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Omar Hassan al-Bashir Is Removed as Sudan’s President Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir Is Ousted, but Not His Regime
(about 5 hours later)
GULU, Uganda — President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, the authoritarian leader of Sudan wanted on genocide charges in connection with atrocities in Darfur, has been ousted by his nation’s military after nearly four months of mass protests shattered his grip on the country. 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.
The nation’s defense minister, Lt. Gen. Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, announced on Thursday that Mr. al-Bashir had been taken into custody, the government had been dissolved and the Constitution had been suspended. He said there would be a two-year transition period, with the military in charge, and announced a 10 p.m. curfew. 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.
Mr. al-Bashir, 75, who ruled Sudan longer than any other leader since the country gained independence in 1956, has long been regarded as a pariah in the West and as a ruthless strongman by many in his country. But the euphoria quickly soured when the protesters realized who had replaced Mr. al-Bashir.
He presided over massacres in southern Sudan, where his forces pushed barrel bombs from planes onto remote villages, and in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains, where hundreds of thousands died. In the 1990s, he hosted Osama bin Laden, pushing his country toward international isolation and American sanctions. 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.
Before the announcement of his removal, protesters demanding Mr. al-Bashir’s ouster had gathered outside the military’s headquarters in Khartoum, the capital. They addressed a chant to the president: “You’ve been dancing for 30 years. Today it’s our turn to dance.” 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.
“He has been such a burden for us,” said one 25-year-old protester who has lived his entire life under Mr. al-Bashir’s rule. “We can’t wait to build the new Sudan with freedom, justice and peace.” New cries rang out. “We do not replace a thief with a thief,” some chanted.
[Read more about Mr. al-Bashir’s ruthless 30-year hold on power.] “We don’t want the same guy!” shouted others. Within hours, another taunt at the regime was circulating online: “It fell once, it can fall again!”
But protesters’ jubilation was tempered by a wary uncertainty about what would happen after Mr. al-Bashir was toppled, given that the military said it was taking control. Protesters were caught between their jubilation at the ouster of Mr. al-Bashir, a ruthless leader who promised greatness but ultimately brought war, international isolation and economic ruin, and their abiding anxiety over what will follow him.
“What has been just stated is for us a coup, and it is not acceptable,” said Sara Abdelgalil, a spokeswoman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, which has been organizing the protests. “They are recycling the faces, and this will return us to where we have been.”“What has been just stated is for us a coup, and it is not acceptable,” said Sara Abdelgalil, a spokeswoman for the Sudanese Professionals Association, which has been organizing the protests. “They are recycling the faces, and this will return us to where we have been.”
The military offered little information about the membership or structure of the transitional government. A senior official said it was still being debated privately by leaders of the military and security services. Even by the standards of the world’s autocrats, Mr. Bashir, 75, had a low reputation. He was the only active leader of a nation to be wanted by the International Criminal Court, which accused him of playing “an essential role” in a genocidal purge in Darfur by overseeing the forces that killed, raped and terrorized hundreds of thousands of civilians.
“We insist on a civil government,” Ms. Abdelgalil added, “and we don’t support any coup.” Mr. al-Bashir ruled Sudan longer than any other leader since the country gained independence in 1956, and was seen as a pariah in much of the world. In the 1990s, he hosted Osama bin Laden, inviting American sanctions, and in 1998 an American cruise missile struck a factory in Khartoum for its alleged links to Al Qaeda.
She said the demonstrations would continue “until there is a complete step down of the whole regime.” He presided over a ruinous 21-year war in southern Sudan, where his forces pushed barrel bombs from planes onto remote villages. The country ultimately divided in 2011, when South Sudan gained independence. But Mr. al-Bashir kept fighting brutal conflicts with rebels in other parts of Sudan.
On Thursday, there was no sign of that kind of break with the past. In addition, he sent thousands of Sudanese soldiers to fight outside the country, including in the civil war in Yemen, and it is not clear whether a successor will call them home.
The United States has previously accused General Auf, a former diplomat and head of Sudan’s military intelligence, of playing a significant role in violence and atrocities committed in Darfur. The protesters who ousted Mr. al-Bashir on Thursday were driven, principally, by his domestic failures. Demonstrations in December over the soaring price of bread evolved into a countrywide street movement that harnessed the frustrations of many young Sudanese.
Those protests, largely ignored by the world for months, captured global attention this week. A striking photo of one protester standing on a car and wearing a white thoub — a long robe — and gold earrings as she urged on a crowd was widely shared online and called an iconic image of the demonstrations.
And the open dismay that greeted Mr. al-Bashir’s successor — another military man, cut from essentially the same cloth — suggested the protesters had learned lessons from the failures of the Arab Spring in 2011 in Egypt, Libya and Yemen.
Just as Algerian protesters refused to leave the streets last week after their own aging autocrat, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, stepped down but left the ruling clique in place, so the Sudanese protesters vowed Thursday not to go home anytime soon.
“We insist on a civil government,” said Ms. Abdelgalil, the protest organizer, adding that the demonstrations would continue “until there is a complete stepdown of the whole regime.”
But in ousting Mr. al-Bashir, said to be in “a safe place” after his arrest, the military had seized the momentum. Dozens of leading Islamists and members of Mr. al-Bashir’s ruling National Congress Party, viewed as potential political rivals to the military, were taken into custody.
“It’s basically Bashir’s henchmen taking over,” said Alex de Waal, a Sudan expert at Tufts University. “It stops a civil war among Sudan’s rivalrous military oligarchs, but it won’t satisfy the demands for democracy.”“It’s basically Bashir’s henchmen taking over,” said Alex de Waal, a Sudan expert at Tufts University. “It stops a civil war among Sudan’s rivalrous military oligarchs, but it won’t satisfy the demands for democracy.”
General Auf said that Mr. al-Bashir was in “a safe place” after his arrest. Several leading Islamists with the ruling National Congress Party, which was viewed as a potential political rival to the military, have also been taken into custody. The drama had begun after dawn on Thursday with a moment of unalloyed hope.
Mr. al-Bashir came to power in 1989 as a little-known general during an Islamist and military-backed coup. In the following years, he purged Islamists and insiders from his party, and demonstrated a knack for political survival. After five days of dramatic protests outside the military compound which houses Sudan’s military headquarters and the home of Mr. al-Bashir, a message flashed on state television and radio: “The army will soon make an announcement. Please expect it.”
He tightened his control by building up an array of competing security forces and militias, as well as the regular army. Sudan analysts have warned that those forces are likely to begin tussling for dominance once the longtime ruler is out of the picture. Instinctively, many protesters camped at the compound gates felt they knew what it meant: Mr. al-Bashir was gone. Celebrations erupted. Protesters danced and sang, some alongside soldiers who had deserted their positions.
For much of the last 30 years, Mr. al-Bashir waged war in his own country, leading to international charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in connection with years of conflict in the western region of Darfur. “I have never seen such happiness in the face of the Sudanese people,” said Sara Elnour, a 27-year-old doctor.
Mr. al-Bashir is under indictment before the International Criminal Court, accused of playing “an essential role” in atrocities in Darfur by overseeing forces that killed, raped and terrorized hundreds of thousands of civilians. Before his ouster, he was the only active leader of a nation to be wanted by the court. But in the hours that followed, no announcement came. Rumors swirled that Mr. al-Bashir’s top lieutenants — his intelligence and army chiefs, and the head of a powerful militia, among others — were huddling in secret, trying to decide who should take over.
For years, Mr. al-Bashir also presided over a devastating war with rebels in southern Sudan. The country ultimately divided in 2011, when South Sudan gained independence. But Mr. al-Bashir kept fighting brutal conflicts with rebels in other parts of Sudan. One of them, Salah Gosh, heads the National Intelligence and Security Service, a paramilitary body notorious for torture which tried to brutally suppress the protests in recent weeks. Mr. Gosh is considered to be close to the United Arab Emirates, and has worked closely with the United States on counterterrorism in recent years.
In addition, he sent thousands of Sudanese soldiers to fight outside the country, including in the civil war in Yemen, and it is not clear whether a new government will call them home. Another was General Ibn Auf, the defense minister, a former diplomat and head of Sudan’s military intelligence.
But in the end, the wars and atrocities did not topple Mr. al-Bashir. Instead, he was brought down by mass protests set off by the price of bread. In 2007, the State Department imposed sanctions on General Ibn Auf for his role in “violence, atrocities and human rights abuses” in Darfur. An American diplomatic cable in 2008, later published by WikiLeaks, said General Ibn Auf had provided logistical support to the janjaweed militia, which carried out some of the worst atrocities in Darfur, and even directed attacks.
Protests began in December over rising food costs but quickly expanded to a broad challenge to Mr. al-Bashir’s hold on power. In recent days, rival factions within the security services have battled each other, raising fears of a complete breakdown in order as armed military groups fight for control. As the hours passed on Thursday and people waited for the army announcement, the streets of Khartoum, the capital, filled with residents. While anxious protest leaders urged people that the work was not yet done, many in the crowd felt that they were on the cusp of victory.
A striking photo of one protester standing on a car and wearing a white thoub — a long robe — and gold earrings as she urged on a crowd this week was widely shared online and called an iconic image of the demonstrations. “We won, we won,” protesters told each other, according to witnesses.
Protests over Mr. al-Bashir’s rule had surfaced — and been crushed — before, and for months his security forces tried to contain the latest uprising through arrests, interrogations and gunfire. When General Ibn Auf finally addressed the nation, Dr. Elnour stopped her car to listen on the radio. Bystanders crowded around the vehicle. When the speech was over, she felt tricked.
But the demonstrations gained strength in early April when huge crowds began to gather outside army headquarters. Instead of dispersing the crowd, Sudanese soldiers permitted the protesters to stay and soon began to block — and in a few cases fire upon — other security and intelligence forces seeking to crack down. “I saw people crying and shouting with anger,” she said. “We feel that they have tricked us and are just trying to steal the revolution.”
To the protesters, that rift between government forces suggested that Mr. al-Bashir’s support within the army was slipping — though the military, which has been accused of many rights abuses, is not seen as a unifying force. The military offered little information about the membership or structure of the transitional government. A senior official said it was still being debated privately by leaders of the military and security services.
The division also highlighted how a number of armed groups and factions have grown in power under Mr. al-Bashir’s long rule — and their potential to be a destabilizing force in Sudan. Just what form Sudan’s uprising should take, though, has not always been clear. During the months of demonstrations, some protesters openly invited Sudan’s military to help them topple Mr. al-Bashir.
“The monopoly of gun power has been fragmented for many years in this government,” said Magdi el-Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute, a research group based in Kenya. In early April, large crowds began to gather outside the army headquarters. Instead of dispersing the crowd, Sudanese soldiers permitted the protesters to stay and by last weekend began to block — and in a few cases fire upon — other security and intelligence forces seeking to crack down.
Mr. el-Gizouli, who is from Sudan, said that fragmentation now poses an urgent question: “What to do with all these armed men in the country, and what will you turn them into?” But on Thursday, many were adamant that civilians should forge the way forward.
In recent days, the numbers of demonstrators swelled far beyond those of previous crowds, marking a new stage in the protests, organizers said. Their mood ranged from delight at the display of people power to fear that the authorities would soon crack down. “A civilian is needed, not one of these army officers, said Elsamawal Alshafee, a 32-year-old salesman. “We want a real democracy, with real freedom and human rights.”
The events in Sudan have raised fears of a wider regional instability. South Sudan and Libya, Sudan’s neighbor to the northwest, are themselves gripped by armed conflict, and the leader of Algeria, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, stepped down as president this month after weeks of street protests. Their demands found support in Washington and Brussels.
Washington has listed Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism, although the country does cooperate with the United States on some counterterrorism efforts, the State Department said in a 2017 report. The designation dates from the 1990s, when American officials determined that Sudan had harbored militants intent on attacking several sites in New York. “The Sudanese people have been clear that they have been demanding a civilian-led transition,” a State Department spokesman, Robert Palladino, told reporters at a briefing. “They should be allowed to do so sooner than two years from now.”
Andrew Natsios, a former United States special envoy to Sudan, said he believed that Mr. al-Bashir might have ceded power earlier, but feared that it would mean facing trial before the international court. The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said, “Only a credible and inclusive political process can meet the aspirations of the Sudanese people.”
At one point years ago, Mr. Natsios said, Mr. al-Bashir “went so far as to collect dossiers on two dozen African leaders who committed atrocities and sent them to those leaders” in an effort to get those countries to withdraw from the court and weaken its reach. In Khartoum late on Thursday, protesters streamed back to the gates of the military headquarters, defying the curfew to resume their sit-in.
In recent years, Mr. al-Bashir had taken some steps to try to repair his standing — and that of his country — in the international order. The United States removed some economic sanctions against Sudan and had even come to view him as a counterterrorism partner in some respects. Dr. Elnour said she wept with disappointment earlier in the day, but now had gathered her strength again.
European countries were hopeful that Sudan’s security forces could stem the flow of Africans trying to cross the Mediterranean. “After all these efforts, this can’t be the end,” she said. “We will continue our revolution until our goals have been achieved.”
Under international pressure, Mr. al-Bashir agreed to South Sudan’s independence after decades of civil war. But because much of the country’s oil is in the south, the separation took a major toll on Sudan’s economy, setting the stage for the broad domestic challenge to his rule.
“I say that if 100 percent of the state’s budget was allocated to the army to secure the country then that is still not enough,” Mr. al-Bashir said in a 2015 speech.
But at bakeries, people sometimes stand in line for hours for bread. Patients awaiting medical procedures are often told by doctors to bring their own sterile gauze and sutures, for the hospital may not supply any. Inflation has whittled down salaries over the years.
Protesters from Khartoum or the city of Omdurman, just across the Nile from the capital, listed corruption as another top grievance.
For many people, the demonstrations have been a moment of exultation over a break with the past, not anxiety over the future.
“I’ve never felt so hopeful as I have during these protests,” Sheraz Ibrahim, a 30-year-old human-rights advocate, said in an interview.
She said that as a woman in Sudan, she had sometimes felt unsafe walking down the street and was careful about what she wore to avoid harassment. In Sudan, after all, some police officers consider it a crime for women to wear trousers.
Yet she noted, “I felt secure during these protests, even though I did not know the people all around me.”