Onrust en protesten in Noord-Soedan.

quote:

Protests have taken place in Khartoum, nearby Omdurman, and other Sudanese cities over the past few days after Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, announced a new austerity plan.

Police used tear gas and batons against around 200 protesters chanting anti-regime slogans in Omdurman market on 19 June. Earlier the same day, witnesses said police had used force to disperse two university demonstrations.

The protests followed Bashir's announcement of the gradual removal of fuel subsidies and an increase in taxes and customs duty on luxury products, among other measures. The plan aims to help increase revenue and narrow a $2.4 bn budget deficit caused by the loss of oil revenue since the secession of South Sudan in July 2011.

"The economic and political context is threatening to unleash a revolution of the hungry that will inevitably topple the government," said Hafiz Ismail, an economist and Sudan director of the London-based advocacy group Justice Africa.

The protesters also complained of a 35% hike in public transport tariffs in Khartoum. Inflation rose to 30.4% in May from 28.6% in April, according to Sudan's statistics agency.

Students gathered at the gates of Khartoum's Sudan University chanting "No to price hikes" and "People want the regime down", before the police dispersed them using what Ghazy Badridden, an engineering graduate who participated in the demonstrations, called "excessive violence".

Students from Ahlia University in Khartoum were driven out of their classrooms after a large number of security personnel, accompanied by students who belong to the ruling National Congress party, entered the campus in pick-up trucks before attacking students with clubs and batons.

Opposition groups have rejected the new austerity package, saying it will hit working people hard and increase inflation and poverty among the already vulnerable population.

"These new measures will be the straw that broke the camel's back," said Ibrahim al-Sanousi, an assistant to the Popular Congress party's (PCP) leader Hassan al-Turabi. "People are already tired of the regime, which continues to oppress them. They'll take to the streets until they overthrow the regime." Al-Sanousi was only released in June after spending five months in detention on suspicion of communicating with armed rebel groups.

At a meeting in mid-June in Khartoum, Sudan's opposition National Consensus Forces (a coalition of opposition political parties including the Umma party, the PCP and the Communist party) agreed to launch a large-scale campaign of protests against the removal of fuel subsidies. It also discussed ways of toppling the regime, as well as an interim constitution and a transitional programme to rule the country in a three-year post-regime period. Opposition groups are scheduled to meet on 26 June to sign the two texts.

Sudanese government spokesman Rabie Abdul Ati played down the negative impact of the new measures, and said opposition moves to mobilise the street against the regime would fail.

"The Sudanese have been through harsher times during the 90s and they didn't revolt," he told IRIN. "People are aware of the crisis we've been through after the secession, loss of oil and then the shutdown of oil production, and they know these reforms are the only way to restore the recovery of the national economy."

Sudan, which has been subject to US economic sanctions since 1997, lost three-quarters of the formerly united country's oil production when South Sudan gained independence. Negotiations since have failed to yield an agreement on how much landlocked South Sudan should pay to use a pipeline and processing facilities in Sudan.

"The austerity package will not help the economy grow – rather, it will prolong the recession, curb the purchasing power of consumers, and will only affect the poor," said Justice Africa's Ismail. "The government said the new package will save $2bn annually. Well, it can save five times the amount by cutting military spending. The only way out for this regime and for the economic crisis is political. This regime is unable to solve the conflict in Darfur and the three border states, or settle the conflict with South Sudan, or even manage its relations with the world."

Police arrested more than 25 students on 19 June, according to lawyer Khansaa Ahmed Ali. The previous day, they arrested 79 people – including 25 students – for participating in a demonstration in the district of Bahari, Khartoum. Sudanese political activist Mohamed Alim, 28, was also arrested at his house in Khartoum by security officials, according to lawyer Wagdy Saleh.

In a separate incident, security forces arrested at least 40 members of opposition groups during a meeting at the premises of the Haq movement in Khartoum. A statement issued on the state-run Suna news agency said the police had contained a "small demonstration" in Bahari, Khartoum, and had arrested "students and intruders who tried to incite riots attack citizens properties".

قمع الشرطة لمظاهرات طلاب جامعة الخرطوم 2012-06-17

quote:

Op donderdag 21 juni 2012 22:51 schreef zuiderbuur het volgende:
Bashir lijkt me al twee decennia vrij stevig in het zadel te zitten, waarom zou hij nu dan wel ten val komen?

Wat wel opvallend is, is dat (Noord)-Soedan heel kort na de splitsing een nieuwe munteenheid heeft gelanceerd. Weet iemand welke impact dat heeft gehad op het leven in (Noord)-Soedan.

quote:

Op donderdag 21 juni 2012 22:51 schreef zuiderbuur het volgende:
Bashir lijkt me al twee decennia vrij stevig in het zadel te zitten, waarom zou hij nu dan wel ten val komen?

quote:

Wat wel opvallend is, is dat (Noord)-Soedan heel kort na de splitsing een nieuwe munteenheid heeft gelanceerd. Weet iemand welke impact dat heeft gehad op het leven in (Noord)-Soedan.

quote:

Op donderdag 21 juni 2012 22:51 schreef zuiderbuur het volgende:
Bashir lijkt me al twee decennia vrij stevig in het zadel te zitten, waarom zou hij nu dan wel ten val komen?

quote:

Sudan protesters call for president Omar al-Bashir to step down

Media blackout imposed after Khartoum gripped by anti-austerity demonstrations during week in which dozens were killed

Thousands of Sudanese protesters have taken to the streets of the capital, Khartoum, chanting "freedom" and renewing calls for their longtime autocratic president to resign after dozens of people were killed in a week of demonstrations prompted by austerity measures.

The government, which has imposed a media blackout, moved to appease the rancour with cash, saying it would distribute money to half a million families to offset higher fuel and food prices in a country where nearly half the population lives in poverty.

The street demonstrations, which began after subsidies were lifted last week, have been the most widespread in Sudan since Omar al-Bashir seized power 24 years ago.

Waving pictures of protesters who died, thousands of people held a memorial on Sunday night for Salah al-Sanhouri, a demonstrator shot on Friday during an earlier protest in Burri, an old Khartoum district.

Women called for the end to the regime and chanted "freedom, peace and justice".

Residents cheered on the marchers from rooftops while nearby security forces were stationed in pickup trucks carrying mounted machine guns near the spot where al-Sanhouri was shot.

"The protests will continue and will reach a general strike. This is our aim," said Ghazi al-Sanhouri, a nephew of the dead protester. "We will keep uncovering the regime's brutal tactics in suppressing the protests by killings and atrocities."

Al-Sanhouri's father, Moudthir al-Reih, said: "This regime will come to an end … God willing it will be over."

Public discontent had been growing over failed economic and political policies that led South Sudan to break off and became an independent state in 2011, taking approximately three-quarters of Sudan's oil production with it. Critics also blamed Bashir for draining the country's coffers by battling armed rebel movements on three different fronts.

The unrest began in the city of Wad Madani, south of Khartoum, but quickly spread to at least nine districts in Khartoum and seven cities across the country.

The crackdown on thousands of protesters has left at least 50 dead, according to international rights groups. Doctors and activists put the death toll higher, claiming it stands at more than 100. The government has acknowledged 33 have died, including police officers.

In a latest blow to freedom of the press, Sudanese authorities also forced the country's largest daily newspaper, al-Intibaha, to stop printing, according to the paper's website. The country's largest paper is owned and run by an uncle of Bashir, Al-Tayab Mustafa. Mustafa could not be immediately reached.

Several dailies came under pressure to depict demonstrators as "saboteurs". The government also closed the offices of Gulf-based satellite networks al-Arabiya and Sky News Arabia. Several newspapers were ordered to stop publication while others stopped voluntarily to avoid government pressure.

In an interview with al-Arabiya Sunday, Sudan's foreign minister defended the move, saying: "Media make revolutions".

"If the revolution is created by media, we have to be serious in dealing with it," he said from New York, where he was attending the UN general assembly.

Diaa Eddin Belal, editor-in-chief of al-Sudani newspaper, said editions of his paper were confiscated and they have been ordered to stop printing three times since Wednesday. Back to work on Sunday, Belal said that in one incident on Friday the papers had been on their way to distribution centres when he received a phone call from police telling him that there would be no papers that day.

"The government feels that its own existence is endangered and the press is playing a role in influencing public opinion … they want papers to turn into official gazettes that reflect only [the government's] point of view with no criticism or negative feedback," he said.

In a move aimed at pacifying a frustrated public, the government said on Sunday it would distribute one-off payments to families in need, raise the minimum wage and boost public sector salaries.

The official Suna news agency reported that the minister of social solidarity, Mashair al-Dawlab, ordered 500,000 families to be given 150 Sudanese pound (£13) aid packages in early October. It also quoted the deputy finance minister as saying the public sector salary increases would start at the same time.

Meanwhile, Sudan's main labour union said a rise in minimum wages promised since January would be implemented in the next two days.

Still concerned about lingering protests, however, the education ministry said on Sunday that schools would remain closed until 20 October. Schools have been closed since Wednesday after high school students led protests against Bashir in different districts of the capital.