On 23 September, crowds took to the streets across many cities in Sudan to vent their anger at the recent price hikes. Caused by the government's removal of subsidies on fuel and basic consumer goods, the price rises were seen as the last straw for a Sudanese public harbouring a host of grudges against the government of Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir. As students joined the protesters in calls for regime change, the government shut down schools and universities indefinitely. In the streets, the protesters chanted anti-government slogans. “No to the price rises,” shouted some. “Revolution until victory,” pledged others. But the most unsettling development for Al-Bashir, already facing international isolation and an arrest warrant for his alleged involvement in war crimes in the Sudanese region of Darfur, was the call of “leave, leave,” the same chant that brought down the leaders of neighbouring countries in the Arab Spring two years ago. The police reacted with typical brutality to the protests by firing tear gas and live ammunition at the protesters. The government said that 37 people had been killed in the clashes, but the figure given by activists and rights groups was 220 people dead. Nearly 300 people were injured, and more than 3,000 were arrested across the country. Rights groups say that the police intentionally shot protesters in the head and chest and to kill rather than to deter. The police are now stationed around university campuses, and the capital Khartoum looks as if it is a city at war. On the fourth day of the turmoil, the protests slackened somewhat, perhaps because of an Internet shutdown by the government. But on the fifth and sixth days, the protesters went out again in force, a development that does not bode well for the government. Life in Sudan has come to a standstill, not only in Khartoum but also in several other cities. The police and army have deployed in force in Nyala in western Sudan, Wad Madani in central Sudan, and Gedaref in eastern Sudan. In Port Sudan, police arrested students attending a meeting, while in Kosti police fired at demonstrators with live ammunition, but no fatalities were reported. In Al-Abyad and Wad Madani, demonstrators protesting against the recent austerity measures clashed with police. Two police cars and one petrol station were torched in Wad Madani. The country's political parties have been curiously absent from the protests, which are extensive and yet leaderless, just as was the case in the other popular revolts that have erupted over the past three years in the region. The Sudanese Opposition Alliance, which includes 20 political parties and youth movements, has attempted to give a voice to the widespread show of anger. It said that the nation was determined to bring down the regime and restore democracy and called for a general strike and civil disobedience across Sudan. Sudanese expatriates were quick to voice their support for the protests. In Cairo, representatives of the Sudanese community submitted a memorandum to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry calling for an end to the “massacres” of unarmed protesters. Sudanese protesters picketed the Sudanese embassy in Cairo in a show of support for the anti-government movement back home. In the UK, Germany and in Washington in the US, demonstrations were also organised in support of the protesters in Sudan. The Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), an opposition group, announced its support for the protesters, urging them to remain peaceful. Distancing itself from the recent acts of violence, the SRF also pledged to abandon military action if the regime was brought down. The Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement called on its supporters to join the protests, while also urging the international community to investigate the current “massacres” in Sudan. The world's reaction was one of concern over the scale of violence, with the EU and US voicing alarm over the large number of people dead and wounded. The international human rights group Amnesty International called on the Sudanese government to end the clampdown on protesters, while Human Rights Watch, a human rights NGO, said that the death toll had been considerably higher than the official figures released by the Sudanese government. It is still too early to predict the outcome of the current protests in Sudan. But if the protests retain their current momentum, Al-Bashir's government may find itself more isolated than ever.
