On Monday morning local time, military forces placed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok under house arrest, staging a coup. Prime Minister Hamdok was later moved to an unknown location after refusing to issue a statement supporting the military takeover.  Several top cabinet members and civilian members of the Transitional Sovereign Council were also arrested. Among these officials are the Industry Minister, Ibrahim al-Sheikh, the governor of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, Ayman Khalid, Information Minister Hamza Baloul, media adviser to the prime minister, Faisal Mohammed Saleh, and the spokesman for the Sovereign Council, Mohammed al-Fiky Suliman. Darfur Women Action Group (DWAG) denounces these unlawful arrests and calls upon the military forces to immediately release all the detainees. 

During a news conference in the afternoon local time, Lt General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared the dissolution of the transitional government and announced that the military would take over the government until elections are held in 2023. Lt. General al-Burhan claimed that the military needed to protect the country’s safety and security as stated in the constitutional declaration. DWAG condemns in the strongest terms the military takeover and demands the military to allow the immediate return to a civilian government. 

The military takeover comes after an unsuccessful coup d’etat attempt by affiliates of the Bashir regime on September 21. The coup attempt intensified tensions between the military apparatus led by Lt. General al-Burhan and the civilian, transitional government led by Prime Minister Hamdok, culminating in yet another desperate power move on behalf of the military apparatus. 

After news of the military action spread, crowds immediately gathered in the streets to protest. The protesters changed a revised version of the 2019 revolution slogan as they marched up Africa Avenue: “Freedom, peace and justice, the revolution belongs to the people.” The Sudanese Doctor Committee said on Facebook that at least 12 individuals were injured after facing gunfire near the military’s headquarters in Khartoum. During the military takeover, internet services were disrupted or unavailable in Khartoum while roads and bridges connecting Khartoum with the rest of Sudan were also closed. This has made it more difficult to access information and access the current situation. DWAG stands alongside the people of Sudan as they march to regain their democracy. 

DWAG urges the Biden Administration and international community to take immediate action to address the current emergency in Sudan. The people of Sudan have suffered for far too long, it is time for the international community to listen to the demands of the people for a civilian government. If the United States and the international community do not take immediate action to ensure the return of a civilian government in Sudan, the possibility of achieving peace and stability would be sabotaged by the former regime’s affiliates. In addition, if no immediate action is taken, it will not only descend Sudan into chaos, but it will affect the prospect of peace and stability for the whole of Eastern Africa and the continent’s horn. We must stand with the people of Sudan and reject the military takeover. 

Therefore, DWAG calls upon the Biden Administration to take immediate action to condemn the military takeover and take the following actions: 

• Stand with the people of Sudan and explicitly and firmly reject the military takeover in Sudan.
• Dispatch a high-level official to Sudan to gather factual information and mediate the tensions.
• Call for an urgent United Nations Security Council meeting to rally a multilateral action against any military takeover in Sudan and to avoid a collapse. 
• Lead the United Nations Security Council to send an investigative mission to Sudan to oversee the situation and ensure that there is an international presence in Sudan. 
• Cease all collaboration with Sudanese military officials until they can surrender the power to a civilian government.

We also call upon the members of the United Nations Security Council and African Union to take immediate action to pressure the military and ensure the safe return of a civilian-led government in Sudan.