Calls for the international community to act and restart Saudi-US Jeddah process is a total abdication by Africa. AU & IGAD are ignoring starving Sudanese

FAMINE has arrived in Sudan. 5 million Sudanese are a step away from famine. Some experts predict 2.5 million could die within weeks. Millions of civilians in Sudan who fled for their lives ended up in such bad situations in South Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt some had to return to Sudan while others were so hungry they ate leaves and ants. 800,000 lives are at stake in Al Fasher, North Darfur a place the UN calls "Hell on Earth" and where Hemeti plans to build his dream city. The continent of Africa comprising 54 countries is huge and rich. The leaders of the AU and IGAD are either bone idle lazy or corrupt barbarians or both. Here is a shocking Statement by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat, 7 June 2024. It shows that millions of Sudanese people are being left to die.

Photo: The Chairperson of the Commission, H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat (Credit AUC)

Not a shred of indication that the AU is prepared to play a more active role in ending the conflict inside a member state that risks drawing in many more members. Calls for the international community to act and restart of Saudi-US Jeddah process is a total abdication by Africa. https://t.co/3rAMzJmHwb

— Cameron Hudson (@_hudsonc) June 7, 2024

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Former Sudan PM Hamdok meets Macron in Paris

REGARDING the absence of the Sudanese government from the Paris conference, President Macron stated during a meeting with Sudanese civil society representatives that the government had lost its legitimacy due to the 2021 coup against civilians. 

In the previous week, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “its utmost astonishment and condemnation” of the conference, convened by France, Norway, the United Kingdom, the USA, and the European Union, denouncing “that such a conference is convened on a matter concerning Sudan without consultation or coordination with its government and without its participation…” Read more.

From Radio Dabanga English - www.dabangasudan.org
Dated Wednesday, 17 April 2024 PARIS / OTTAWA - here is a copy in full:

Former Sudan PM Hamdok meets Macron in Paris

Former Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdallah Hamdok (File photo: SUNA)

Former Prime Minister of Sudan and current chair of the Civil Democratic Forces (Tagaddum), Abdalla Hamdok, engaged in discussions on the war in Sudan with French President Emmanuel Macron during a closed session in Paris yesterday.

Following his visit to the French capital, Hamdok expressed gratitude to President Macron for France’s unwavering support of the Sudanese people’s aspirations and their stance in backing Sudan’s December revolution and the transitional civilian government. 

He commended the success of the Paris conference, which drew global attention to Sudan’s plight, raising €2 billion in pledged support from France, Germany, and the European Union for humanitarian aid.

Underscoring the significance of building on the achievements of the Paris conference, the Tagaddum head urged continued international efforts towards silencing the guns of war.

President Macron, in turn, welcomed Hamdok’s participation in the conference activities and reaffirmed France’s commitment to supporting Sudanese efforts for peace, freedom, and justice.

The former Sudanese leader also held discussions with Canadian Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on the sidelines of the humanitarian conference in Paris.

Earlier this week, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced sanctions against two individuals and four entities affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces for undermining peace, security, and stability in Sudan.

Regarding the absence of the Sudanese government from the Paris conference, President Macron stated during a meeting with Sudanese civil society representatives that the government had lost its legitimacy due to the 2021 coup against civilians.

Last week, Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “its utmost astonishment and condemnation” of the conference, convened by France, Norway, the United Kingdom, the USA, and the European Union, denouncing “that such a conference is convened on a matter concerning Sudan without consultation or coordination with its government and without its participation…”

Hamdok reiterated that a military solution to the conflict was untenable and advocated for a negotiated peace process driven by Sudanese initiatives. 

He called for unity among Sudanese factions to streamline peace efforts and avoid fragmentation.

View original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/former-sudan-pm-hamdok-meets-macron-in-paris

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VIDEO & TRANSCRIPT: Situation in Sudan ‘probably the most disastrous in the world’ says ex-PM Hamdok

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: I have created a transcript of this video. It is copied in full below. The video can be viewed here.

Video interview from France 24 GuardianTV

Presented on Tete a Tete by Marc Perelman [MP]
Dated Sunday, 21 April 2024, 1:48pm

Situation in Sudan ‘probably the most disastrous in the world’, says former PM Hamdok

FRANCE 24 spoke to Abdalla Hamdok, who served as Sudan’s prime minister twice after the fall of Omar Al-Bashir in 2019. As the war in his country entered its second year, the former premier described the situation as “extremely catastrophic, probably the most serious, disastrous situation in the world today”. Yet he expressed hope that the war “will come to an end”, noting “some progress” in regional and national efforts towards a political solution.

MP- Hello and welcome here on France 24. Our guest today is Abdullah Hamdok. He is the head of Sudan's Tagaddum. It’s a coordination of civic democratic forces. He was prime minister after the fall of the regime of Omar al-Bashir in 2019.  He was pushed out by two military leaders General Al-Burhan and General Hemeti, who since then have been fighting a war, a civil war, and it’s been one year now. 

MP- Thank you very much for being our guest today, Mr. Hamdok. 

AH- Thank you very much for having me. It’s always a pleasure to meet France 24

MP- How would you describe the situation in Sudan exactly one year into this war?

AH- What is happening in Sudan today is extremely catastrophic. Probably the most serious disastrous situation in the world today. We're facing a situation whereby more than 2 million refugees, close to 8 million internally displaced people, but more than that, about 25 million are subjected to famine and starvation.

MP- That's half the population.

AH- Absolutely. Because of this disastrous war, senseless war.

MP- The death toll is often put around 13,000 to 15,000. Is this the real death toll in Sudan?

AH- Absolutely not. I think this is grossly underestimated. The death toll could be multiples of that. I would like to think we might never be able to know the exact number of people who lost their life in this war. 

MP- How would you describe what is happening? Is it a civil war? Is it a war where war crimes, crimes against humanity, even genoicde are being committed? What words would you use?

AH- This is, it is indeed a civil war, but I think this is not the first war in the history of Sudan. Our first was started in 1955, just a year before independence of Sudan, 1956. And there are so many other wars. The war in the South last for so many decades. The genocide war in Darfur, the war in the Nuba Mountains, the Blue Nile, the East and all that. But this current war is different from the previous wars. In the past, the wars were in the periphery, in the regions. This time, the war started in the center and engulfed the whole country. So in that sense, it is an all-out war in the whole country. 

MP- Is it a war between two men and two ambitions? Is this what it's all about?

AH- I think this is again another misconception of the Sudanese war. Portraying it as a fight between two generals, this is far from that. It is a war that has its root causes in history, in issues of marginalisation, which whether it's ethnic, regional, religious and all that. It's a war created essentially by the historical model of development, issues of underdevelopment, and many of this. So I think in the beginning of the war even the international community has perceived this war as a fight between generals which is totally missing the point. But I think with the concerted effort by civilians, by many actors this conceptualization is changing now and everybody is beginning to understand it this war is much deeper than that which hence requires different instrument and different engagement and approaches to address it. 

MP- Well, how do you address it? Do you see any light at the end of this tunnel you just described?

AH- It's a disaster situation today but I'm an eternal optimist. I don't think there is a war that can last forever. It will come to an end.

MP- How?

AH- Our desire and our hope that it will stop yesterday, today before tomorrow, we're working on that. As you put it in your introduction, I had this Tagaddum Group. We had a meeting early this month in Addis Ababa. We came up with about what we call political vision as a contribution to address this war, which we had a vision which has four components. If I can briefly just mention them. Number one, we agreed on what we could call Declaration of Principle which addressing fundamental issues of the unity of the country, one army, issues of justice and transitional justice, calling for democratic rule, federalism, addressing issues of building state institutions and all that. But also a political process, which has so many components. And then we addressed also the issue of the negotiation venue and all that.

MP- Right, but as we speak, there have been attempts by regional organisations, by the African Union, by Saudi Arabia, the US, what’s called a Jeddah process but nothing’s working. The war is raging on. Why?

AH-  Let me start by appreciating all this effort by the regional organisations, community and the international community.

PH- But they’re not working.

MP- They are not, we know they are not because it is a complex issue. But I think we are seeing some progress in this. If you remember, when the war started, we had the Jeddah process, which was coordinated, led by the United States and Saudi Arabia. It made some progress, but after a while, it got stalled. But also the African Union got involved in this. The neighbouring countries, there was the neighbouring country initiative put forward by Egypt and IGAD also intervened, a number of other regional countries. I think we are seeing gradually some sort of convergence. The Manama initiative or encounter which happened probably two months ago, we think it’s a step in the right direction bringing more actors into the process. Now we are hearing more effort is being made to expand this a little bit by involving other actors. And that’s the only assuring way. Certainly, we do not want to see proliferation of initiatives and forum, and we want to avoid what we can call forum shopping. So we wanted a coordinated process that is coordinated in one centre. Of course, modern mediation would have built into into it multiple maybe approaches, but we don’t want parallel. We want it to be coordinated by one centre.

MP- Right, and who should be the center?

AH- I think currently the revive, enhance Jeddah that will take on board all the other initiatives will be the right way to go.

MP- Right, the problem is bringing both generals to the same table. You had a meeting with General Hemeti in Addis Ababa in early January. You said this was a building block and you were hoping that General Al Burhan would also meet with you. That hasn’t happened. Why has he refused to meet with you?  Because he thinks that you’re siding with General Hemeti maybe?

AH- There is a lot of, maybe what you can call it, accusation in that direction. But end of last year in December we wrote to both generals, to General Burhan and Genera Hemeti asking them to meet. General Hemeti responded. We met him in Addis. We agreed and issued Addis Declaration which is essentially having all these ingredients of going back to a civilian rule, declaration of principle, protection of civilian and all that. General Burhan responded saying that in principle he would not have a problem in meeting. But this has yet to materialise. In our meeting in Addis Ababa early this month we again confirmed and affirmed our desire to meet him. And we will continue pursuing that because we think this is the only assured way and it  is in the interest of our country because there is no military solution to this. 

MP- Does this mean that General Hemeti is more committed to a peaceful solution than General Burhan who seems not really very interested in this?

AH- Well, we take them with their pronouncements. General Hemeti, we met with him. He agreed with us that we need to go through a political process. We are yet to hear the same sentiments echoed by Burhan. 

MP- Right. In early April, the public prosecutor filed criminal charges against you and a dozen of other members of, let’s call it the anti-war coalition, for quote unquote inciting war against the state. This carries the death penalty. What is your reaction to those very serious accusations and what does it mean?

AH- Well, I leave the judgement to the largest population of Sudan and the region and the international community. But it is quite a funny thing. We are a civilian group. We do not carry arm inciting violence and all this is just fictitious. They have accused myself and more than 40 of our colleagues of inciting violence against the state which is totally fabricated. And I don’t think it is helping. We would like to see ourselves as Sudanese engaging at a much higher level of seriousness in addressing the crisis of our country.

MP- Is this a response of a general, Al Burhan maybe? Because one can assume the public prosecutor did this maybe on his behalf.

AH- I don’t believe the prosecutor just woke up and did this. 

MP- So you think this is a negative response to Al Burhan?

AH- Absolutely, I mean it has to be decided from somewhere in the circles, yeah.

MP- Abdalla Hamdok, it’s me who wants to thank you very much for appearing on the France24 channel and thank you all for watching this interview.

See video here: https://tv.guardian.ng/news/world-news/situation-in-sudan-probably-the-most-disastrous-in-the-world-says-former-pm-hamdok/

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Related 

Sudan Tribune - April 20, 2024

Sudanese political figures discuss path to peace at Geneva workshop 

Photo: Smoke rises from Sudan’s capital as conflict grips Khartoum on May 19, 2023 (AFP photo)

It’s important to note that representatives of the former regime and the warring parties were excluded from the Geneva meeting. All other Sudanese political forces were invited regardless of their stance on the conflict. 

This workshop echoes a similar agreement reached at a Paris meeting organized by France on April 15th. The Paris seminar included only civilian actors, while the Geneva meeting, in addition, involved the armed movements that signed the Juba peace agreement.

Read full story: https://sudantribune.com/article284685/

END

SAVE SUDAN. STOP WAR IN SUDAN. Tagadum coalition unveils vision to end war and rebuild state

Report from Sudan Tribune

Dated  Thursday April 4, 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Sudan’s Tagadum coalition unveils vision to end war and rebuild state 

Photo: SCP Deputy Leader Khalid Omer Youssif reads Tagadum's vision at the final session of the meeting in Addis Ababa on April 4, 2024

April 4, 2024 (ADDIS ABABA) – Sudan’s Coordination Alliance for Democratic Civilian Forces, known as “Progress,” outlined a comprehensive vision on Thursday to end the ongoing war and rebuild the Sudanese state. The announcement comes amid warnings of potential fragmentation and warlord control if the conflict persists.

The Tgadum coalition’s leadership held intensive meetings in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from April 2 to 4. These meetings culminated in a vision document proposing a path towards lasting peace and national reconstruction.

Key steps in the vision

• Humanitarian cessation of hostilities: The proposed approach prioritizes a humanitarian truce to address immediate needs and alleviate civilian suffering.
• Comprehensive ceasefire and confidence building: This will be followed by a comprehensive ceasefire and confidence-building measures to pave the way for a more substantial political process.
• Inclusive negotiations: The vision emphasizes the importance of civil society participation in the negotiations. To avoid stalling progress, negotiations should build upon previous agreements, regardless of the platform where they were reached.
• Regional monitoring: The establishment of a monitoring centre staffed by a joint force from regional countries is proposed to oversee the ceasefire, humanitarian aid delivery, and safe passage for civilians.

The statement underscores the need for a comprehensive political solution through negotiations. This includes establishing clear criteria for participation to prevent the inclusion of groups seeking to undermine the December Revolution and democratic transition.

Rejection of the former regime’s participation:

Tagadum firmly opposes the participation of the dissolved National Congress in its current form. The statement emphasizes that the party’s refusal to dismantle its military, security, and political apparatus renders it incompatible with a democratic transition.

The coalition highlights the importance of addressing the influence of the Islamic Movement and the National Congress within state institutions, particularly the military and security forces. Dismantling these entrenched structures is seen as crucial to achieving a successful democratic transition.

Openness to new participants:

While rejecting the National Congress Party’s participation in its current form, Tagadum expresses openness to other political actors and individuals who have demonstrably embraced the December Revolution’s ideals and objectives. The statement proposes a preliminary meeting followed by a roundtable discussion to build consensus on a comprehensive vision for the political process.

The vision encompasses various aspects of the crisis, including humanitarian Issues such as relief, health, and education. It also includes rebuilding the security and military system, including the creation of a single, professional national army. Finally, the text deals with political Issues covering post-war arrangements, the formation of a transitional government, the drafting of a transitional constitution, and the establishment of mechanisms for elections.

The text does not elaborate on specific plans to expand the coalition or engage holdout groups that did not sign a peace agreement with the transitional government or to reach a common ground with the groups that support the army in its war against the paramilitary forces.

(ST)

View original: https://sudantribune.com/article284113/

_________________________________

Related

Report from Radio Dabanga English

Dated Friday, 05 April 2024 - excerpt:

Sudan Tagadom leaders ‘continue despite criminal complaints against them’ 

Photo: Bakri El Jak, spokesperson for Tagadom (Photo: Tagadom FB page)

According to the Civil Democratic Forces (Tagadom), the complaints filed in Port Sudan, the de facto capital of the country, against its leaders on Saturday “will not affect communication between the alliance and the army leadership”.

The National Committee for War Crimes and Violations by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Saturday filed criminal complaints with the Port Sudan Prosecution Office in the Red Sea state against 17 leaders of the Tagadom Coordination Committee.

The Tagadom alliance of progressive parties and groups, including the mainstream Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC-Central Council), was formed in October last year with the aim to build a broad democratic civil front against the devastating war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and RSF that erupted nearly a year ago.

The leaders of the alliance, chaired by former PM Abdalla Hamdok, are accused of provoking war against the state, incitement, conspiracy, undermining the constitutional order, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

The Sudan state television broadcast the news on Saturday and said that the prosecutor ordered the arrest of Abdalla Hamdok, Omer El Degeir, Khaled Yousef, Maryam, Zeinab, and Siddig El Sadig, El Wasig El Bereir, Rasha Awad, Maher Abujookh, Shawgi Abdelazim, Babakr Feisal, Taha Ishag, Mohamed El Faki, Yassir Arman, Suliman Sandal, Jaafar Hasan, and Mohamed Osman, to bring them to trial.

Journalist Osman Fadlallah reacted to the news by saying that “the escalation against the FFC and Tagadom was expected, given that the situation in Sudan is now under the control of the Islamist movement”.

Read full story: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-tagadom-leaders-continue-despite-criminal-complaints-against-them

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Hamdok in Cairo for meetings to end Sudan War

THIS man has the decency and patience of a saint. Anyone who speaks badly of him is a trouble maker who doesn't know how to give due respect. Sudan and South Sudan need more dedicated, honest, hardworking people like him.

Report from Asharq Al-Awsat aawsat.com website

Dated Saturday, 9 March 2024 - here is a copy in full:

Hamdok in Cairo to Push Forward Efforts to End Sudan War

Former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. (Reuters file photo)

A delegation from the Sudanese Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces (Taqaddum), led by former Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, kicked off on Friday a visit to Cairo to hold talks with senior Egyptian officials, officials from the Arab League and Sudanese figures residing in Egypt.

The visit is aimed at ending the war in Sudan, said a statement from the group.

Experts said Hamdok’s visit was significant and being held at a “suitable” time, predicting it could have a positive impact.

This is the former PM’s first visit to Egypt since the eruption of the war in mid-April 2023.

The Taqaddum statement added that the visit reflects the historic relations that bind the Sudanese and Egyptian people. It is also part of efforts carried out by the group with friendly countries to help end the war in Sudan.

Officials will discuss the “catastrophic humanitarian conditions endured by our people” and work on effectively responding to it, continued the statement.

“This demands determination from the main parties and regional and international coordination” to address the situation, it stressed.

The statement noted that Egypt is hosting hundreds of thousands of Sudanese people who fled the war, hoping that the visit would be a step forward in intensifying and coordinating efforts to put an end to the conflict.

The Sudanese Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces is a coalition of civil society, youth, vocational and feminist groups working towards bolstering democracy and human rights in Sudan.

The coalition has been active in recent months to help end the war between the army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It has held several meetings in neighboring countries to tackle the conflict.

Hamdok had earlier this year called for holding contacts with the army and RSF leaderships. In January, he met with RSF leader Mohammed Hamdan Daglo in Ethiopia.

Head of the head of the Sudanese Alliance Party and leading member of the central council of the Forces of Freedom and Change Kamal Ismail said several Sudanese civilian forces were counting on Cairo to play an effective role in helping end the war through the launch of a political process.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the visit aims at intensifying efforts to end the war, tackling the humanitarian disaster in Sudan and coming up with political solutions.

He noted that the Sudanese Alliance Party had held intense dialogue with Sudanese political powers in recent months, revealing that they have succeeded in building the political ground and foundation for ending the war.

The details related to political issues can be discussed during the post-war phase through the support of Sudan’s neighbors, led by Egypt, that are keen on Sudan restoring its stability, he remarked.

Egypt had in July 2023 hosted a summit for Sudan’s neighbors, including Libya, Chad, Central Africa, South Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The gatherers agreed on a communication mechanism led by their foreign ministers to discuss the necessary executive measures to tackle the consequences of the crisis on the future and stability of Sudan.

Cairo has also hosted in recent months meetings of a number of Sudanese political forces, including the central council of the Forces of Freedom and Change, that discussed coming up with a political framework to end the war. They also covered the democratic transition in the country.

Source: 

https://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/4901146-hamdok-cairo-push-forward-efforts-end-sudan-war

ENDS