
“Five years after the fall of the regime and a year after the war… our people still adhere to the goals of the December Revolution and are determined to end the war and achieve peace and democratic civilian rule.”
The masses of the Sudanese people;
With the advent of the month of April, time takes us back to significant historical moments, as we remember the thirty-ninth anniversary of the victory of the March/April 1985 Revolution, which overthrew the May dictatorship, and was a source of inspiration for our people who, thirty-four years after it, fought on the morning of the sixth of April 2019, the tour. The comma in #ثورة_ديسمبر_المجيدة . When the masses of revolutionaries marched towards the General Command and overthrew the totalitarian salvation regime on April 11, 2019, five years ago today. In the same month – and the unfortunate irony – we mark the one-year anniversary of the outbreak of the April 15, 2023 war, the disaster sparked by the remnants of the former regime as punishment for our people for overthrowing them, and in a desperate attempt to regain power. However, a year after the disaster, our people stand more determined to turn this ordeal into an opportunity to end totalitarianism and establish sustainable democratic civil rule.
We, in the #الحُرية_والتغيير Forces, have mercy on all the martyrs, both civilians and military personnel, and wish a speedy recovery for the injured and injured. We hope for the safe return of the displaced and refugees to their homes and residences after this war ends, hoping that This will happen very soon. We also renew our strong condemnation of all violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the parties to the conflict, especially what was stated in the reports of the Committee of Experts #الأمم_المتحدة and the High Commissioner for Human Rights. We also condemn the crimes of #قوات_الدعم_السريع in #ولاية_الجزيرة , and the continuation of Violence in #دارفور and #كردفان , and the conflict expanded to Sennar State and the borders of #القضارف State. We also condemn the continued aerial bombardments by #القوات_المسلحة Sudan and the illegal arrests, and we affirm our position rejecting all violations, regardless of their source. We affirm our firm position on the necessity of holding all perpetrators of violations and crimes accountable, and we stress that there is no reconciliation with them, and that our position was and will remain biased. For the victims and reject all criminal patterns.
Our steadfast people;
In the first year of this war, Sudan became the largest humanitarian disaster in the world. Here we are witnessing a humanitarian tragedy, where at least 16 thousand civilians were killed, and 10 million were forced to flee and seek refuge, in search of safety away from war. And what is most painful is that there are 17 million facing danger. Loss of food security, and 24 million – that is, almost half of the population – are in dire need of urgent humanitarian aid. As for children, the flowers of life, they suffer in particular, as 250,000 children face the risk of starvation, and there are 19 million children outside school walls, deprived of their right to education. 70% of hospitals have stopped working, which makes the health situation more difficult, not to mention the occupation of health facilities and the killing of health personnel. We also condemn the use of basic services such as electricity, water and communications as a tool of conflict, which has increased the suffering of citizens, especially with regard to bank transfers necessary to purchase Medicine and food.
Civil democratic forces in general and humanitarian actors, including emergency rooms and Sufi orders ( #التكايا in various regions of Sudan, responded in an unprecedented manner of social solidarity. During their work, they faced challenges and obstacles in their movements, various types of security and intelligence restrictions, reaching some stages of complete obstruction and arrest. And forced disappearance, while the civil democratic forces contributed to establishing a mechanism for humanitarian aid and direct movements with regional and international parties to alert and provide insight into the humanitarian situation and the necessity of regional and international interaction with the humanitarian catastrophe and work to confront and stop it and save the lives of millions of Sudanese men and women.
We in the Forces of Freedom and Change stress the importance of a greater and faster international response to the humanitarian crisis, and we demand that the warring parties be obligated to deal with humanitarian affairs in isolation from the conflict, and to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches immediately and urgently to all those in need. We also thank the brotherly and friendly countries and neighboring countries that have borne the brunt of the waves of refugees. It provided protection and safety to those fleeing the war, and in this context we extend all thanks and appreciation to all those countries, leaders, governments and peoples for their generosity and support, and we hope to grant the Sudanese an exceptional status in which the procedures related to residency are eased and access to basic services is facilitated.
We call for intensifying international pressure to stop the war and start a comprehensive political process that includes the civilian democratic forces that reject the war and believe in the democratic civil transition, provided that this does not include the dissolved National Congress Party and the Islamic Movement and their affiliated fronts to achieve the democratic transition and chart a better future for Sudan.
The Forces of Freedom and Change praise the #باريس conference on humanitarian issues that was launched today, and we see it as an important step towards strengthening humanitarian and political efforts, and we look forward to a greater role from the international community, especially the UN Security Council, the African Peace and Security Council, and the IGAD Organization, as well as the parties facilitating the Jeddah negotiations and neighboring countries. And friendly countries, to provide practical and tangible interventions that contribute to ending the war and achieving the aspirations of the Sudanese people for freedom, peace and justice. In this, through our diplomatic movements with neighboring countries and the international community, we have succeeded in strengthening the position and point of view of the Sudanese on ways to end the war and complete the goals of the revolution for the world and the region, and that they must Supporting efforts aimed at stopping the war, ending the conflict, establishing a democratic civil transition, dismantling the empowerment of the former regime, ensuring that it does not return, handing over those wanted to international justice, and prosecuting the perpetrators of war crimes.
Looking at the book on the losses of the April 2023 war shows that Sudan was exposed to unprecedented destruction of infrastructure, productivity, services, and urban areas, especially in the capital, where the spark of the war began. Direct and actual losses exceeded billions of dollars, threatening the return of investments and attracting them in the future. The economy declined by 42%, which reflects the extent of the damage to the infrastructure and production capacity of the country. Vital sectors were greatly affected; The agricultural sector declined by 65%, the industrial sector by 75%, and the services sector by 70%. We have seen GDP losses of 25% in just one year. The cost of reconstruction is estimated at $150 billion, a figure that reflects the depth of the destruction and the urgent need for international support to rebuild #السودان .
The entire economy has turned into a war economy, with the state shirking its basic responsibilities and imposing exorbitant fees for basic services. The government lost most of its revenues and became heavily dependent on taxes. As the war continued, state institutions were unable to collect sufficient revenues, as they lost more than 80% of their revenues. The available resources were allocated to war spending, which led to the plundering of resources and wealth and the establishment of networks of corrupt interests.
The war caused massive damage to the business and private sector, and the loss of millions of jobs, which worsened economic conditions and placed the brunt on Sudanese abroad. Despite this, the Sudanese received limited aid due to the security conditions and weak distribution mechanisms, which negatively affected agricultural production and increased human suffering. And the economic risks. All of this confirms that the economic conditions resulting from the war require international pressure to stop hostilities, provide urgent aid, secure humanitarian aid workers, prepare reconstruction plans and projects to enable the displaced and refugees to return and resume their lives, and attract the necessary investments to rebuild what was destroyed by the war.
Our victorious people;
The picture has become clearer at the political level, one year after the war, compared to the period that preceded and followed it after its outbreak, by exploiting and distorting the warnings that preceded its outbreak of the consequences of blocking the framework agreement, as it pushes the *Armed Forces and Rapid Support* to resolve their differences by resorting to the arena of armed confrontation between them, and those were removed. The warnings were taken from their context and distorted as if they were threatening war instead of their purpose of warning against it to be used as evidence to prove the accusation against the civil democratic forces of igniting the war, and the reality today clearly shows that those who ignited it yesterday are the ones keen and insisting on its continuation in various ways and means today by obstructing and cutting off all attempts to stop it, in The absurdity of the scene reached its peak with the issuance of arrest warrants to those calling for and working to stop the war, at a time when those escaping from prisons enjoyed complete freedom and some of them participated in efforts to fan the flames of war!!!
It is no longer possible to hide and deny the facts. The same people who concealed the identity of their ill-fated coup on June 30, 1989 and denied it had any partisan or political character. They competed a decade later to show loyalty to the political party that carried the coup, “that I should go to the palace as president and take me to prison as a prisoner,” are repeating the same thing today after I showed it. The facts every day are that it is the war of the exterminated regime, which it threatened and promised before in the event of signing #الاتفاق_الاطاري , so whoever is not convinced by his ears while listening to their threats before the war, then he should believe his eyes as he watches the return of the members of the exterminated regime to the forefront again politically, economically, medially, and even diplomatically by returning to the same alliances. The exterminated regime with Iran and its network of alliances are closely linked to terrorism and the destabilization of regional and international stability. Whoever is not helped by all these facts should look twice at the lists of instigators and those carrying out the arrests and examine the biography and path of those who are being arbitrarily arrested from members of the Freedom and Change Forces, the democratic and civil forces, the resistance committees, the emergency rooms, and the male and female defenders. About rights against violations, which is evidence that confirms that the real battle is with the civil democratic forces to destroy the civil democratic transition project, abort the glorious December revolution, and restore the former regime to power again.
The civil democratic forces, led by the Forces of Freedom and Change, have been subjected to systematic targeting since the overthrow of the former regime on April 11, 2019. Despite our acknowledgment of the mistakes that accompanied the transitional period, we still adhere to the principles of the revolution and its goals in achieving democratic civil rule. We reject war as a means and demand that every person be held accountable and punished. Whoever is proven to be involved in violations and abuses, and we stress the need to stop the war immediately and begin serious negotiations to end the crisis and achieve peace and stability.
During a year of war, the civil democratic forces faced many challenges, but they withstood all attempts at betrayal and criminalization, and their efforts resulted in the establishment of #تنسيقية_القوى_الديمقراطية_المدنية and #تقدم in October 2023 AD, which is an important step towards building a civil democratic front that works to lay the foundations for ending the war and achieving… Peace and the establishment of democratic civil rule. These efforts confirm the determination of the Sudanese people to achieve the goals of the glorious December Revolution and build a future of peace and democracy.
We renew our call to all sons and daughters of the Sudanese people in areas of war, displacement and countries of asylum to strengthen solidarity and cooperation to mitigate the damage of war and to work together to achieve peace and end the conflict. We believe that the darkness before the dawn will not last, and that freedom and freedom from injustice is the goal that we all seek. Let us remember that the lessons learned from the experience of the first year of the April 2023 war indicate the danger of establishing institutions parallel to the state, especially in the security and military field. The lesson lies in the necessity of building professional national regular forces subject to constitutional civil authority, committed to protecting the people and the homeland and promoting democratic civil rule, and that the time has come to look ahead and work together for a future in which peace, democracy and justice prevail, a future that restores Sudan’s status and guarantees its people freedom and dignity. We call on all parties to assume their responsibilities and engage in a constructive dialogue that leads to lasting solutions that ensure a smooth transition to civilian rule that expresses the will of the Sudanese people.
Finally, we stress that, after the end of the war, the Sudanese people will not allow any tyrannical faction, whether military or civilian, to control state institutions and resources. The war has strengthened the faith of Sudanese men and women in the goals of the glorious December Revolution and their adherence to their right to a free and dignified life. In our role in the Forces of Freedom and Change, we renew Our commitment to continuing the path of the revolution to achieve a democratic civil state that guarantees freedom, peace and justice for all. The morning is before us, and the end has reached it. Tomorrow is near, and victory is reserved for the Sudanese people who resisted and defeated tyrants throughout the ages.
Executive Office – Forces of Freedom and Change
April 15, 2024 AD