care about people’s lives, nor is the army capable of protecting them.
What is worse and worse is the absence of the state and its measures regarding the expenses of life, as Sudan has become islands isolated from each other, clouded by ambiguous scenarios. This is an abnormal situation that must not be silent or accepted. Rather, there is a need for a new revolution without an external agenda, and broad popular resistance, emerging from There is a wise and creative leadership among the ranks, restoring to the Sudanese their lost homeland.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.