al-Bashir Research Articles

Conflict and mediation in Sudan: The prospect of peace

ABSTRACT Omar Al-Bashir's thirty-year rule over Sudan ended in April 2019 with a military coup following a popular uprising. Subsequently, the army and civilian political forces agreed on an African Union-mediated transitional framework. However, the transitional process collapsed, leading to an all-out civil war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023. One year later, the mediation efforts by different actors have not yielded the expected results. As the war continues, the displacement of people and the destruction of infrastructure is increasing. The paper discusses the reasons for the lack of progress in the ongoing mediation and points out critical aspects regarding the prospect of peace in Sudan. It argues that while the need for a ceasefire is essential, it is important to acknowledge that the current conflict is the culmination of the overall failure of nation-building. To avoid past mistakes and break the cycle of violent conflict in Sudan, the ongoing mediation efforts should be able to pave the way for a long-term peacebuilding process to address the root causes of the protracted conflict and redefine the fundamentals of Sudan as a nation-state.

To Arrest or Not Arrest? South Africa, the International Criminal Court, and New Frameworks for Assessing Noncompliance

Abstract What are the consequences of prioritizing one obligation over another in a norm conflict on the norm that “loses”? How do these difficult choices affect how we understand the intent behind noncompliance with international law? This article examines South Africa’s decision not to arrest the then-President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, in the face of conflicting pressures from multiple international and domestic actors. South Africa’s conundrum over whether to arrest al-Bashir resulted in what we call “collateral noncompliance”: noncompliance with one obligation as a product of compliance with another. Understanding noncompliance like this highlights how seemingly bad-faith noncompliance can be a consequence of weighing competing obligations, rather than a deliberate attempt to shirk or undermine the nonchosen norm. It offers an alternative to perspectives that frame African states’ noncompliance with the International Criminal Court as inherently problematic, contributing instead to more critical, reflexive understandings of noncompliance and contestation as a natural part of norm development.

The Forcible Transfer of Children from Ukraine as Genocide

Abstract On 17 March 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber ii of the International Criminal Court (icc) issued secret warrants of arrest for President Putin and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the Office of the President of the Russian Federation, Ms. Lvova-Belova, for the commission of the war crime of forcible transfer of children. This article argues that there are “reasonable grounds to believe”, as the icc Statute requires for the arrest warrant stage, that both Putin and Lvova-Belova bear individual criminal responsibility for the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children as a crime of genocide; however, two types of considerations – general and particular – prevented the issuing of arrest warrants for genocide crimes. In Section 2, after a short historical-legal review of the formulation of Article 2(e) of the Genocide Convention (gc), the article notes that despite the significant number of cases of children being transferred and removed from their families that have taken place since the gc was adopted, the provision has been dormant and considered anachronistic and was rarely applied by an international or a local court. Section 3 proceeds with a legal analysis of the elements of the crime of the forced transfer of children and the genocidal special intent. Section 4 parses the case study of the forcible transfer of children from Ukraine as a crime of genocide. Section 5 analyses the litigation of the crime of genocide in the icc through the only case of genocide the court has addressed so far: the arrest warrant for Sudan’s former president, Omar al-Bashir. Section 6 concludes with a forecast that despite the sufficient legal basis for issuing arrest warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova, practical and political considerations would impede the icc from doing so.

The Mediation of Autocratic Regimes: How Local Officials Shaped Authoritarian Systems in Rwanda and Sudan

Abstract Local state officials impact authoritarian systems through the mediation they perform. Desrosiers and Mahé argue that these local functionaries fulfill a number of mediating functions, including translating and representing authoritarian systems at the local level. By enacting these two roles, however, local officials do not straightforwardly reproduce the system. Instead, their interpretations and choices fundamentally influence the imprint authoritarianism has on society, from how the regime is experienced at the local level to its groundings and resilience. They demonstrate this argument by looking at pre-genocide Rwanda and Sudan under President Omar al-Bashir.

Influence of Foreign Media Bias in Shaping Perceptions of the Sudan Armed Forces- Rapid Support Forces Conflict in Khartoum, Sudan

Intra-state conflicts in Africa in the post-Cold War period have been complex with far reaching consequences. The civil conflicts have at the same time influenced and shaped global and regional dynamics. In April 2019 the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) jointly overthrew the regime of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir. In January 2023 a power struggle ensued over control of the Sudan State between the SAF and the RSF leading to a military confrontation.The foreign media was at the forefront in reporting the civil conflict to the international audience. Foreign media reporting is a powerful agent in shaping conflict perceptions through framing, agenda-setting and the dissemination of information. This study examined the influence of foreign media bias in shaping perceptions of the SAF-RSF conflict in Khartoum, Sudan. Two theories namely; framing and agenda setting theories informed this study. The framing theory explained how foreign media framed the SAF-RSF conflict, how these frames were received and the influence in shaping perceptions of the conflict. The Agenda-setting theory on the other hand offered a valuable framework for analyzing media influence on the perception of the SAF-RSF conflict. This study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The study target population consisted of individuals who were exposed to foreign media reporting and had the potential to form perceptions about African conflicts. The research targeted the general population or residents residing within four cities in Kenya (Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nakuru). Using the Cochran formula, the total sample size was 384 respondents. The study also targeted international media houses located in or operating from Kenya. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). Secondary data was gathered from a range of sources including scholarly articles, books, reports, and online resources. The data was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics to outline and interpret the main features. The findings revealed that framing and agenda-setting and bias in foreign media reporting significantly influenced and shaped perceptions of the conflict between the SAF and RSF.

Turkiye – Sudan Relations in Post-Bashir Era

The aim of this study is to scrutinize the diplomatic relations between Turkiye and Sudan post the era of Omar al-Bashir. Historical relations between the Republic of Turkiye, established in 1923 as the successor to the Ottoman Empire, and Sudan have had a positive impact in contemporary times across political, economic, socio-cultural, and security domains. While the relations during the Republican era were relatively limited when Sudan gained independence from Britain, they saw a significant improvement with the administration of Omar al-Bashir and Hasan al-Turabi, who came to power in 1989. Following Turkiye's declaration of "Africa Year" in 2005, Sudan emerged as a prominent country in Ankara's Sub-Saharan Africa policy. Particularly, the African Opening Action Plan initiated in 1998 and the deepening of policies by AK Party governments strengthened relations with Sudan. However, following the overthrow of Omar al-Bashir in 2019, transitional periods and political crises in Sudan have adversely affected Turkiye – Sudan relations. This study will address these relations during this period, initially focusing on political, economic, security, and socio-cultural parameters. Subsequently, the study will examine the causes of the crisis in Sudan and the trajectory of the relations. Findings from the post-Bashir era indicate that despite challenges, the relations between the two countries have endured. Nevertheless, the escalation of internal disputes in Sudan into conflicts casts uncertainty on the future of these relations.

Conflict Resolution In Sudan And Its Impacts On The International Scale

Sudan has always been known for the hostilities that took place there, long before Sudan was divided into Sudan and South Sudan. Both internal and international conflicts involve several countries. After the separation of South Sudan, Sudan began to experience internal conflicts related to the struggle for state power in overthrowing President Omar al-Bashir. However, after the overthrow of the president, a new conflict emerged to seize power between the two camps that had previously collaborated in overthrowing the previous president. This study aims to explore how the current conflict resolution in Sudan and how it impacts on an international scale. Through exploratory qualitative research methods, this study presents primary and secondary data resulting from interviews and literature studies. This study provides information on the current Sudan conflict with its potential resolution as well as some impacts on a global scale.Keywords: Conflict Resolution, Current Sudan Conflict, Impact, International Scale.

Religion, Politics, and Society: The Role of Political Islam in the Sudanese Revolution of December 2018 and Its Aftermath

December 2018 marked a new direction in Sudan’s political landscape as thousands of people revolted against President Omar al-Bashir and the Islamist regime that had ruled the country since 1989. Under authoritarian rule, Sudan suffered from genocide, war crimes, human rights violations and economic stagnation. As a result, Sudanese opposition groups organised demonstrations in 2018 to protest repression and demand change. This revolution galvanised unprecedented support from a wide variety of socio-cultural groups across the country. Protestors together with the army succeeded in ousting President al-Bashir from power in April 2019, setting in motion a process for political change in Sudan. This article analyses the practices performed by protestors in 2018 and 2019 and examines the social-cultural, political and religious dimensions of the Sudanese revolution. It also explores how the revolution’s protagonists contested the role of political Islam and how its antagonists reaffirmed their Islamo-political ideology in counter-revolutionary activities. The discussion also includes a violent atmosphere of the current war, which erupted in April 2023.

The consequences of Sudan’s armed conflict on public health: a closer look at the devastating impact

The consequences of Sudan’s armed conflict on public health: a closer look at the devastating impact

Will the International Criminal Court (icc) Be Able to Secure the Arrest of Vladimir Putin When He Travels?

Abstract The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (icc) in March 2023 against Russian President Vladimir Putin for crimes committed in Ukraine is one of the most momentous cases taken up by the Court. As Putin is unlikely to be arrested in Russia, the only way that he may be arrested and surrendered to the Court is if he travels to another state, particularly one that is a member of the icc, which would then have obligations to arrest him. May thus, the case against Putin by the icc brings into focus, once again, the crucial need for cooperation with the Court by states around the world. This is because the icc needs states to arrest accused persons if it is to successfully prosecute perpetrators of human rights violations. This article employs the issues concerning the non-arrest of the then President of Sudan Omar Al-Bashir in multiple icc State parties as a lens through which to examine the issues of state cooperation. Thus, the cases of Al-Bashir and Putin have many parallels which are examined. Importantly, between 2009, when the first arrest warrant against him was issued, and 2016, Al-Bashir had already undertaken more than 75 trips to at least 22 states without being arrested. At least seven of those states had ratified the Rome Statute. This article, therefore, examines other cases that were brought by the icc against Malawi, Chad, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo (drc), South Africa, Djibouti, Uganda, and Jordan. The article examines what can be learnt overall for issues of state cooperation. The article also reviews a range of ways that the icc can go about fostering greater state cooperation, and what it can do to ensure greater compliance by states when they do not cooperate.

The critical state of children's health during the Sudan crisis

Sudan has been struggling to deal with a socioeconomic predicament that began in April, 2019, after widespread demonstrations against the governance strategies of the former head of state, Omar al-Bashir. As a result of these strategies, the health-care situation in Sudan was already in a state of decline before the 6 days of intense violence from April 15 to April 20, 2023, 1 Al JazeeraSudan fighting in its sixth day: here is a list of key events. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/20/sudan-fighting-enters-day-6-what-to-knowDate: April, 20, 2023 Date accessed: April 20, 2023 Google Scholar which only exacerbated the country's already dire humanitarian crisis. The UNHCR estimates that by June 12, 2023, approximately 1·43 million individuals had been internally displaced and that 467 195 individuals had emigrated from Sudan since April 15, 2023. The chaotic situation's disruption of the nation's fragile health-care system is likely to have a disproportionate effect on the more than 10 million Sudanese children in need of health-care assistance, particularly those who are malnourished or have other illnesses. 2 UNICEFEscalating violence in Sudan puts millions of children at risk. https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/escalating-violence-sudan-puts-millions-children-riskDate: April 20, 2023 Date accessed: April 20, 2023 Google Scholar The high prevalence in Sudan of malaria, hepatitis E, and dengue fever already contributes to the increased need for health-care assistance of the population. 3 Ismail Z Aborode AT Oyeyemi AA et al. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on viral hepatitis in Africa: challenges and way forward. Int J Health Plann Manage. 2022; 37: 547-552 Crossref PubMed Scopus (10) Google Scholar Medical facilities are experiencing challenges in meeting the demand for pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, even as they persist in providing care to individuals who sustained injuries during the current armed conflict or intercommunal altercations. 4 Soyemi TS Aborode AT Shortage of hospital bed capacity and overcrowding in emergency tertiary healthcare centers in Nigeria. Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2022; 82104675 PubMed Google Scholar

Surviving revolution and democratisation: the Sudan armed forces, state fragility and security competition

AbstractSudan has for decades been one of Africa's most fragmented polities. Yet arguably the single most consequential actor in its recent history is among the least well studied: the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). For most of post-independence statehood, Khartoum has been ruled by generals. This article places SAF in a longitudinal context of the expansion and contraction of state power and the functions of the coercive apparatus in these processes. It situates SAF in institutional logics, driven by historically contingent ideas about the nature of the polity, the role of the army within it and its likely partners and enemies. Doing so historicises the strategic calculus of SAF during the 2018–2019 December Revolution which mobilised millions but ended with a new coup in October 2021. I underscore how institutionalised rivalry between SAF and other security services has moulded patterns of regime change and consolidation: from Ja'afar Nimeiri and Omar Al-Bashir to Abdelfatah Al-Burhan today, anxieties over security competition and state fragility shape SAF's willingness to break with regimes it once dominated and its subsequent subversion of revolutionary change and democratisation.

تحليل الخطاب النقدي لتمثيل الذات والآخر في خطابات الرئيس السوداني المخلوع عمر البشير.

This study aims to explore how ousted Sudanese president, Omar Al-Bashir utilized political discourse to maintain his power and bolster dominance by manipulating his audiences’ attitudes, and beliefs with regard to the government and the opposition. It explores the former president’s use of the discursive ideological strategies in his political speeches to create an ‘in-group’ with favourable characteristics and an ‘out-group’ with negative characteristics. It investigated the impact of the popular uprising against him on his choice of different strategies employed by comparing the speeches that he delivered before the uprising with those that he rendered during the revolt. The study analysed ten speeches delivered in the period from November 6, 2016, to February 1, 2019. The five speeches that he delivered before the uprising were chosen randomly, while those that he gave during the uprising represented all the speeches that he made during that period. The study adopted a qualitative and quantitative approach to analyzing its data. The analysis is based on the identification and calculation of the discursive ideological strategies that Teun van Dijk introduced and discussed in the Ideological Discourse, 13-45; Ideology and Discourse Analysis,115-140; and Discourse and Power, 138-153 The results of the study showed that Al-Bashir used 21 discursive strategies to portray his in-group in a positive manner and to represent the opposition in a negative way. It showed that he used the strategies of mitigation, hyperbole, positive self-presentation, actor description, metaphor, negative-other presentation, negative lexicalization, victimization, authority, national self –glorification, counterfactuals, denial, warning, generalization, evidentiality, polarization, apparent honesty move, presupposition, negative comparison, irony, and telling story. It also demonstrated that the former president made changes to his choice of strategy types before and during the revolt to pacify the protesters and to avoid his government’s failure, in addition to political and economic crises.

Women, Revolution, and Backlash: Igniting Feminist Mobilization in Sudan

Women were at the forefront of the popular uprising that overthrew Sudan’s dictator, Omar al-Bashir, in 2019 (Al-Nagar and Tønnessen 2021). In the aftermath of the uprising, different forms of feminist mobilization emerged. Based on interviews conducted in Sudan in early 2022, we argue that this feminist mobilization was sparked by the backlash facing women during and after what is popularly known as the “December revolution.”1

СУДАНСКИЙ ТРАНЗИТ 2019-2022: ОТ ДИКТАТУРЫ АЛЬ-БАШИРА К ДИКТАТУРЕ АЛЬ-БУРХАНА?

On April 11, 2019, the army forced the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir in Sudan. The reason for that was the incessant many months of people’s uprisings. The resignation of al-Bashir did not satisfy the demonstrators and they began to demand the dismantling of the entire regime. In response, the army elite created the Transitional Military Council (TMC) to govern the country and tried to pacify the protesters by force. Under strong pressure from the international community and the Sudanese street, the army compromised with the civilian opposition. In Sudan, a transitional period to democratic rule was proclaimed and a civil-military Sovereign Council was established to replace the TMC. A transitional government headed by Abdullah Hamdok was soon formed. The country began to take measures for improving the economy and the socio-political system. However, the reforms of the Transitional Government threatened to undermine the economic and political position of the military in Sudan. On October 25, 2021, the head of the Sovereign Council, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, carried out a coup d’état, removing civilian politicians from power. The coup was condemned by leading Western countries, which froze their aid programs to Sudan. In Khartoum and other major cities of Sudan, a mass protest movement has again unfolded under the slogan “No to negotiations, compromise and partnership with the army”

The political deduction and building political security In Sudan post of 2019


 
 
 
 The political deduction in political security issues has become one of the topics that related with the attention of researchers and specialists. On the philosophical level, the deduction based on a certain reason to be as the basis for proving a specific issue that cannot be tackled by the existence of contradictions between two extremes - paradigm (Security and Instability). So that, the future of political security in Sudan is still instability, although the international community's ability to impose their Comprehensive Peace Agreement since February 2005, and according to the requirements of what included in the clauses of the agreement to complete the procurement of democratic transition period, as for the Sudanese opposition forces and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement which are represented the real partners of power. So, the ability of the National Congress Party at that time could have power to consolidate its inclusiveness as a dominant political party.
 From the another hand, the possibilities to infer the dimensions of political security in Sudan are ready to restore the army’s control over the political life, but with the need to maintain the settlement of critical political issues according to a new criteria that take into account the demands of civil forces; However, the civilian leadership was still inactive by as a result of internal divisions and rivalries within, so that the local, regional and international pressures remain to be the only source of strength to achieve a kind of consensus and satisfaction to overcome the critical period and accomplish what can be achieved for the benefit of the political security for Sudan, at the present and future alike. Finally, the absence of mechanisms for managing the divergent interests between civil and military leaders may lead to an unstable civil-military alliance, and they concern about losing of the whole absolute privileges and powers that they enjoyed during the past three decades for the rule of former President Omar al-Bashir, leaving the civilian leadership in 2019 to be as a drastically situation in its inability to form a united front that pushed towards neutralizing the military’s authority or resorting to confront a new period as a returning of violence as what happened in the past. As for the multiplicity of factors affecting on the political security crisis in Sudan, it meant that there is no real solution to subsequent crises in the future, so that the possibility of shifting towards civilian rule remains the only way to manage differences. And the differences between civilians and military alike might erupted at any reason or incentive.
 
 
 

Normalization of Sudanese and Israeli Relations: From Hostility to Pragmatic Conciliation

This article investigates the elements of continuity and rupture in the relations between Sudan and Israel from the time of Sudan’s independence until the end of Omar al-Bashir's rule in order to better understand the recent normalization of ties between these two countries. Through process tracing, the study examines, first, the period before independence when Sudan established contacts with Israel, followed by the Abboud regime that severed ties, and later the rule of Nimeiry when relations continued implicitly. The article explains the reasons for the tensions in the relationship between Sudan and Israel after Islamists came to power in 1989 as well as the defining features of the post-Bashir period. Although the so-called Sudan’s normalization of relations with Israel that started after Bashir was ousted from power in April 2019 is viewed as a dramatic change in Sudan’s foreign policy by many analysts, this study argues that to the contrary, the recent developments actually point to the continuities.

YURISDIKSI INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT (ICC) DALAM PENEGAKAN PELANGGARAN HAK ASASI MANUSIA BERAT OLEH OMAR HASSAN AL-BASHIR DI DARFUR, SUDAN

The ICC is independent court that prosecutes serious crimes under article 5 Rome Statue and has jurisdiction of the State Parties. Omar Al-Bashir is alleged of comitting human rights violations in Sudan’s Darfur. However, the problem is that Sudan is not a state party of Rome Statue 1998. The purpose of this research is to find out does the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate and adjudicate human rights violations by Omar Al-Bashir in Darfur, Sudan. This research is prescriptive normative legal research. Type Legal materials include primary and secondary legal materials. The technique of collecting legal materials used is literature study and through research instrument. The results showed that the ICC as an international judicial institution has jurisdiction to investigate and adjudicate human rights violations by Omar Al-Bashir that occurred in Darfur, Sudan. However, Omar Al-Bashir’s status as head of state with immunity, the weak authority of the ICC in carrying out the arrest of Omar Hassan Al-Bashir, and the lack of cooperation between Sudan and state parties in carrying out the arrest of Omar Hassan Al-Bashir hampered the judicial process. The ICC has conducted an investigation, issued a warrant for arrest of Omar Hassan Al-Bashir and cooperated with Sudan so that Sudan agreed to hand Omar Hassan Al-Bashir over to the ICC for trial. The jurisdiction ICC to prosecute Omar Al-Bashir shows that perpetrators of serious human rights violations can still be tried wherever he is regardless their impunity. In addition, international cooperation is necessary in investigation and prosecution of crimes for the smooth of the judicial process.

Sudan after Omar al-Bashir: A territory of instability

Sudan has a long history of civil wars and conflicts, much of which occurred during the 30-year (1989-2019) rule of Omar al-Bashir. The crisis in the Arab world, which came to be known as the “Arab Spring” and manifested itself in the early 2010s in major political upheavals in North Africa, did not spare Sudan, which has experienced several waves of popular protests over the past decade. The political situation in this country has noticeably worsened due to the loss of most of the oil fields as a result of the division of Sudan in 2011 into two states - the Republic of Sudan (RS) and the Republic of South Sudan (RSS). While mutinies by soldiers and officers were a common occurrence in the RS, it was the mass protests in late 2018 and early 2019, organized by the civil opposition and dubbed the “December Revolution” that provoked the military coup in 2019, which resulted in the overthrow of the long-lived president. However, the establishment of a transitional military-civilian government did not resolve the numerous contradictions in Sudanese society - between the army and civil society, individual security agencies, the ruling coalition and the leaders of the rebel movements, with whom a peace agreement was signed. Political instability was exacerbated by economic problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, and on October 25, 2021, another military coup took place, which, however, was not accompanied by regime transformation or significant changes in the composition of the ruling group, but allowed the military to extend the transition period and delay the transfer of supreme power in Sudan to civilians. Meanwhile, the intensity of military and political contacts between the Russian Federation and Sudan created a solid foundation for the expansion of bilateral relations, which continued to develop after the ouster of Omar al-Bashir.

Prezydent przed Trybunałem? Analiza skutków prawnych wydania przez Międzynarodowy Trybunał Karny nakazu aresztowania Omara al-Bashira i Muammara al-Kaddafiego

One of the most frightening aspects of the crime of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity is not so much their scale as their relationship with the sovereign power of the state, which either condone, or even participate in their making. It happens when the theoretically unlimited sovereign state power, which is connected with a monopoly on the use of coercive measures, begins to be used against its own citizens. Because of such a misuse of the state functions in the second half of the 20th century international law began to be treated as an element of protection of innocent people against the unpredictable sovereign state. Providing such a protection is enshrined in the international conventions, and in the activities of various international bodies, including in particular the Security Council of the United Nations. But so far there has not been found in the international law an ideal way to solve the conflict between the need to protect fundamental individual rights and the respect of sovereignty of the state. Creation by an international treaty of the International Criminal Court can be described as a major step on the way to the final determination of the relationship between human rights and state sovereignty. Hence, the process of its creation and first years of operation was marked by a dispute between the defenders of those values. In particular this is reflected in a controversy that caused the issuing by the Court of the arrest warrant for the Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, suspected of committing on the territory of Darfur war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. One of the key issues emerging in connection with the Arrest Warrant issued for the head of state is a way to determine the mutual relationship between the obligations of states towards the international court, appointed for the purpose to prevent the gravest international crimes remaining unpunished, and the norms of international law obligating respect for the state sovereignty, by ensuring the immunity of his head is being observed. This article is an attempt to analyze this relationship, regarding the provisions of the Statute of the International Criminal Court, the wording of Security Council Resolution 1593, refering to the Court situation in Darfur and the Security Council Resolution 1970 refering to the Court situation in Libya, and also appropriate rules of customary international law and decisions of international courts.