Sudan Still Waiting For Justice

‘The people want to build a new Sudan’ - an image shared widely during last year’s protests

It has been a year since security forces murdered more than 100 people on the streets of Khartoum, and still we wait for justice.

Murder, rape, and beatings were used as weapons to suppress the peaceful protestors at Sudan’s sit in. It was perhaps the most shocking moment of the revolution. A brutal and cowardly act, the perpetrators tried to hide their guilt at every step - committing their crimes under the cover of an internet blackout, tossing the bodies of the people they murdered into the Nile.

Sudan's draft constitutional declaration mandated an official investigation into the violence of 3 June 2019. An official committee has been set up to carry this out but their investigation has missed deadlines, delaying justice.

The global health crisis means we are in extraordinary circumstances, and we recognize this. However, the massacre of 3 June was too an extraordinary event, where proper investigation and justice are of paramount importance.

The massacre was a shocking and brutal attack on the revolution itself. The people of Sudan rose up in their millions against the inequality, impunity and injustice of the previous regime. Justice and accountability are essential parts of Sudan's transition, and justice must be seen to be done by those raped and injured and for the families of those murdered on that dark day last year.

The massacre might have been the last gasp of a regime that exploited and brutalised Sudan for 30 years - we dearly hope it was. But Sudan cannot start to turn the page until the murderers, rapists and thugs of 3 June are held accountable for their crimes.

Achieving justice for the victims of the massacre will not be the end in the journey for Sudan. The previous regime made many more victims. The government needs to take serious steps to reform the legal system and pursue access to justice for these survivors.

The memory of those lost last year must be honored, the survivors must be recognized. We demand justice for all Sudanese.