Sudanese protesters face tear gas at Women's Day rally



Demonstration against the military coup, on International Women's Day in Khartoum

THE PROTESTER ON THE LEFT IS USING THE HUNGER GAMES THREE FINGERED SALUTE THAT HAS SPREAD FROM THAILAND PROTESTS  ,GLOBALLY.


Tue, March 8, 2022,

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudanese protesters marching against military rule on International Women's Day were met with tear gas as they approached the presidential palace on Tuesday, a Reuters reporter said.

Women's rights groups had called the protest along with neighbourhood resistance committees that have been organising street demonstrations since the military took power in October.

The coup put an end to a power-sharing arrangement between civilians and the military that was struck after former President Omar al-Bashir who ruled for 30 years was toppled in a 2019 uprising in which women played a prominent role.

"Women's demands are the revolution's demands," said one protest banner. After the rally reached the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum, security forces chased protesters back into nearby streets.

The protest comes as Sudan faces economic free-fall. On Tuesday, the Sudanese pound was devalued by about 19% after its price had slid on the black market.

The coup has also resulted in the reversal of decisions made since Bashir's fall, and a crackdown in which political figures have been arrested and dozens of protesters killed.

On Tuesday, politician Babiker Faisal became the latest prominent former member of a committee tasked with dismantling Bashir's regime to be detained, his party said in a statement.

In recent weeks, courts have reversed the committee's firings of dozens of bureaucrats in the central bank, foreign ministry, and other entities.

Sudan's ruling council said on Monday that holds placed on some accounts by the committee would be lifted, while other decisions affecting more than 1,500 individuals and companies would be upheld while under review.

In a further sign of rolling back work done under the power-sharing government, the head of a committee investigating the lethal dispersal of a sit-in in June 2019 said he had suspended its work after security forces took over its offices.

(Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz, writing by Nafisa Eltahir; editing by Aidan Lewis and Aurora Ellis)

Sudan arrests senior opposition leader amid protest crackdown



Tue, March 8, 2022,

WOMEN AND YOUTH LEAD THE SUDANESE PROTESTS FOR DEMOCRACY

Sudanese security forces arrested a senior opposition leader Tuesday, as officers fired tear gas to stop thousands of protesters rallying against last year's military coup, an AFP correspondent said.

The demonstrations were the latest since an October 25 military takeover led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, which was followed by a broadening crackdown on civilian and pro-democracy figures in the north-east African nation.

At least 85 people have been killed and hundreds wounded by security forces during over four months of protests demanding civilian rule and justice for those killed in demonstrations, according to medics.

On Tuesday, security forces fired a barrage of acrid tear gas at crowds heading towards the presidential palace in the centre of the capital Khartoum, with several people injured, an AFP correspondent said.

Tuesday's protests coincided with International Women's Day.

Crowds chanted slogans in support of Sudanese women -- who have played a key role in the recent protest movement, as well as in the rallies that paved the way to the 2019 ouster of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

"Long live the 'Kandakas'," the crowd shouted, using the name for ancient Nubian queens.

In North Khartoum, many waved national flags or carried posters of fellow demonstrators who have been killed, witnesses said.

- 'Excessive force' -

Also on Tuesday, prominent politician Babiker Faisal was arrested while he was attending a funeral in North Khartoum, according to Sudan's Unionist Alliance.

Faisal was a member of the committee tasked with recovering properties seized during Bashir's three-decade long rule, before he was toppled and jailed.

Last month, several senior committee members were arrested, including Mohamed al-Fekki, who was also a member of Sudan's Sovereign Council before he was ousted in the October coup.

Since the military takeover, authorities have accused the committee of misappropriating funds that it confiscated, accusations its members deny.

The military power-grab derailed a transition to full civilian rule negotiated between military and civilian leaders following Bashir's ouster.

On Monday, the UN Human Rights Council said it estimated around 1,000 people have been arrested since the coup, including women and children.

"The Sudanese authorities must cease to use excessive force and live ammunition against protesters," said UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said, calling for the release of detainees.

Also on Monday, the ambassadors of the European Union, Canada and the United States slammed "attempts to unduly limit freedom of expression" in Sudan.

"We therefore call on the de facto Sudanese authorities to return to commitments made to defend media freedom ... and respect the right to peaceful assembly," the diplomats said.

On Tuesday, deputy chairman of Sudan's Sovereign Council, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, met with African Union envoy Mohamed Lebatt to discuss the crisis in the country. The AU has suspended Sudan's membership since the coup.

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