A call for solidarity with activists in Sudan from the Black Autonomy Network.
Originally published by Black Autonomy Network.
Since the middle of December last year there has been an ongoing revolt in Sudan. This outbreak of rebellion a continuation of earlier struggles against the regime of Omar al-Bashir. In April, escalating protests led to a round the clock sit in occupation of the Military HQ demanding the fall of the regime.
Sudanese protesters mock al-Hadath TV’s coverage with fake cameras and joke interviews (MEE/Kaamil Ahmed)
The military – under the pretext of siding with the revolutionaries – used this unrest to stage a coup and oust al-Bashir and install themselves as the Transitional Military Council(TMC), many of the people on this council had ties to the old regime and to the notorious Janjaweed – an Arab ethno-nationalist militia (re-branded under al-Bashir as the Rapid Support Forces or RSF) involved in war crimes and genocide in Darfur.
Update.. Support General Strike
Many shops and businesses in Khartoum were closed on the second day Monday of the general strike and civil disobedience campaign, aimed at putting pressure on TMC to relinquish power. Opposition and protest groups called for the campaign after security forces stormed the protest camp on June 3, killing scores of people and dealing a blow to hopes of a peaceful transition. The US is supporting the military via its Saudi and UAE proxies. Several protest leaders have been deported and more protestors murdered. Sudan uprising: updates from Al Jazeera English
The TMC tried to negotiate with the movement to form a government, but the people of Sudan saw this for what it was, and while negotiations were ongoing people were determined to hold the sit in. Negotiations broke down as the movement demanded a full civilian government and Saudi Arabia, the UAE – regional powers who contributed to the counter-revolution to the Arab Spring – and Egypt pledged political and economic support to the military council (of over $3 billion) as they pushed to hold onto power.
Janjaweed.. the notorious militia were set loose on the protestors
The TMC began to criminalize the protests and declared the sit-in a “security threat”. Only days after the declaration the RSF attacked and cleared out the sit in with live ammo and burned down the tents at the sit in while the army watched. The RSF continued on a rampage all over Khartoum with a confirmed count of over 100 dead and 650 wounded.
More pictures of barricades built yet the RSF patrolling through them on the streets of Khartoum. Exact location/time unknown, but taken today and been circulated around. @BSonblast @YousraElbagir @daloya@AJEnglish @ReutersAfrica #SudanUprising#Google_Open_Internet_For_Sudan pic.twitter.com/VPgDAi1Cry
— Anavi mxb (@ana_fi_anavi) June 4, 2019
The RSF occupation of Khartoum is still ongoing and the TMC has had the internet shut off for over 72 hours making reports of what’s going on hard to come by, but calls have come from the movement for “total civil disobedience” and there is sporadic video and text of people resisting all over Sudan.
“current situation:
– resistance activities at peak, w/ most roads barricaded
– intermittent sound of gunfire heard across neighborhoods
– call to prayer made in most neighborhoods; in some, RSF prevented ppl from attending, in others people insisted on fasting”#SudanUprisinghttps://t.co/Jg7BChIbHw
— Munchkin (@BSonblast) June 4, 2019
Why Does This Matter
Let’s be clear, what’s at stake is the spreading of a rebellious energy across the Middle East and the African Continent that threatens the political order. That’s why regional powers and allies of the US – Saudi Arabia and the UAE – have supported the TMC and their repression of Sudanese rebels.
We find ourselves in a moment of international right wing reaction with fascistic, white supremacist, and other authoritarian movements and states seizing or consolidating power all around the world. Our enemies have spent many years networking and building internationally, capitalizing on both human and environmental crisis, but these crises don’t have a single road out that leads to authoritarian power that we try desperately to react to. These moments also give us opportunity to link and build power with others, who may or may not be or call themselves anarchists but who share the anarchic spirit for total freedom.
We think it is no accident that the height of the anarchist movement – to what ever degree we identify with that history – was precisely when it was an internationalistmovement. Just as capitalism and state power are global – and generate global crisis – so too must the fight against it be.
Call for Anarchist Solidarity
We are calling for immediate acts of solidarity with rebels in Sudan (and against the Sudanese & Saudi state) – whether that’s banner drops, graffiti and wheat-pasting, informational tabling, rowdy marches & demos, fundraisers to help Sudanese doctors get medical supplies, or other creative acts of intervention that make sense in your context.
Sudanese protesters burn tyres as they block Nile Street for the second consecutive day during continuing protests in Sudan’s capital Khartoum on 13 May 2019 (AFP)
While this call is for immediate reaction we should be taking time to look at our local terrain to find private or state run entities with economic ties to the Sudanese or Saudi state and act against them to move our solidarity from what is most likely symbolic actions to show the people of Sudan they are not alone to a combative solidarity that impedes the smooth functioning of the TMC, the states that support and supply it, and the logistical flows of the supplies used to repress the uprising.
Solidarity is never a one off action, but a constant process of building relationships with other anarchists and movements for liberation, of examining, acting, and learning to build a materially effective practice of attack. International solidarity is key because Capital, it’s defenders, and it’s reaction fights globally and so should we.
Against Authoritarianism Anywhere
For Total Freedom Everywhere
Additional Resources on the Uprising
A Siege, Then a Storm: How Sudan’s Sit-In Was Cleared
Revolutionaries Call for Total Civil Disobedience After Massacre by Military in Sudan
Sudan Sit-In: How Protesters Picked a Spot and Made It Theirs
Algeria, Sudan, and the Arab Spring
On Shared Struggles: From Sudan to the Gilets Jaunes to #MeToo
Women Led Protests Are Shaking Up Sudan
The Free 