The 2021 Senegalese protests were a series of mass protests and rioting against the arrest of opposition leader

Ousmane Sonko Ousmane Sonko (born 12 october 1974) is a Senegalese politician. He is a former chief tax inspector in Senegal, and an advocate for reformation in the Senegalese tax system. Sonko was the youngest candidate to run in the 2019 presidential elect ...

over rape allegations which left 13 dead in

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

during early march. Protests occurred starting throughout

on 3 March, when hundreds gathered to protest the opposition leader's arrest. Thousands took to the streets over the next 3 days and internet was restricted to curb the protests.

Background

Since 2012

Macky Sall Macky Sall (, wo, Maki Sàll, fuc, 𞤃𞤢𞤳𞤭 𞤅𞤢𞤤‎, italic=no, Maki Sal; born 11 December 1961) is a Senegalese politician who has been President of Senegal since April 2012. He was re-elected President in the first round voti ...

has been president of Senegal. In December 2020 Sall suggested running for a third term in 2024 just six months after signing a law which abolished the post of Prime Minister of Senegal. The protests began after the opposition leader was arrested for allegations of rape of schoolgirls. He has denied any allegations and has claimed that President

is trying to arrest him. The opposition leader called for protests in support of the opposition and for the creation of an anti-government movement. The protests came under the slogan "Trop c'est trop", meaning "''Enough is Enough"''. Initial protests and public strikes began with anti-lockdown demonstrations in 5-13 January in

Pikine Pikine is a city in the Pikine Department of the Dakar Region of Senegal. Lying to the east of Dakar city centre, at the 2013 Census it had a population of 1,170,791. The department includes the villages of Yeumbeul, Thiaroye, Mbao, and Ke ...

Yoff Yoff ( wo, Yoof; french: Yoff) is a town (''commune d'arrondissement''), part of the city (''commune'') of Dakar, located in Senegal. It lies north of downtown Dakar and immediately north of Dakar Airport ( Dakar-Yoff-Léopold Sédar Senghor Inter ...

and

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital and largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar metropolitan area is estimated at 3.94 million in 2 ...

, leaving clashes with police, who fire

Tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ad ...

. The protests in the country turned violent on 8-10 February, when rioters clashed with police after they marched towards parliament after allegations of rape in

Protests

Noisy protests broke out in

and spread nation-wide as protests calling for opposition leader's release intensified on Wednesday, 3 March. After two days of protests and rioting against his arrest, thousands gathered at the Presidential office and clashed with

Riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police who act in the role of riot police in particular situations or they may be separate units organize ...

and security forces, who fired

canisters and

Rubber bullets Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Altho ...

to disperse growing anti-government protests. According to

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

live ammunition was used against protesters. Protests continued despite violence at the

University of Dakar Cheikh Anta Diop University (french: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheikh ...

on Friday, 5 March, in which 2-4 protesters were killed during the mass protest movement as protesters rolled stones at police striking

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s and firing

at protesters, who in return set up roadblocks and barricades in

. Demonstrations intensified the next day, with hundreds participating in rallies outside the prison

is in. During the protest the use of Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Telegram on cellular networks was disrupted.

Aftermath

In the aftermath of the unrest the government announced an inquiry. While the official government death toll remains at five, opposition members claimed thirteen died in the unrest. On March 8 lawyers announced Sonko would be released on bail with the condition that he cannot travel without the prior permission of a judge and must refrain from commenting to the public and media on the rape case.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Senegalese protests, 2021 March 2021 events in Africa Protests in Senegal 2021 riots 2021 protests 2021 in Senegal