Photo: by Gary Raynaldo /   Sudanese woman wearing the colors of her flag’s homeland Sudan at protest in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza near the United Nations Headquarters in NY City  March 14, 2019, calling attention to the role of Women in the uprising, many of whom were arrested, and some faced the death penalty. 

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC TIMES

Today marks the  one year anniversary of the start of the uprising that led to the overthrow of brutal Sudan dictator Omar Al-Bashir.  Last year,  mass protests spread across Sudan calling for an end to President Al-Bashir’s 30-year regime, with hundreds of demonstrators, many women,  being detained by Sudanese security forces. In fact,  women were at the forefront of uprising, risking life and liberty to help put an end to the authoritarian regime.   According to media reports at the time,  Women were leading the push to topple Sudan’s Omar Hassan al-Bashir, and suffering for it: CBS NEWS   

“There were new, large-scale protests on Thursday, organized pointedly on the eve of International Women’s Day specifically to honor Sudanese women’s role in leading the uprising against Bashir. Videos emerged online appearing to show protesters, male and female, chanting in the streets, being arrested and in some cases beaten in the back of pick-up trucks driven by Bashir’s security services,”  cbsnews.com reported .

Photo by:  Gary Raynaldo   /  Protesters rally against the Sudanese government of President al-Bashir in Manhattan Mar. 14, 2019 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza calling attention to the role of Women in the uprising, many of whom were arrested, and some faced the death penalty. 

 ICC Arrest Warrant Remains In Force For Former Sudan Dictator Al Bashir

Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe /  International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda briefs the  United Nations Security Council on the Sudan and South Sudan at UN  world headquarters in New York Dec. 18, 2019

International  Criminal court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, speaking before the UN Security Council this week,  recalled that ICC arrest warrants remained in force for five alleged subjects in  Sudan, explaining that Abdel Raheem Hussein and Ahmad Harun are believed to be in detention in Khartoum while the whereabouts of Ali Kushayb and Abdallah Banda are unknown.   The fifth outstanding warrant is for Al Bashir, who was tried and sentenced in Sudan for financial crimes earlier this week and awaits trial on other cases, including in relation to the 1989 coup that brought him to power and crimes against humanity. 

Regarding the KHARTOUM government,  Bensouda repeated her deep concern  regarding the alleged 

attacks by government forces on peaceful protesters in Khartoum on June 3 in which more than 100 people have been reported killed in violence, including 19 children.    Bensouda said these government forces allegedly comprised the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose members include former Janjaweed militias linked to systematic human rights abuses in the Darfur region during the 2003 – 2008 civil war including killing and raping civilians, and burning down homes. Bensousda noted that the new Khartoum administration as created a commission of inquiry to investigate human rights violations that occurred in the course of these attacks.

“I express my sincere hope that this investigation is conducted in an independent, impartial, and fair manner by the competent domestic authorities,”  Bensouda stated.

Thousands of Sudanese Take to the Streets to Mark the first anniversary of the uprising

In Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, people rallying on Thursday chanted slogans such as “we’re revolutionaries, we’ll finish our mission” while motorists hung Sudanese flags from their cars. Others carried pictures of friends and loved ones among the scores of demonstrators killed during the uprising, according to  Al Jazeera. 

“Protesters want to ensure that each and every member of the army, of the former regime, of the former ruling party are held to account.”

-Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan