The Sudanese resistance committees ( ar, لجان المقاومة) or neighbourhood committees are informal, grassroots neighbourhood networks of Sudanese residents that started organising
civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
campaigns against the government of
Omar al-Bashir in 2013
and became a major organised network playing a key role during the
Sudanese Revolution
The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudane ...
.
Creation
In 2013,
civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...
in protest against the reduction of fuel and gas subsidies during the government of
Omar al-Bashir was dealt with by security forces with lethal force, killing 200 protestors and detaining another 200. In response, resistance committees were created groups of typically three to five friends, to organise small-scale civil disobedience activities. The committees developed a loose network during 2013–2016.
In late 2016, the committees organised a 3-day civil disobedience campaign and doctors and pharmacists went on strike over medical costs and "the deteriorating medical environment". This motivated the resistance committees to better organise in 2017 at a national level and to develop their plans for actions.
The resistance committees ran a graffiti campaign in 2017 and distributed 20,000 pamphlets regarding issues including water access and government land seizures.
Structure
By May 2019, the Sudanese resistance committees had an elected council at the national level and branches in "many towns" in Sudan.
In July 2019, the overall structure remained a "fluid, decentralised network of activists" that was resistant against
Sudanese intelligence agencies.
The autonomy of local residential committees and coordination between geographically neighbouring areas were factors in the continued effectiveness of the committees during an Internet blackout that followed the 3 June
Khartoum massacre
The Khartoum massacre occurred on 3 June 2019, when the armed forces of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council, headed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the immediate successor organisation to the Janjaweed militia, used heavy gunfire and ...
.
Demographic profile
Individuals interviewed by the ''
Middle East Eye
Middle East Eye (MEE) is a London-based news website covering events in the Middle East and North Africa. MEE describes itself as an "independently funded online news organization that was founded in April 2014." MEE seeks to be the primary porta ...
'' argue that the resistance committees were popular among young Sudanese, who felt unrepresented by formal political opposition groups. The committees gave youth "the momentum and inspiration to be part of the revolution and to own their own fate and future."
2018–19 Sudanese protests
In December 2018, there were 30 active resistance committees in Khartoum. As the
2018–19 Sudanese protests
The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudane ...
began, inactive groups reactivated and rejoined the network. The network collected paper, tyres and spray cans for their civil disobedience actions.
The Sudanese resistance committees signed
the January 2019 Declaration of
Freedom and Change Charter (FFC),
which called for president
Omar al-Bashir to be removed from power.
During the protests, the resistance committees loosely coordinated with the
Sudanese Professionals Association
The Sudanese Professionals' Association (SPA; ar, تجمع المهنيين السودانيين) is an umbrella association of 17 different Sudanese trade unions. The organisation started forming in October 2012, though was not officially regi ...
(SPA) via online
social networking service
A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...
s, while retaining their autonomy.
''
Middle East Eye
Middle East Eye (MEE) is a London-based news website covering events in the Middle East and North Africa. MEE describes itself as an "independently funded online news organization that was founded in April 2014." MEE seeks to be the primary porta ...
'' described the resistance committees as having been "crucial to
hesuccess"
of massive street protests held on 30 June 2019. The 30 June marches, the first major marches since the 3 June
Khartoum massacre
The Khartoum massacre occurred on 3 June 2019, when the armed forces of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council, headed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the immediate successor organisation to the Janjaweed militia, used heavy gunfire and ...
, aimed, as had many earlier protests, to again put pressure on the
Transitional Military Council (TMC) to transfer power to a civilian authority.
Earlier in June, the TMC attributed the resistance committees' blocking of roads as the responsibility of the FFC, and argued that the actions were "against the law and norms and
onstituteda full crime against the citizens of violating their freedoms and preventing them from practicing their normal life."
Some of the resistance committees were unsatisfied with the
5 July verbal deal agreed between the FFC and the TMC. Waleed Omar of one of the
Omdurman
Omdurman (standard ar, أم درمان ''Umm Durmān'') is a city in Sudan. It is the most populated city in the country, and thus also in the State of Khartoum. Omdurman lies on the west bank of the River Nile, opposite and northwest of the ...
resistance committees stated that the committees "
adn'tbeen consulted and
adn'tbeen represented". He said that the committees were preparing new protests.
An Ayin media group political analyst interviewed by ''Middle East Eye'' described the resistance committees as "one of the main players in the political dynamics of Sudan after the revolution" and that the other key groups were "trying to avoid
he resistance committees'radical positions towards the revolution."
Assassinations
According to activists interviewed by
Radio Dabanga
Radio Dabanga (Arabic: راديو دبنقا) is a shortwave radio station, TV and online news magazine, that serves Sudan with daily reports on the latest political, economic and social information, including health issues and social programs ...
, Ammar El Dirdeiri of a Fatah district resistance committee and three other leading members of resistance committees were deliberately killed by the
Rapid Support Forces
, image = Rapid Support Forces emblem.png
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, caption = RSF Seal
, start_date = August 2013
, dates =
, country =
, allegiance =
, branch =
, command_structure = Sudanese Armed Forces
, type = Paramilitary
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and the
General Intelligence Service during the 30 June 2019 protest marches.
October 2021 Sudanese coup d'état
Following the 25
October 2021 Sudanese coup d'état
October is the tenth month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars and the sixth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. The eighth month in the old Roman calendar#Legendary 10 month calendar, calendar of Romul ...
, the resistance committees were active in organising protests, including the 17 November nationwide protests in which security forces shot dead 15 protestors.
April 2023 RSF–SAF conflict
During the
2023 Sudan conflict
An armed conflict between rival factions of the military government of Sudan began on 15 April 2023, when clashes broke out in cities, with the fighting concentrated around the capital city of Khartoum and the Darfur region. As of 27 May, at le ...
between the
Rapid Support Forces
, image = Rapid Support Forces emblem.png
, image_size =
, caption = RSF Seal
, start_date = August 2013
, dates =
, country =
, allegiance =
, branch =
, command_structure = Sudanese Armed Forces
, type = Paramilitary
, role =
, ...
and the
Sudanese Armed Forces
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ar, القوات المسلحة السودانية, Al-Quwwat al-Musallaha as-Sudaniyah) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. In 2011, IISS estimated the regular forces' numbers at personnel, whil ...
, the resistance committees organised logistics support for medical services. The resistance committees coordinated the creation of doctors', nurses' and engineers' committees, helped to provide fuel, electrical supplies and doctors to hospitals, and helped in evacuating civilians from areas of RSF–SAF fighting.
Resistance committee members were active politically in encouraging local communities to avoid siding with either the RSF or the SAF. Resistance committee members sprayed anti-war messages on walls. Hamid Murtada, a resistance committee member, described the resistance committees as having "an important role in raising awareness to their constituencies and in supporting initiatives that
ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames.
Notable p ...
end the war immediately".
In addition to the resistance committees, many volunteers have contributed actively to support citizens, with hundreds of young men and women using social media to coordinate transport to evacuate people, the sharing of food and to provide medicine to patients. Despite frequent internet outages,
mobile apps
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on de ...
have been used or specifically developed to connect people in need.
See also
*
Local Coordination Committees of Syria
The Local Coordination Committees of Syria ( ar, لجان التنسيق المحلية في سوريا: ''LCCSyria'' or ''LCCs'') are a network of local groups that organise and report on protests as part of the Syrian uprising. In June 2011, t ...
*
Neighbourhood Youth Alliance of Iran
The Neighbourhood Youth Alliance of Iran ( fa, اتحاد جوانان محلات ایران, , ') or United Youth of Iran is an alliance of 30 local grassroots groups of Iranian youth created during the Mahsa Amini protests in late 2022. The Al ...
References
External links
*
{{Sudanese Revolution
Resistance committees
Sudanese democracy movements
Grassroots organizations