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Sudan says protest death toll rises to 22
KHARTOUM, Jan 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Anti-government protests that have
rocked Sudan have left 22 people dead, authorities said Thursday, after three
demonstrators died hours after thousands cheered for President Omar al-Bashir
at a rival rally in Khartoum.
Wednesday’s competing rallies in the capital followed weeks of angry street
protests over a government decision to triple the price of bread at a time
when the country faces an acute shortage of foreign currency and soaring
inflation.
Hundreds of protesters who have repeatedly called on Bashir to step down
marched in the capital’s twin city of Omdurman chanting “Freedom, Peace,
Justice” and “Revolution is the people’s choice”.
But they were quickly confronted with tear gas fired by riot police.
Videos posted on social media that could not be independently verified showed
some demonstrators pelting police officers with rocks.
On Thursday, police confirmed that three protesters had died in the
Omdurman demonstration but did not specify the cause of death.
“An illegal gathering was held in Omdurman and police dispersed it with
tear gas,” police spokesman Hashim Abdelrahim said in a statement.
“Police later received reports that three protesters had died and several
(were) injured. We are now investigating.”
That raised the total death toll in protests so far to 22 including two
security personnel, according to official figures.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Monday that at least 40 people
had been killed including children, citing Sudanese activists and medical
workers.
A doctor had told AFP late on Wednesday that six protesters were being
treated at Omdurman’s main hospital for gunshot wounds.
A group of doctors at the hospital said that police fired tear gas at the
facility.
“There was also shooting inside the hospital,” the group said in a
statement, without specifying who had opened fire.
– Defiant Bashir –
Bashir and others have blamed violence at the nearly month-long protests on
“thugs” and “conspirators” without naming them.
Wednesday’s demonstration came soon after thousands of people danced and
cheered Bashir at a separate rally held in the capital’s Green Yard as police
officers, soldiers and security agents secured the site.
“This gathering sends a message to those who think that Sudan will become
like other countries that have been destroyed,” Bashir told the crowd. “We
will stop anyone who destroys our properties.”
Crowds chanted “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest) and “Yes, yes, Bashir, we
will follow you” at the rally, where the president was accompanied by his
wife and a group of ministers.
“Those who tried to destroy Sudan… put conditions on us to solve our
problems, I tell them that our dignity is more than the price of dollars,”
Bashir said in an apparent dig at Washington, which had imposed a trade
embargo on Khartoum in 1997.
The embargo was lifted in October 2017, but Sudanese officials including
Bashir have continued to blame Washington for the country’s economic woes.
Dressed in a khaki shirt and trousers and waving his trademark cane, a
smiling Bashir greeted the crowd as men and women whistled and waved flags.
“We are with our leader because our brothers want to destroy our country,
but we will save it,” a female supporter told AFP.
More than 800 protesters, opposition leaders, activists and journalists
have been arrested since the unrest began, officials say.
Britain, Norway, Canada and the United States have called for an
investigation into the deaths, warning earlier this week in a joint statement
that Khartoum’s actions would “have an impact” on its relations with their
governments.
Sudan said the concern expressed by the four countries was “biased… and
far from reality”.
“Sudan is committed to freedom of expression and peaceful demonstrations,”
the foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
BSS/AFP/RY/1628 hrs