Navy blue suit, striped tie and brooch in the national colors, on September 21, at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhane looks like a head of state. But the man with two hats, president of the Sudanese Armed Forces (FAS) and the Sovereignty Council, cannot forget his at least indirect involvement in the deaths of hundreds of civilians. Its shadow thus hangs over the crimes perpetrated in Darfur from 2003 and during the revolutionary sit-in massacre of June 3, 2019, although no criminal charges have been issued. Burhan subsequently allowed, if not orchestrated, a bloody repression against peaceful opponents of the coup by which it buried the democratic transition on October 25, 2021.
Its troops have now been engaged, since April 15, in a murderous war against their former allies in the Rapid Support Forces (FSR), an armed militia designed by former dictator Omar al-Bashir, which has become at least as powerful as the ‘army. The former do not hesitate to bomb citizens to try to eradicate the militia, themselves renowned for their abuses, rapes and pillaging.
“[The RSF] are trying to erase the history of the Sudanese people by attacking museums, antiquities, destroying land registers, civil status registers and judicial registers,” lists Burhane at the heart of a twelve-minute plea demanding their designation as a terrorist organization. A few hours earlier, his rival, RSF boss Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as “Hemeti,” published a video recorded from an unknown location – presumably in the Sudanese capital, the epicenter of the conflict. Without having been invited, he also addressed the annual UN congress.
Floating in the emblematic beige fatigues of the FSR, the man who occupied the second seat of the Sovereignty Council before the war and did not hide his presidential ambitions, appears weakened. He reads, in a monotone, a text proposing a vision in ten facets, based on relatively vague principles. Few Sudanese still believe in this warlord’s ability to organize free elections or guarantee a fair sharing of power and resources.
“Hemeti is losing the communications war,” summarizes political analyst Dallia Abdelmoniem. Building on their economic empire based on gold trafficking, the FSR have nevertheless invested millions of dollars to improve their international image, after their central role in the Darfur war. “The FSR are seeing the legitimacy that they had begun to acquire by claiming to support the revolution of December 2018 withdrawn,” continues Dallia Abdelmoniem. If someone who knows nothing about Sudan looks at the two speeches, they will see on one side a leader and on the other a rebel committing crimes against civilians. »
This pro-democracy activist has no illusions. If Burhane triumphs, his Islamist allies will return to the controls that they never really left, despite their theoretical ousting with the fall of Bashir. She nevertheless suggests temporarily lining up behind the army to emerge from the “nightmare” of the clashes which have thrown more than 5 million men, women and children onto the roads. “The longer the war lasts, the more ethnic divisions will deepen, which will only worsen the conflict,” warns Dallia Abdelmoniem.
The support of the international community is increasingly becoming the only way to guarantee victory for the army. Hemeti’s soldiers in fact conquered the bulk of Khartoum and the neighboring towns of Omdurman and Bahri. “Last night, RSF broke into the houses around my house and stole everything they could. We informed the FSR representatives stationed at the checkpoints. They accused bandits who allegedly wore their uniforms. What is certain is that the RSF continue to rob homes while the FAS bombings have not stopped since the start of the war,” testifies political science professor Bashir Elshariff, who took refuge in a eastern district of the capital.
The academic does not let himself be fooled by Burhane’s presence. “He lied, as usual,” says Bashir Elshariff. He spoke of the escape of Islamists wanted by the International Criminal Court, including Bashir. However, the latter manage operations from eastern and northern Sudan, areas under the command of the army. Finally, if Burhan really wants to stop the war, why isn’t it participating in the Jeddah talks? » The multiple truces announced by this initiative supervised by the United States and Saudi Arabia have successively failed.
For Fathelrahman Ibrahim, member of the coordination of the resistance committees in the south of Khartoum (revolutionary branches at the forefront of the humanitarian response since mid-April), this soft diplomacy must end. “We will lose Sudan whether Burhan or Hemeti wins the war. To avoid this scenario, the international community must stop maintaining romantic relations (sic) with them. These generals must be brought to the negotiating table by force and sign an effective peace. As a last resort, UN peacekeepers should be deployed,” suggests this student who has applied for asylum in France. And this, while both camps are increasing arrests, generally accompanied by acts of torture, particularly against activists opposed to the war. This Saturday, September 23, journalist Mohamed Ibrahim Alhag was added to the list of these arbitrary detentions.
Faced with chaos, the turning point hoped for by some after Burhane’s speech is not obvious. “Only a significant victory on the battlefield can make the difference in negotiations,” insists Cameron Hudson, consultant on Africa at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Burhane tried to delegitimize the FSR, just as Hemeti wants to delegitimize the FAS. Above all, the army chief refuses to allow his troops to be treated in the same way as the FSR by the mediators. But it is unlikely that this request will be accepted. »
On September 6, a first round of American sanctions mainly targeted the FSR, including Hemeti’s brother and right-hand man, Abdelrahim Dagalo. Washington would plan, as a second step, to freeze the assets of Islamist generals working within the army. The European Union is also working on its own sanctions, even if the essential consensus between the 27 member states is delaying their formalization.
From Cairo, Nairobi, Addis Ababa and even Kampala, Sudanese politicians and intellectuals are holding more meetings to build a broad civil coalition so as not to offer the combatants a monopoly on discussions planning the post-war. However, Sudanese researcher Jihad Mashamoun invites them to speed up this process. “Once assembled, the civil front must form a Parliament, then a government without waiting for the end of the war. This will remove the legitimacy to which both belligerents claim. These institutions will above all remove the excuses of the FSR who are supposedly fighting for democracy and those of the FAS and their Islamist allies who would like to restore stability,” underlines this expert.
Before his speech at the UN, Burhane, who is sometimes described as a puppet in the hands of those nostalgic for the dictatorship, had started a regional tour with the aim of obtaining support, and probably weapons. To everyone’s surprise, the putschist then took advantage of his trip across the Atlantic to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has been fighting against the Russian invader for a year and a half. Proof that the general, more accustomed to flirting with Moscow, is not a contradiction in terms.
His visit to the United Nations General Assembly also contrasts with his hostility towards the United Nations Integrated Mission to Assist the Transition in Sudan (Minuats). In June, Burhane declared its leader, Volker Perthes, persona non grata. This German diplomat finally resigned on September 13 after delivering his latest report to the UN Security Council and warning: “What started as a conflict between two military formations could turn into a full-blown civil war. »
