Sudan: We reject battles being waged on the bodies of women and the poor

The Sudanese people, whose revolution faced a military coup on October 25, 2021, are living in tragic conditions on all fronts. The situation has worsened since the outbreak of the war on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces led by General Hemeti. This war targeted the security and stability of the Sudanese citizens, displacing them, occupying their lands, looting their properties and resources, and striking their productive capabilities and economic infrastructure, resulting in destruction.

The warring parties in this offensive against the Sudanese people are proxies in a conflict aimed at striking the Sudanese people and suppressing their revolution. They receive direct support from foreign forces backing these reactionary elements seeking to seize the immense wealth of Sudan. This poses a threat of a civil war endangering the lives and unity of the Sudanese people. The ongoing bloodshed cannot be justified or sustained, not only because it lacks national political programs representing the interests of the Sudanese people but also because it reflects the military’s desire to control the Sudanese people’s resources in favor of foreign forces and agendas that serve the enemies of nations and global imperialism. This is done with the aim of looting Sudan’s wealth and precious minerals at the expense of the dignity, prosperity, and freedom of the Sudanese people and in favor of a military faction and militias that previously ceded half of the country’s land, the largest in the Arab world and the richest virtually, were it not for internal wars and the control of a corrupt faction over the government for years.

The continuation of this conflict, which has resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocent people and the displacement of over 7.2 million individuals within and outside the country, including children constituting about half of these displaced persons, and with Sudanese women, who played a significant role in igniting the Sudanese revolution, living in dire conditions in displacement and shelter centers, poses risks threatening civil peace, fueling ethnic conflicts, and hindering the Sudanese people’s struggle to achieve democracy, stability, and a return to civilian rule seized by the military coups. It also exacerbates economic and social problems, deepens the division among the country’s citizens, and turns Sudan into a bankrupt and torn state.

We, the Arab-Maghreb Women’s Group of the International Peoples’ Assembly, closely follow with great concern what is happening in Sudan, especially with the increasing reports of systematic violations against Sudanese women, including physical and sexual violence, abduction, and rape, amid media blackout and under threat. Therefore, we demand the following:

1. Immediate cessation of fighting between the military factions, initiation of rational dialogue, and response to national initiatives to reclaim the revolution’s objectives. Transfer of power to a civilian government, the only entity capable of completing the revolution’s tasks, and freeing the Sudanese people from the successive regimes that serve imperialist forces and regional reactionary axes.

2. Stop the targeting of innocents by the fighters to prevent the conflict from being waged on the bodies of vulnerable groups, especially women and the poor.

3. Monitor, document, and investigate all violations against civilians and innocents, especially women, to punish the violators and put an end to the increasing attacks against them.

4. Urge all progressive forces and peace advocates to support the Sudanese revolution and expose all imperialist, reactionary, and Zionist interventions in the affairs of the Sudanese people.

Finally, we wish safety for the Sudanese people and their honorable women.

The Arab-Maghreb Women’s Group of the International Peoples’ Assembly