There was a military coup targeting the civilian government in Sudan on Monday 25 October 2021. The coup triggered opposition and demonstrations within the country. In response, thousands of people joined protests which were met by violence, leading to at least 13 fatalities and over 300 injuries (Geneva Resolution, 2021). Meantime, many NGOs condemned the military coup urgently called for the release of civilian leaders arrested and also for investigations on the violation against peaceful protesters.
Sudan was run by a transitional civilian government since 2019 when the longtime Sudanese dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir was overturned by a popular uprising. The Sudanese military seized power on October 25th and sought to knock down commitments the transitional government had previously made, including transitional justice, institutional reforms, anti-corruption, and guarantee of non-recurrences of past abuses, as reported by the UN (2021).
According to UN Human Rights Council (2021), this coup has led to instability anywhere, which threatens the human rights, peace, freedom and security, necessitating restoration and, where appropriate, the liberation of the elected members of the Government, among other persons who had been arbitrarily detained. As the Council reports showed, the situation in Sudan was threatening to destabilize a region that was already in turmoil. A completely legitimate civilian government and a permanent democratic solution ensuring peace, freedom and justice for the Sudanese people was the best to ensure an improvement of the situation. While international calls to improve the situation were important, urgent action was required to prevent more human rights violations and abuses while ensuring that the rights of the Sudanese people to peace, freedom and justice were protected.
One of the important issues is the rights of women and the situation of human rights defenders which need consideration during the coup as emphasized by the International Service for Human Rights or ISHR (2021) since the current conditions of the country have worsened their previously vulnerable position. Sudanese Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs) and peaceful protesters have experienced increasing violations since the military coup on 25 October 2021. As evidence by ISHR (2021) shows, WHRDs in Sudan are experiencing crackdown because the coup leaders have targeted journalists, members of resistance committees, union leaders, lawyers, students, and civil society activists. One evident example of violation of women’s rights is the first night of the coup, when military forces raided the dorms of female students of Khartoum University, beating and verbally abusing the students and forcing them to evacuate the dorm in the middle of the night.
The WHRD MENA Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders and North Africa have also reported violations such as raid of houses and arrest of women and men, cut of internet and telephone lines, use of live ammunition on protestors, beating of protestors violently and the targeting of women to name just a few. This has led many NGOs, including Sudanese Women Rights Action, Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in MENA, International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID), Sisters Trust, Canada, and Front-Line Defenders to call on the Sudanese government to immediately take actions to deal with the situation (ISHR, 2021).
World Relief (2021), which is a global Christian humanitarian organization and seeks to bring sustainable solutions to the world’s greatest problems, including disasters, extreme poverty, violence, oppression, and mass displacement, has also responded to the coup in Sudan and demanded a return to stability, emphasizing that the potential for mass violence in Sudan is high. Meanwhile, Relief Web (2021), which is a humanitarian information portal founded in 1996, also expects the UN High Com¬missioner for Human Rights to set up a fact-finding mission to monitor, verify and report on the situation in Sudan with a view to preventing further human rights violations and abuses, identifying perpetrators, and ensuring accountability for these violations and abuses.
The World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), which is the largest global NGO group actively standing up to torture and protecting human rights defenders worldwide, and the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), which is dedicated to creating a Sudan committed to all human rights, the rule of law and peace, in which the rights and freedoms of the individual are honored and where all persons and groups are granted their rights to non-discrimination, equality and justice, condemn the military coup and urgently call for the release of civilian leaders arrested and also for an investigation into the injuring and alleged killing of peaceful demonstrators.
As all the above organizations and many others have emphasized, the situation in Sudan needs immediate attention from the international community, and any delay in addressing this situation could lead to further human rights violations in the country.
References
www.genevasolutions.news/peace-humanitarian/un-human-rights-council-to-monitor-sudan-coup-violations
International Service for Human Rights (2021). https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/call-to-action-to-protect-the-democratic-transition-and-human-rights-in-sudan/
www.ishr.ch/latest-updates/end-attacks-on-sudanese-women-protestors-and-whrds/
United Nations Human Rights Council (2021). OHCHR | Human Rights Council requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to designate an Expert on the human rights situation in Sudan
www.reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-un-human-rights-council-should-act-urgently-and-hold-special-session
www.worldrelief.org/pr-world-relief-responds-to-coup-in-sudan/