In June 2024, the Direct Action association published an appeal for
financial assistance for anarchists from war-torn Sudan. Thanks to themoney collected, several of them were eventually able to leave the
country. We bring you an update on the solidarity appeal, which is based
on information from the French union CNT-AIT and an interview with one
of the Sudanese anarchists. ---- Material aid to war victims ----
According to a contact from the CNT-AIT France union in Sudan, the
situation is as follows: ---- "We managed to provide refuge to six
people. They are now safe in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya. A few of us are
still in Sudan. We will coordinate so that we can continue our fight for
freedom from abroad (because the situation here is too dangerous). You
have helped us a lot, you have saved the lives of our comrades in very
dangerous areas. We hope that your support will not cease. We suffer
every day, but my loyalty to anarchism and its ideas continues to grow.
Long live solidarity!"
The funds were also used to distribute food, blankets, hygiene items
(pads, soaps, toothpastes), baby milk and medicines. In total, the
solidarity campaign, organized by the French CNT-AIT, has raised more
than 7,000 euros so far, with approximately 75 people from almost all
continents (mainly from Europe and the USA) contributing. The vast
majority of the amount raised went to friends in Sudan and a smaller
part to various solidarity collectives supporting people migrating from
Sudan to Europe.
The solidarity campaign continues and it is still possible to contribute
financially via PayPal https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/cntait1. More
details on how to get involved can be found in the original article
here: https://www.priamaakcia.sk/Vyzva-na-pomoc-sudanskym....
Anarchist movement in Sudan
We discussed the geopolitical situation in more detail in the first
article, now we would like to say something about the activities of our
friends in Sudan. Here are some thematic excerpts from an interview
between one of the Sudanese anarchists and the French CNT-AIT union
(https://cnt-ait.info/2024/08/17/interview-sudan) from June and July 2024.
Anarchist ideas in Sudan
"... Anarchist movements in Africa are not widespread. As for Sudan,
there has not been any anarchist organization or group here so far.
Although most of Sudan is governed in a complex way, authoritarian ideas
prevail in the states, tribes, and even in the military and religious
system. Therefore, the social movement against the regime itself is
complex. We have acquired revolutionary awareness and knowledge of
anarchism thanks to our activities and self-education about social
movements in the world. The injustice we feel has contributed mainly to
the acceptance of anarchist ideas. ..."
The Left and the struggle for power
"Socialist ideas present in Sudanese directly or indirectly contribute
to supporting and consolidating power. For example, these are Marxist
communist ideas or the ideas of neoliberal armed movements[guerrilla
groups other than RSF and SAF, note]and their constant efforts to gain
positions in the state, and even to destroy the social movement."
The position of women
"Our group was originally made up of students, since it was students who
were at the forefront of the movement for social change and the December
revolution. Our groups, which were established in several universities
in different states of Sudan, contributed to the creation of other
groups in the cities and villages where our friends lived.
Women played a fundamental role in this process. They make up more than
60 percent of the total composition of our groups."
Activities, Regime Response and Further Organizing
"One of the most important activities we carried out in 2017 and 2018
was to call on young people and students to overthrow the regime, break
the barrier of fear and unite to overthrow Bashir's dictatorial
government. We organized activities against the regime in universities
and seminaries and started organizing spontaneous marches that united
all the people of Sudan. In the process, the comrades of Abu Al-Rish,
Qusay and Mudawi lost their lives. After the fall of the regime of Omar
al-Bashir, we called for the continuation of the struggle to overthrow
the military regime in Sudan. The abdication of General Ibn Auf came
quickly due to enormous pressure from the people. We faced brutal
repression, arrests, floggings, torture and death threats.
However, this did not make us give up our goal and fight against the
people in power. We called for a sit-in in front of the General army
headquarters. Since April 6, 2019, we have been settled around the
headquarters in Al Qyada Square in Khartoum. It was a place of
resistance, exchange of views and gathering - akin to a small
self-governing community, in which anarchist ideas were clearly present.
It was a living example of self-government in Sudan, in which millions
of people from all Sudanese states participated. The dictatorial power
perceived this as a threat and on June 3, 2019, dispersed the gathering
with a heinous massacre, which was enabled and supported by the
political elite. During the massacre, more than 700 unarmed civilian
revolutionaries were murdered and thrown into the Nile. Many of those
who survived and saw the heinous killings, beatings and humiliation
still suffer from psychological problems to this day.
But this did not break us, rather it confirmed how important it was to
bring down this brutal, murderous regime. So we began to form resistance
committees in the neighborhoods, to unite revolutionary-minded people
into organized groups and to unite together. Brutality, killing and
violent repression became a permanent part of all demonstrations. We
knew the risk that we might pay with our lives for our activities, which
were aimed at social revolution."
Concrete assistance
"At the beginning of the war, we distributed food in shelters in
Dongola, Atbara and Khartoum in the Karari district. Medicines are
distributed according to the needs of the displaced people in the
shelters in cooperation with the Al-Hawadith street initiative and
sometimes with the Sudanese Red Crescent.
As for baby milk and sanitary pads, we took care of their inventory and
distributed them in eight centers in Al-Damer and Atbara and in five
centers in Dongola. We are currently distributing them in the Al-Dabba
area, where thousands of displaced people fleeing El-Fasher have arrived.
In our anarchist group, we have several health workers active in
providing health needs. We mostly distribute them through our group and
we also cooperate with anyone who contributes to solving the
humanitarian crisis in Sudan, with other initiatives and sometimes with
organizations. At the beginning of the war in Sudan, I and encouraged
our group members to volunteer in hospitals and rescue centers in the
areas closest to them."
We want an end to the war
"We do not support any of the parties involved in the war and we want it
to end immediately.
We strongly condemn the massacres committed by the rapid support units
and armed forces against innocent people and we do not support either
side. We want an end to the war and the establishment of peace."
Related texts:
https://www.priamaakcia.sk/Vyzva-na-pomoc-sudanskym...
https://cnt-ait.info/.../2025/02/Espoir-AL-Amal-2025-en.pdf
https://cnt-ait.info/2022/01/14/sudan-lessons
https://cnt-ait.info/2024/08/20/sudan-continue/
https://www.facebook.com/Zvaz.Priama.akcia/posts/pfbid06ouBcCLHyVALsimTLGpVJngwEg3pA42W7wQAu65KqzLmqr47o3zN8d2yCyXs4UXyl
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