CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Hamad Gamal: The War Was Started to Crush the Sudanese Revolution

Hamad Ganale, photo by Nelson Pereira.

As the UN warns of the imminent threat of another large-scale massacre in Sudan, activists from the Sudanese democratic movement in exile denounce a war launched to end the popular revolution that began in December 2018. They argue that the war is supported by foreign powers eager to control the country’s resources and not interested in enabling a democratic transition in Sudan.

“War was the last resort chosen to crush the revolution, after several attempts to manipulate the revolutionary movement failed,” says Hamad Gamal, a Sudanese activist exiled in France.

The popular protests succeeded in overthrowing dictator Omar al-Bashir in April 2019. The army, however, remained in power, initially forming alliances with civilian parties, but ultimately regaining total control through a military coup on October 25, 2021.

“By choosing to sign an agreement with the counter-revolutionary military forces rather than pursuing the revolution to its conclusion, the Forces of Freedom and Change bear direct political responsibility,” Hamad emphasizes. “The military coup and the current war are the culmination of this flawed trajectory.”

For the Sudanese activist, the agreement reached by the military with the Forces of Freedom and Change was nothing more than a strategy to hijack the revolution. “It was at this point that we saw the first attempt to confiscate the revolutionary mobilization.”

However, the democratic forces understood that this was a move against the revolution and against the revolutionaries and did not abandon their demand for a democratic transition. A sit-in was organized in front of the army headquarters in Khartoum. But on June 3, 2019, soldiers and militiamen violently........

© CounterPunch