NAIROBI, Kenya—After three decades in power, Sudan’s President Hassan Omar al-Bashir was overthrown by a military coup amidst widespread protests that started last year.
Sudanese state television quoted Defense Minister Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf saying a transitional military council would oversee a two-year transitional period until elections are held.
Bashir, who ruled Sudan since 1989 after staging a military coup, is wanted by the International Criminal Court for atrocities in Darfur.
As pressure mounted on al-Bashir to leave power, nearly 50 people were killed in a series of protests that erupted in December, according to media reports.
Reacting to the news, Kenneth Roth, executive director at the New York-based Human Rights Watch, said “is not enough that President Bashir has been ousted.”
“His countless victims, and the need to establish the rule of law and signal an end to mass atrocities, demand that he be sent to the International Criminal Court to face the charges against him,” he added.
Demonstrations in the Horn of African country began in December 2018 and intensified on April 6, as the Sudanese people continue to demand for political change.
Thousands of protesters began a sit-in at the military’s headquarters in Khartoum on April 6, with police and security forces using force to try and disperse the demonstrators who were calling for al-Bashir to step down.
Earlier this week, the United Kingdom, United States and Norway issued a joint statement reacting to the current unrest in Sudan.
“The time has come for the Sudanese authorities to respond to these popular demands in a serious and credible way,” read the statement in part.
During the protests, Amnesty International said all social media platforms were jammed and phone signals around the military headquarters were noticeably weakened. Authorities in Khartoum had also cut off water supply to the area.
The latest protests were called to mark the 34th anniversary of the toppling of former President Jaafar Muhammad Nimeiry’s government by the Sudan Armed Forces in response to a popular uprising in Sudan as well as to protest against the current government.
Thousands of protesters responded to the call and gathered in front of Sudan’s army headquarters calling for the removal of Bashir’s government.
The country’s economic crisis has been exacerbated by the secession in 2011 of oil-rich South Sudan, denying Khartoum a big chunk of oil revenue.
From The Epoch Times