June 30 - Revolution Day in Sudan

Key points

nPosted on June 30, 2019

nToday is the anniversary of a bloodless coup in Sudan, in 1989.

nI always like the sound of a “bloodless coup” – not as good as a peaceful transfer of power through an election, of course, but way better than a years-long, bloody civil war.

However, when Colonel Omar al-Bashir took over the government of Sudan, there was nothing but bad news for the Sudanese people. His military government suspended political parties and made the country into a dictatorship. The country became a theocracy, with Islamic law ruling everyone, including non-Muslims. Independent newspapers were gone, separate branches of government were gone, and political figures, journalists, and even officers in the army were imprisoned or executed.

There was more and more bad news, including the War in Darfur, a genocide, state-sponsored terrorism, repression of anyone who opposed the government. South Sudan broke away from the rest of the nation in 2011, and the economy – which was bad before all of this started, so long ago, became even worse.

nThis year, in April of 2019, al-Bashir’s government was finally overthrown, and al-Bashir was arrested. A state of emergency was declared – and although al-Bashir is finally out of power, people still don’t have what they need, and protesters are still being mistreated and arrested.

nA protest has been called for today – we’ll see what happens!