One year into Al-Bashir’s overthrow marked

Ousted Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir

Former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir

from RAJI BASHIR in Khartoum, Sudan
KHARTOUM, (CAJ News) EXACTLY one year after a popular uprising that led to the ouster of dictator, Omar Al-Bashir, Sudanese people are still waiting for accountability for atrocities committed by his regime.

There are also demands for a probe into the killing of 120 civilians during a deadlock between security forces and civilians over the ruling of the country following his ouster.

Al-Bashir (76) was deposed in a coup d’état on April 11 last year (2019).

Prior to his arrest by the Sudanese army, he had ruled the country since seizing power in a June 1989 military coup.

Under his command, Sudan’s security forces allegedly committed genocide in the Darfur region.

As a result, Al-Bashir and several of his senior officers were indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2009.

Crimes against humanity and war crimes were also perpetrated in the disputed provinces of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Although Al-Bashir spent a decade defying the ICC and evading international justice, the transitional authorities in Sudan have charged him with illegally possessing foreign currency and corruption.

Earlier this week, it was announced that a domestic trial for crimes related to the 1989 coup and to a deadly crackdown that preceded his 2019 overthrow had been postponed due to COVID-19 outbreak.

In February, Sudan’s transitional authorities also announced that several suspects indicted by the ICC, including Al-Bashir, should face trial in The Hague.

“While much remains to be done to support Sudan’s fragile transition to peace and democracy, we should commemorate the courage and resilience of the Sudanese people who fought for justice and human rights during last year’s mass demonstrations,” Juliette Paauwe, Senior Research Analyst at the Global Centre, said.

The recent attempted assassination of the civilian Prime Minister, Abdallah Hamdok, further underlines the fragility of Sudan’s transition.

– CAJ News

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