Khartoum SUDAN
A year
after demonstrations broke out in Sudan over soaring bread prices, celebrations
are planned across the country on Thursday to mark the uprising that brought
down veteran autocrat Omar al-Bashir.
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| Young Sudanese wave their national flag outside the army headquarters in the capital Khartoum on April 13, 2019 after months of protests. A year after demonstrations broke out in Sudan over soaring bread prices, celebrations are planned across the country on \December 19, 2019 to mark the uprising that brought down Omar al-Bashir. |
In the
central town of Atbara, the cradle of the revolt, hundreds of people are
expected to arrive on a train from Khartoum to stay for a week of festivities.
Organised
by the transitional government and the protest movement, it is a tribute to the
thousands of demonstrators who travelled in the opposite direction to the
capital at key moments during the uprising.
In
Khartoum, celebrations are planned in several districts, particularly at the
city's Freedom Square, which was renamed in honour of the protesters.
"I'll
remember the first day of our protest under tear gas and live ammunition, which
didn't stop us," said Hana Hussein, 21.
"Now
we can take to the streets in celebration. It's a great achievement of our
revolution."
Badr
Mohamed, 22, plans to use the uprising anniversary to demand accountability for
the killings of fellow protesters.
"I
will participate by carrying a banner calling for justice."
It was in
the dusty streets of Atbara on the banks of the River Nile that Sudanese held
their first rallies in December 2018 against a government decision to triple
the price of bread.
The
protests swept across the African nation and by April, they had toppled Bashir,
who had been in power for three decades.
According
to doctors linked to the protest movement, more than 250 people were killed in
violence related to the demonstrations against Bashir and the military rulers
who initially replaced him.
Amnesty
International, which says at least 177 people were killed, on Thursday called
on Sudan's transitional authorities to honour their commitments to restore the rule
of law and protect human rights.
"The
new Sudan authorities must ensure that members of the security forces who
committed horrific crimes or used excessive force against protestors are held
accountable in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty," said
Amnesty's Seif Magango.
August,
after protracted talks with the military, protesters and activists won a deal
to set up a transitional government and pave the way for civilian rule.
Former
senior UN official Abdalla Hamdok, a veteran economist, was appointed
transitional prime minister.
Bashir,
in prison since his overthrow, was sentenced on Saturday to two years'
detention in a correctional centre for the elderly for corruption -- the first
of several cases against him.
The
charges stemmed from millions of dollars received by the toppled strongman from
Saudi Arabia.
Bashir is
also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide,
war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The
accusations relate to his role in the Darfur war that broke out in 2003, when
ethnic minority rebels took up arms against his Arab-dominated government,
which they accused of marginalising the region. - AFP
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