On the first day of a new campaign of civil disobedience against the army, alone in control since its October 25 coup, Sudanese security forces dispersed protesters on Sunday with tear gas canisters, witnesses reported.

Dozens of teachers had converged in the morning towards the Ministry of Education "for a silent protest", explained one of them.

"The police arrived and fired tear gas canisters at us," added Mohammed al-Amine, professor of geography.

"No dialogue, no negotiation, no partnership"

Sunday, the pro-democracy began on Sunday two days of civil disobedience to bend the army, alone in control since its putsch of October 25.

Since the dissolution that day by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane of all the country's institutions and the arrest of almost all the civilians with whom he shared power, the streets have come into resistance.

Early Sunday, young people piled bricks and cobblestones to block roads in the capital, journalists said, while shops were closed.

"There is less movement in the streets, but the blockage is not total," reports a witness in Omdourman, Khartoum's twin city.

From "general strike" to monster demonstrations, the Sudanese want to be heard.

Because behind closed doors, far from the streets, negotiations are continuing between the military, civilian leaders and local or international mediators to find a solution to the crisis.

So far, however, they have neither led to the formation of a new government, or to the return of the one brutally dismissed by General Burhane, nor even to the adoption of a clear position on whether or not to resume the transition. democratic launched at the fall of the dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019. For the unions and other associations at the forefront of the anti-Bashir “revolution”, the line is clear: “No dialogue, no negotiation, no partnership” , they claim in press releases sent by SMS, the Internet having been blocked for 14 days.

Suspension of the African Union

In 2019, high-ranking officers and pro-democracy civilians decided to manage the transition together, but for many voices today this partnership is unthinkable after the putsch. Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, under house arrest, and his rare ministers at large continue to plead for a return to the pre-October 25; but the army wants a new government more inclined to safeguard its political and economic interests, experts say.

Negotiators from the Arab League, South Sudan and the UN are stepping up meetings with the two camps, but their task is complicated: the UN representative in Sudan, Volker Perthes, was indignant on Thursday to see that civilian politicians who had come to meet him at his headquarters had been arrested by the army at his doorstep.

The coup and the crackdown that killed 14 protesters according to doctors have already earned Sudan its suspension from the African Union and massive cuts in international aid.

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  • Demonstration

  • Rebellion

  • Violence

  • Putsch

  • Army

  • Sudan

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