Sudan protest hub: ‘Legitimacy can’t come from barrel of gun’ – Germany

The United Nations Security Council called an emergency meeting to discuss events in Sudan after a deadly attack by security forces on protesters in Khartoum on Monday.

One of the biggest pronouncements from the stakeout of the session was by the German envoy Ambassador Heusgen who warned against the use of force in a bid to achieve legitimacy.

“Legitimacy cannot come from the barrel of a gun,” the German Mission to the UN quoted him in a tweet.

Whiles expressing “deep concern over violence against protesters in #Sudan. He stresses the urgent need for a return to the negotiation table to bring about an inclusive, civilian-led transitional gov’t,” the tweet added.

The June 3 attack led to the deaths of over 30 people whiles over 100 are reported to have sustained varied degrees of injuries. Protest leaders have vowed to escalate their push for civilian transition.

Hours after the deadly removal of a sit-in by predominantly Rapid Special Forces, RSF, with the backing of other militia, the junta that deposed Omar Al-Bashir has scrapped previous agreements with protesters.

The Abdul Fattah al-Burhan-led junta has also scheduled elections in nine months time, a time frame totally rejected by the protest leaders.

The junta initially called for two-year transition. It later agreed a three-year period in what is now scrapped legislative deal with the protest leaders. 

Post-Bashir Sudan has proven to be a very difficult period as the country grapples with the aftershocks of a revolution that many believe is experiencing a counterrevolution engineered from outside the country by powerful players in the Gulf region – Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt.

Security forces stormed a protest camp in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on Monday and opposition-linked medics said more than 30 people were killed in the worst violence since the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir in April.

Footage shared on social media and verified by Reuters showed chaotic scenes of people fleeing through streets as sustained bursts of gunfire crackled in the air during violence that drew rapid Western and African censure.

Witnesses said a sit-in next to the Defence Ministry, the focal point of anti-government protests that started in December, had been cleared. Protesters poured onto streets elsewhere in Khartoum and beyond in response, setting up barricades and roadblocks with rocks and burning tyres.

A group of doctors linked to the opposition said 30 people had been “martyred” in Monday’s violence, with the toll expected to rise because not all casualties had been accounted for. The group had earlier said at least 116 people were wounded.

The main protest group accused the ruling military council of perpetrating “a massacre” as it broke up the camp.

The Transitional Military Council (TMC) denied that, with a spokesman, Lieutenant General Shams El Din Kabbashi, telling Reuters security forces were pursuing “unruly elements” who had fled to the protest site and caused chaos.

“The Transitional Military Council regrets the way the situation unfolded, reaffirming its full commitment to the … safety of the citizens and renews its call for negotiations as soon as possible,” the council later said in a statement.

Monday’s violence is likely to deal a blow to hopes for a restart to stalled talks and a negotiated settlement over who should govern in a transitional period after Bashir’s overthrow.

Sudan’s public prosecutor on Monday ordered an investigation into the violence, state news agency SUNA said.