Sudan – Civil disobedience campaign announced

A key protest group on Saturday announced a nationwide “civil disobedience” campaign it said would run until Sudan’s ruling generals transfer power to a civilian government.

The call by the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), which first launched protests against longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir, came days after a bloody crackdown on demonstrators left dozens dead in Khartoum and crushed hopes for a swift democratic transition.

“The civil disobedience movement will begin Sunday and end only when a civilian government announces itself in power on state television,” the SPA said in a statement.

“Disobedience is a peaceful act capable of bringing to its knees the most powerful weapons arsenal in the world.”

In Khartoum all key roads and squares have been deserted since Monday’s crackdown against pro-democracy protestors left at least 113 people dead, according to doctors close to the demonstrators.

At least 113 people have been killed since Monday, doctors close to the protesters said. The Sudanese health ministry put the death toll at 61.

The SPA said it had accepted Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as a mediator to resume talks with the military council, although it demanded an independent investigation into the violence that has occurred since al-Bashir’s removal.

“The civil disobedience movement will begin Sunday and end only when a civilian government announces itself in power on state television,” the SPA said in a statement.

Via Al Jazeera / VOA / The Guardian