15 November 2024
Jul 1, 2019 by 500 Words Magazine -

Million March: Sudan Witnesses Biggest Protest Against Military Rule

Nearly one million protesters from across Sudan joined the Million March on 30 June 2019, demanding the Transitional Military Council (TMC) hand power to a civilian-led government.

The march is the biggest mass demonstration since the deadly crackdown on 3 June 2019 when paramilitary forces raided the monthslong mass sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), killing more than 120 people. Mass protests took place in Khartoum, Omdurman, Atbara, Kassala, Wad Madani, Port Sudan and other major cities across Sudan. The march also paid tribute to the protesters who were killed by government forces during the Sudan revolution since it began in December 2018. 

Paramilitary forces responded to the protests with Iive ammunition and tear gas in Khartoum, Omdurman, Kassala, Atbara, El Obeid and other cities.

According to the Sudanese doctors coalition, Central Committee of Sudan Doctors (CCSD), at least five people have been killed in Omdurman, El Obeid and Atbara. At least 100 protesters have been injured, receiving treatment for wounds sustained by gunshots and tear gas canisters. Some protesters were brutally beaten by paramilitary forces using batons or truncheons. Hospitals such as Omdurman Teaching Hospital and Al Qadarif Hospital were raided by paramilitary forces, firing tear gas and live ammunition. *Update: Death toll rises to at least 10.

 

According to the deputy head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC), General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti), at least seven people have been killed. “There are snipers who are firing on people. They shot three members of the Rapid Support Force and five or six citizens,” he said, adding that these snipers are acting independently.

In Khartoum, starting 1 pm, tens of thousands of protesters marched to the homes of Waleed Madibo and Mahjoub Al-Taj Mahjoub – two of the more than 200 people killed by paramilitary forces in the ongoing revolution – then on towards Africa St, which is also known as Airport St. The attendance of the mothers of martyrs Dr Babiker Salama and Abdelsalam Kisha in the Million March were largely celebrated.

As tens of thousands of protests gathered at Africa St, the SPA called on protesters to march towards the Presidential Palace on Nile St. However, the government forces blocked protesters from reaching the palace. As a result, the SPA called on protesters to head to specific midans (open fields or squares) in neighbourhoods in cities across Sudan.

Using social media, the SPA began calling on the Million March on 26 June 2019, calling on people to take to the streets across Sudan on 30 June 2019. Due to the internet shutdown and limited communication in Sudan, the SPA has been holding press conferences in cities across Sudan to notify people of the march. A day prior to the march, government forces raided SPA’s headquarters and prevented the association from holding a press conference.

The Million March is estimated to be bigger than the Million March of 6 April 2019, which led to the monthslong mass sit-in in front of the HQ of SAF. The mass sit-in continued until 3 June 2019, which is when Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and other paramilitary forces raided the sit-in in Al Qeyada, killing more than 120 people and injuring at least 300. At least 40 bodies were pulled of the Nile River where paramilitary forces disposed of dead bodies. In addition, residents reported rapes and robberies at the hands of paramilitary forces. Others have been arrested, sexually abused, brutally beaten and even urinated on. 

On the occasion of the Million March in Sudan, protests also took place in Beirut, London, Paris, New York City and more on 29 March 2019.

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Jun 28, 2019

Jul 3, 2019
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