Khartoum / Dongola / El Gedaref / Wad Madani — Resistance groups continue their preparations for the launch of the June 30 anti-junta mass Marches of the Millions all over Sudan tomorrow, calling for a civilian-led government, while the authorities have announced strict security measures. A shut-down of telephone traffic and the Internet is expected as well. The resistance committees in the country are working on the unification of the two 'Power to the People' charters issued earlier this year.
Members of resistance committees active on grassroots level in Sudan, supported by political and professional opposition groups, continue to run propaganda parades and vigils calling on the Sudanese to join the June 30 'intifada' demonstrations calling for the overthrow of the October 25 2021 putschists.
The Resistance Committees Coordination in Khartoum have set the Republican Palace as the destination for the June 30 Marches of the Millions.
Sources reported from Khartoum that security forces have been carrying out a detention campaign against activists in the past few days.
Propaganda parades in various Khartoum neighbourhoods on Monday were met with excessive violence by government forces, which led to the injury of seven people, the Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD) reported yesterday. One demonstrator was hit by live ammunition in the arm, one was hit in the head by a tear gas canister, two others had head wounds after being hit by "hard objects", and the other three sustained minor wounds.
The CCSD added that June 30 will also witness a campaign calling for the prohibition and criminalisation of the use of violence against peaceful protest marches, in particular the use of shotguns.
Yesterday, the CCSD, the Committee of Consultants and Specialists, and the Emergency Lawyers announced the formation of joint observatory teams" to register human rights violations, provide legal aid and treat the injured.
In a statement on Sunday, the doctors central committee already stressed its "full readiness to treat protesters on the 30th of June in field aid teams and hospital emergency wards". The doctors also stated that they are working on the formation of committees and elected union bodies to establish a genuine Sudan Doctors Union.
The states
The Northern State Resistance Committees Coordination announced on Monday that they would barricade the highway connecting Khartoum with the Egyptian border (the Artery of the North road) on Tuesday. Soheib Osman, member of the Kerma Resistance Committees, told Radio Dabanga that they will organise a mass march in Dongola on June 30, before heading to the Hafeer Mashho area, where the highway is blocked.
Activists in River Nile state organised a vigil in front of the Atbara courts in solidarity with the families of protesters killed during anti-junta marches and to call for mass participation in the June 30 marches.
In eastern Sudan, members of resistance committees in El Gedaref marched to the town's Grand Market on Monday to promote the June 30 protests.
The El Gezira and Managil Farmers Alliance called on all its members to participate in the June 30 Marches of the Millions.
Security plan
Sources reported from Khartoum that the authorities have decided to close all bridges and main roads in Khartoum on June 29 and 30 as part of a comprehensive security plan to confront the June 30 Marches of the Millions.
The authorities have also ordered the evacuation of hotels and rented apartments in and around the Soug El Arabi, south of the Republican Palace in central Khartoum, until July 1.
According to the sources, it is expected that telephone communication and the Internet will be blocked completely - as was done for weeks following the coup d'état of October 25 last year.
The Sudanese police forces confirmed in a press statement yesterday its readiness to protect and secure people and property, as well as "strategic and sovereign sites" in the country. The police forces will use tear gas, batons, and water cannons to disperse the crowds when needed.
Volker Perthes, UN Special Representative for Sudan and head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) in a tweet yesterday called on the Sudanese authorities to stay committed to the right of peaceful gathering and freedom of expression. He appealed to everyone to "not to give any opportunity to spoilers who want to escalate tensions in Sudan".
Political charters
The Sudanese resistance committees are currently working on the unification of the two political charters issued by resistance committees in the country.
The Revolutionary Charter for People's Power (RCPP) issued by the resistance committees in Wad Madani, capital of El Gezira, in mid-January, was signed by resistance committees in seven states. By the end of March, it was signed by resistance committees in eight more states.
In end February, the Khartoum Resistance Committees Coordination released its final version of the Charter for the Establishment of the People's Authority (CEPA) issued by the coordinating body of the resistance committees in Khartoum.
In the RCPP, "a clear focus on the democratization of decision making and wealth distribution can be found across all of its points. It includes a roadmap to form a government, starting with the selection of local councils in a process that would start immediately as part of the ongoing resistance against the coup," Muzan Alneel writes in an analysis of the political situation in Sudan published on the site of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) in end April.
"In terms of political economy for example, the RCPP focuses on a national developmental project that aims to restructure Sudan's rentier economy into a more industrial one, through a mixed economic policy guided by the public sector in collaboration with the private sector. The RCPP also clearly rejects the IMF's structural adjustment programs and related austerity measures and argues for Sudan's eligibility for preferential measures with regards to debt relief given the country's extraordinary conditions."
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The CEPA "criticizes the political process for not addressing the economic, social, and cultural origins of Sudan's current crisis, and highlights the "lack of sustainable developmental vision" for the country. These are all points it shares with the RCPP to some extent.
"However, the CEPA and the RCPP differ in terms of the tools proposed to implement these values," Alneel states. "The CEPA is anchored around the concept of "uniting the political actors of the revolution" as a primary objective, not a tool. Accordingly, it envisions a path shaped by building consensus and finding compromises. This is clear for example in the issue of political economy where, despite prioritizing the "people's rights to life," the CEPA calls for "balancing the management of public debt and development requirements," in a departure from the people-centered approach to development.
"The focus on development and provision of basic economic rights as the path to peace and stability in the country is a common feature of both charters. However, different arrangements of priorities have led to different tools and solutions being proposed, reflecting the general debate among various revolutionary committees on the ground."
Alneel concludes his analysis by saying that "While the international community and regional powers continue to disregard the visions of the resistance committees, these visions are the ones discussed in the Sudanese streets. They are the ones distributed during protests and they have an incomparably higher chance of bringing stable peace to the country."
