Sudan: anti-coup demonstration on the day of the arrival of a UN envoy
Audio 01:46
Sudanese demonstrate in the streets of Khartoum against the military regime in power, February 20, 2022. AFP - EBRAHIM HAMID
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
Thousands of Sudanese demonstrated this Sunday afternoon against General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's coup.
In Khartoum, the processions heading towards the presidential palace were driven back by tear gas canisters fired by the security forces.
The spontaneous protest took place as the UN human rights envoy begins his first visit since the October 25 putsch.
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Senegalese Adama Dieng is expected to meet various officials as well as civil society actors to try to shed light on the crackdown on protests which has already claimed 81 lives in just four months and the waves of non-stop arrests of activists or politicians.
This Sunday afternoon, the parades were again repressed in violence.
Doctors have identified several dozen injured and one dead.
Our correspondent in Khartoum
Eliott Brachet
has followed the groups of revolutionaries who are challenging the security forces on the front lines of the demonstrations, with stones against live ammunition.
They are nicknamed the “Ghadiboon”, the “irritated”.
Most are under 25, some are minors.
Amani, a student, wears goggles, a green scarf covers her mouth, and on her shoulders: a bloody Sudanese flag.
“
In the street, everyone has their own way of demonstrating.
There are those who stay behind, who protect our backs.
And there are us who are on the front line, confronting the military.
Deep inside us, there is hatred and anger.
How many of us have seen our brothers die next to us?
We are no longer afraid.
It is they, armed with Kalashnikovs, who are afraid.
They are not in the streets for a cause, but to repress us.
We defend a cause, we want to build a nation.
»
Hidden behind makeshift shields, relaunching the tear gas canisters that rain down on the processions, these demonstrators keep the police at a distance.
Today, for a few hours, they had to retreat in the face of numbers before counterattacking in an unbreathable cloud.
“
We are engaged in a war of exhaustion.
The government has run out of money.
The boxes are empty.
So we organize demonstrations every week.
So far, how many thousands of dollars have they already spent to pay for the tear gas canisters
?
Their cars
?
They need gasoline.
The soldiers
?
They have to pay them a salary.
We've been fighting for more than three months, we can still hold on, it's a long-term fight.
»
These groups of demonstrators ready for anything are the main target of the authorities and the intelligence services.
In processions, they are often targeted with real ammunition.
Many of them languish in prison.
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