Thread by @Nmhali

#SudanCoup
When the intl community suggests “dialogue with the military”, I think they are missing one important difference between the Sudanese military & the norm in the rest of the world - with a few exceptions:
The ousted fascist islamist regime has fundamentally changed—->

<—the nature & hierarchy of the armed forces. 1989 coup planning took long time & meticulous preparations. They recruited officers to the NCP & radicalized their beliefs so that their loyalty is to the islamists ideology outweighs their loyalty to the country & their mission—>

<— the top generals are compromised beyond rehabilitation. Same generals became the Security Committee of Bashir regime & took over when he was ousted in 2019. Then they rebranded to Transitional Military Council #TMC amid the protests & sit-ins. They continued to quell descent—>

<—& crackdown on protesters resulting in many deaths in different states, including the military HQ massacre when the RSF & other security forces brutally dispersed the biggest sit-in in the history of Sudan. Not to mention the unlawful detentions torture & disappeared people—>

<— when the negotiations lead to the 2019 constitutional document, the TMC graduated to be the Sovereign Council amid protests (admittedly not so loud) but the council’s role was supposed to be “honorary” & the voices of objections were drowned. Burhan wasn’t as known as other—>

<—hardcore islamist generals, but at that point he was already responsible for atrocities committed under his command. Then other facts about #Burhan were revealed like his role as the mastermind & coordinator of Darfur genocide & a mentor for #Hemeti (I’ll get to #RSF later)—>

<—In the people’s eyes Burhan is a war criminal & at some point he has to face justice & so has the rest of the TMC.
One thing people often miss is what he did with the PDF hardcore mujahideen (NCP militia fought “rebels” & “infidels”—>

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_D…

<—mostly in the South & Blue Nile but in reality they were killing civilians & getting killed due to lack of proper training)
Unverifiable reports from military sources claimed Burhan (who was one of the few generals justifying the PDF existence) integrated them in the military—>

<— I believe he did because they were very vocal & nervous after Bashir ouster but at the time of the integration news they completely disappeared from the scene.
Also at that time he dismissed & retired hundreds of military officers (only high ranks were made public) anyway —>

<—he managed to appease them. The #PDF minions are armed & dangerous & I don’t think they would’ve settled for less than a military spot.
The armed forces were interconnected with the #NISS despite the existence of the military intelligence unit. It was part of a strategy to —>

<— to consolidate power in the hand of the few front row NCP fundamentalists.
My point is: this is no ordinary military, neither is the intelligence services. They were restructured & recreated to serve as a tool to keep the NCP in power, but the islamist always have a plan B—>

<— The NCP feigned disagreement & spawned multiple parties with big names in charge like Al-Turabi & Ghazi Salahuddin to prepare for a comeback if the regime can no longer survive. The kleptocrats entrusted the military with most of their stolen assets->

english.alarabiya.net/News/africa/20…

<-& Bashir’s security committee vowed to never return these assets to the state. Their mission is to hold the fort until the islamists return
This was one of the reasons for 25/10 #SudanCouo , the military leadership’s unwillingness to lose 250 companies->
aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/1…

<—& a big chunk of the economy. Meanwhile the military kept harassing the ministry of finance for salaries & expenditures. Just prior to the coup, the committee tasked with dismantling the ousted regime was looking into the military corruption dossier. That’s why its members—>

<—were detested by Burhan & Hemeti et al & after the coup they faced bogus criminal & national security charges. The islamists kleptocrats kept some of the assets under their own names & the committee started freezing, seizing & returning to the state.—>

reuters.com/article/us-sud…

<—Burhan & Hemeti were personally engaged in hindering the Empowerment Removal Committee’s work & encouraged the judiciary to overturn some of the its decisions. The fight was very public & got uglier in the week prior to #SudanCoup
The article was—>
20four.com/662290

<— when #Burhan ordered the units guarding the buildings seized by the committee to abandon post, signaling to the kleptocrats that they may take them back & it actually happened-at least for some- after #SudanCoup
So, is this an ordinary military?
—>

dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/ar…

<— if one understand how the military devolved, it’s easy to imagine how & why they committed atrocities/genocide & why they fought against our siblings in the south until the country was split. You will grasp how they kill civilians/kids in cold blood.—>
icc-cpi.int/darfur

<— this thread got longer than what I aimed for, I will tweet about the RSF separately
it’s important to lay everything out there so people can understand why the Sudanese are adamant about refusing dialogue with the junta.
PS. This is my personal opinion.

#KeepEyesOnSudan

<— You may agree with me or have a different opinion, so please leave a reply if you want to share your thoughts.
I am no expert, just an observer who lived most of her life under military rule.
I want to help people see the point of view of ordinary Sudanese.

#KeepEyesOnSudan