Sudan’s military has overthrown the country’s longtime president, Omar al-Bashir. It’s a huge win for the hundreds of thousands of Sudanese protesters who have taken to the streets for months calling for his ouster — and for the brave women who have been a driving force in the protest movement. Sudan’s Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf announced Thursday that al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of committing genocide and crimes against humanity in Sudan’s Darfur region, had been taken into military custody. While it’s unclear if the military plans to turn al-Bashir over to the ICC for prosecution, it’s pretty clear that his brutal 30-year reign has come to a definitive end. Much of the credit for al-Bashir’s removal goes to the women who have played a prominent role in the uprising that has swept the country and who have become the faces of the largely peaceful movement to topple the regime. Earlier this week, an iconic photo of a woman named Alaa Salah, a 22-year-old engineering and architecture student, addressing protesters from atop a car went viral. The image, captured by local photographer Lana Haroun, shows Salah standing on a white car surrounded by a sea of people outside the presidential compound and army headquarters in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital. Wrapped in layers of shimmery white fabric styled as a “toub” — a traditional Sudanese style of dress for women — and gold moon earrings, Salah towers over the crowd of protesters, her finger raised defiantly in the air. A video of Salah leading protesters in songs and chants also went viral on social media. It shows Salah calling out, “In the name of religion, they killed us,” with the crowd responding, “Revolution!” Women are at the forefront of the uprising in Sudan. Just look at her. Absolute queen. Crowd are chanting ‘revolution’. (Video circulating on WhatsApp so have no idea who to credit!) pic.twitter.com/ZyrII0oiAC — Samira Sawlani (@samirasawlani) April 9, 2019 Her toub, and those worn by other women protesters, has become a symbol of freedom, strength, and solidarity in a country that has been suffering from a state of turmoil, oppression, and instability for decades under al-Bashir’s rule. Salah and the thousands of other women who have been leading and participating in the protests are being referred to as “Kandaka” — the Nubian title for “queen.” They’ve become both the face of the movement to oust al-Bashir and a symbol of the struggle for women’s rights in Sudan. Women’s rights in Sudan are abysmal. They protested in large numbers anyway. Despite the threats that Sudanese women continually face, ranging from child marriage to domestic violence, sexual harassment, and rape, few policies have been put in place to protect women and girls in Sudan. Sudan’s public order laws, which control women’s freedom of dress, behavior, association, and education, have led to the oppression and punishment of Sudanese women for years and enabled a patriarchal system to thrive. Girls as young as 10 years old are legally allowed to marry, and girls are frequently forced into marriages with much older men without their consent. Marital rape is also legal in the country. Women’s rights in Sudan faced international condemnation last May when a child bride, Noura Hussein, was sentenced to death for killing her husband as he tried to rape her. However, after an online petition appealing for clemency garnered more than 1.5 million signatures, her sentence was reduced to a five-year jail sentence. Yet despite having faced this kind of repression and exploitation for decades — or, perhaps, because of that fact — women have been at the forefront of the nationwide protests since they began in December. Reports estimate that more than 70 percent of the protesters who have gone out into the streets are women, according to the BBC. Since images of her leading protests went viral, Salah says she has received death threats. Yet she remains undeterred: “I will not bow down. My voice can not be suppressed. Will hold Al-Bashir responsible if anything happens to me. #JusticeWillPrevail,” she wrote on Twitter, just one day before al-Bashir was removed from power. After the military announced al-Bashir’s ouster, Sudanese women took to the streets to celebrate. Huge crowds of protesters gathered and were seen cheering amid celebratory gunfire in Khartoum on Thursday. But not all of them are convinced this is a happy ending Many protesters reacted with anger after Sudanese Defense Minister Ibn Auf announced in a speech Thursday that a two-year transitional government administered by the military would take over following al-Bashir’s arrest. On Twitter, Salah accused the al-Bashir regime of “hoodwinking Sudanese civilians through a military coup” and demanded that a civilian council be put in charge of the transitional government. The people do not want a transitional military council. Change will not happen with Bashir’s entire regime hoodwinking Sudanese civilians through a military coup. We want a civilian council to head the transition. #Sudan — Alaa Salah (@iAlaaSalah) April 11, 2019 Protesters also said that after Ibn Auf, a key military leader during al-Bashir’s suppression of rebels in Darfur in the early 2000s, delivered his speech, their hope had been turned to anger and disappointment as they realized he was unlikely to give al-Bashir up for prosecution by the ICC. “They just replaced one thief with another,” Ahmad Ibrahim, a young protester sitting on the ground under the sweltering heat near the sit-in outside of the army headquarters, told the Washington Post. “We are going to keep pushing until all of our demands are met.”<doc-sep>It is also because that they know that one of his biggest assets was his reputation for loyalty to the officer corps, and they hope that some of that legacy will rub off on them. Keeping the current security coalition intact will be impossible if any one of them starts fearing he may be handed to a foreign power or court.<doc-sep>As Sudan’s military announced at lunchtime on Thursday that it had finally unseated President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, a brief burst of joy exploded outside the military headquarters in Khartoum where huge throngs of protesters had massed. Nearly four months of protest, dozens of deaths at the hands of the security forces and endless chants of “revolution!” had finally come to this: the ouster of the despised leader who had ruled their vast country, plagued by famine and war, for 30 years. But the euphoria quickly soured when the protesters realized who had replaced Mr. al-Bashir. The somber man reading the speech on television was Lt. Gen. Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, the defense minister and a confidant of Mr. al-Bashir. General Ibn Auf, like Mr. al-Bashir, had been accused of perpetrating war crimes in Sudan’s western region of Darfur. The protesters fell silent as he laid out his terms: the release of political prisoners, but also a two-year transition steered by a military council, the suspension of Sudan’s Constitution, the dissolution of government and curfews starting at 10 p.m. that night. Loud groans and lamentations rippled through the crowd, followed by a current of anger.<doc-sep>Dictator deposed: Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir has been forced out of power in a military coup. Who is Omar al-Bashir? The ousted president ruled Sudan for 30 years after seizing power in a coup in 1989. He is accused of war crimes and genocide for his brutal crackdown in Darfur. Why now? Bashir was removed after months of anti-regime protests, with the military abandoning him and siding with those seeking his downfall. What happens next? In a televised statement, the army announced a two-year military council to oversee a transition of power and declared a three-month state of emergency. Activists have demanded the military hand over power to a civilian government as soon as possible.<doc-sep>
Ibn Auf also commended the young people of Sudan, who he said "took to the streets in a very peaceful way." He spoke about the growing inequality that had gripped the country, and noted that "despite all the suffering, despite all the lies, despite all the false promises, the Sudanese were patient, the Sudanese were tolerant, the Sudanese were generous." Defense Minister Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf addressed the nation Thursday afternoon, announcing that al-Bashir had been arrested "in a safe place." He called for a state of emergency for three months and a transitional period of two years, as well as a national ceasefire, and the immediate release of all political prisoners. NAIROBI — Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who has ruled the country for nearly 30 years and is wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court, has stepped down in response to massive nationwide protests that started four months ago. Quick summary of what just happened in Sudan: - The Army announced that it’s taking over rule form Omar Bashir who has been in power for 30 years (!!!) - Announced a transitional period of two years (!) - State of emergency for 3 months - Closing of Sudan’s air travel for 24 hrs The demonstrations started in late December by university students who were angry with the government for tripling the cost of bread. When the ATMs ran out of cash shortly after, the Sudanese Professionals Association, a national union group, redirected the protests to call for the end of al-Bashir’s reign. The movement has since spread to nearly every state in Sudan, making it the biggest ever resistance effort against the government since al-Bashir became president. As the number of protesters multiplied, state-led security forces cracked down on the civilians, firing tear gas during rallies, beating demonstrators in the streets, arresting them indiscriminately, and sometimes killing them. More than 65 people have died since the protests began, a representative of the Sudan Doctors’ Syndicate told BuzzFeed News. The government also issued a social media shutdown, forcing millions of people to use VPNs, which are often unreliable, in order to remain online. A former military commander, al-Bashir came into power after leading a bloodless coup in 1989. The International Criminal Court charged the 75-year-old in 2009 and 2010 with crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide in Darfur, where between 200,000 and 300,000 people were killed and at least 2.7 million others were displaced. Despite the international travel ban stemming from his arrest warrant, al-Bashir has made diplomatic trips to South Africa, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Defense Minister Ibn Auf has said that Bashir is in custody but did not give further details. He promised "free and fair elections" for Sudan at the end of the two-year transitional period. Sudanese protesters' reactions to Ibn Auf's announcement have been more skeptical than celebratory. Enas Suliman, a 26-year-old teacher who has been marching in the protests since December, told BuzzFeed News via WhatsApp from Khartoum that it was difficult to feel excited about al-Bashir's arrest when it appeared he would simply be replaced by another military leader. "I'm disappointed that Awad Ibn Auf was the one to announce the speech himself, for he's known for supporting the regime," said Suliman. She was, however, pleased that the defense minister promised to bring home Sudanese troops who are fighting in other countries. "I hope things turns for the best, because we've fought too long for this moment," she added.