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90 killed since start of protests, say Sudan doctors

May 7, 2019 at 1:36 am

Sudanese demonstrators gather to protest demanding a civilian transition government in front of military headquarters outside the army headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan on 3 May, 2019 [Mahmoud Hjaj/Anadolu Agency]

At least 90 protestors have been killed since Sudan’s anti-regime demonstrations erupted in December, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors (CCSD) announced yesterday.

“The most recent casualty was Saad Mohamed Ahmed, who was killed by a bullet to the abdomen,” CCSD said in a report. Ahmed was killed on Saturday as security forces were dispersing a demonstration in Sudan’s southwestern city of Nyala.

The Sudanese committee urged members of the public who have any information about slain demonstrators “to come forward to the CCSD.”

Pointing to what it described as a “media blackout imposed by the Sudanese security forces and those who still seek to protect the country’s overthrown government,” the CCSD stressed that it had faced lots of difficulties while documenting the death cases.

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“Despite restrictions imposed by security forces and remnants of the regime that make it difficult to obtain death certificates, this is the list of martyrs collected from our reliable sources,” the committee explained.

According to the CCSD report – which provided the names of the 90 slain protesters, along with information on the circumstances of their death – protesters were killed either by the security forces’ gunfire or by torture or inhaling excessive amounts of teargas. It also said that some of the demonstrators were run over by the security forces’ vehicles.

On 11 April, Sudan’s army announced the “removal” of the country’s ousted president Omar Al-Bashir following months of popular protests against his 30-year rule.

A Military Transitional Council (MTC) is now overseeing a two-year “transitional phase” during which it has pledged to hold free presidential elections.

Demonstrators, however, have remained on the streets to demand that the MTC hand over power – at the earliest possible date – to an elected civilian government.

Protests in Sudan - Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]

Protests in Sudan – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]