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The Trolka
The Trolka
The Troika (the United States, Norway and the United Kingdom and Canada) are concerned about the violence occurring during recent protests in Sudan, including credible reports of the use of live fire by the Government of Sudan and of multiple deaths during several protests. We reaffirm the right of the Sudanese people to peacefully protest to express their legitimate grievances.
We urge all to avoid the use of violence or destruction of property. We also urge the Government of Sudan to respond to demonstrations appropriately, through uniformed police acting in accordance with Sudanese and international human rights law, including the right to freedoms of peaceful assembly, association, and expression – and to avoid the use of live fire on protestors, arbitrary detention, and censorship of the media.
We expect the Government of Sudan to implement measures to investigate cases in which abuse of force has occurred, and welcome the assurances provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard.
Eight demonstrators were killed in eastern Sudan on Thursday
Eight demonstrators were killed in eastern Sudan on Thursday
Eight demonstrators were killed in eastern Sudan on Thursday, officials said, during clashes with riot police on the second day of protests over the rising price of bread.
A government decision to raise the price of bread this week from one Sudanese pound to three (from about two to six US cents) sparked protests across the country on Wednesday.
The protests spread on Thursday to the Sudanese capital Khartoum, where riot police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators near the presidential palace, witnesses said.
"Six were killed and a number of people were wounded" in the eastern city of Al-Qadarif, Al-Tayeb al-Amine Tah told local broadcaster Sudania 24, without providing further details.
The toll included a university student whose death during demonstrations in Al-Qadarif had been reported earlier in the day.
"The situation in Al-Qadarif is out of control and the student Moayed Ahmad Mahmoud was killed," said Mubarak al-Nur, a lawmaker in the city 550 kilometres (340 miles) from Khartoum.
Nur called on authorities "not to use force against demonstrators, who are asked to peacefully exercise their right" to protest.
Two other protesters were killed in the city of Atbara, around 400 kilometres east of Khartoum, governorate spokesman Ibrahim Mukhtar said.
Police in Atbara fired tear gas to disperse protesters just hours after authorities imposed a curfew on the city because demonstrators had torched the headquarters of President Omar al-Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP).
Angry protesters on Thursday set fire NCP headquarters in two other locations, witnesses said
Demonstrators in Al-Qadarif "threw stones at banks (in the city centre) and smashed cars," resident Tayeb Omar Bashir told AFP by phone.
- 'Torched it completely' -
They then "moved to the ruling party headquarters near the market and torched it completely", he added.
Demonstrators then moved towards the police station where they called for "freedom" and chanted "the people want the fall of the regime".
Protests in Dongola, 500 kilometres north of Khartoum, "started with university students who were joined by others when they reached the city centre", an eyewitness told AFP by phone.
"They attacked the headquarters of the NCP and set it ablaze," the witness said.
In Atbara, "some 1,500 demonstrators tried to enter the city (from a suburb) calling for the fall of the regime," an eyewitness said.
"Riot police intercepted them and fired tear gas at them," the witness added.
The demonstrations stopped in most cities as night fell and curfews came into force, the authorities said, but witnesses said they continued in Khartoum.
The bread shortage has hit Sudan's cities for the past three weeks, including the capital.
In the past year, the cost of some commodities has more than doubled in Sudan, where inflation is running at close to 70 percent and the pound has plunged in value.
Sporadic protests broke out in January this year over the rising cost of food, but they were soon brought under control with the arrest of opposition leaders and activists.
Sudan had significant oil reserves until South Sudan gained independence in 2011, and the north-south split saw the country lose three quarters of its reserves.
Sudan has blocked internet access in most parts of the country
Sudan has blocked internet access in most parts of the country
Sudan has blocked internet access in most parts of the country and shuttered schools around the capital as protests over living costs that have left at least eight people dead entered their third day.
The Sudanese authorities began to block internet connections gradually on Thursday night, but users have said they were able to access some services on Friday, according to The New Arab Arabicreporter in Khartoum Abdelhameed Awad.
Internet users seem to be unable to access social media platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp, which activists were using to organise and cover protests.
Rights and internet freedom groups immediately criticised the measure, which has become a standard responseby regimes in the region to quickly contain protests in the wake of Arab Spring wave of uprisings.
Internet shut downs "stops defenders from documenting or sharing info about abuse," tweeted internet freedom group Access Now in response to the report. "They also block access to emergency services, hurt journalism and hobble businesses," it added.
The Sudanese authorities also shuttered schools in the state of Khartoum "until further notice", according to the state's Ministry of Education. Local sources told The New Arab the decision was prompted by concern highschool students would join the protests.
The government's decision to raise the price of a loaf of bread this week from one Sudanese pound to three (from about two to six US cents) has sparked protests across the country.
Six demonstrators were killed in the eastern city of Al-Qadarif and two others in Atbara, also east of Khartoum, officials said on Thursday.
Although smaller in scale, protests continued on Friday, the start of he weekend in the Arab country.
Sudanese police forces fired tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters in the cities of Omdurman and Atbara and the state of North Kordofan, witnesses cited by Reuters said on Friday.
There were also small-scale demonstrations across at least seven neighbourhoods in the capital Khartoum shortly after Friday noon prayers, but they were short-lived, witnesses said.
Sudan deployed troops in the capital Khartoum and other cities on Friday in anticipation of further protests. On Thursday, riot police in Khartoum fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators near the presidential palace, witnesses said.
The police driving in patrol cars were seen carrying clubs and tear gas canisters while the troops held Kalashnikov assault rifles, the witnesses said.
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