We stand with the civilian protests in Sudan

Nearly three years after the Sudan Uprising began, many Sudanese will take to the streets today to support the civilian transition. We stand with those protestors.

For decades, Sudan has experienced bloodshed, corruption, sanctions and hardship. Sudanese rose up against this, but they did not wish to replace one dictatorship with another.

The transitional agreement states that presidency of the Sovereignty Council will be transferred to the civilian members in November, and this agreement must be honored. 

So many Sudanese have already sacrificed so much for the chance of a  new Sudan- not least the victims of the Khartoum Massacre. Those sacrifices must not be in vain.

It is not simply the promise of the transition that is under threat, safety, security and peace all hang in the balance. These must be paramount concerns - Sudanese deserve a government that is committed to the values of the revolution - justice, rights and democracy. 

Sudan has a long political tradition, of peaceful transfer of power, of women trailblazers like Fatima Ahmed Ibrahim - the first women to be elected to parliament in the Arab region and a true pioneer. It is a great shame that Fatima and many more great Sudanese women did not live to see the revolution - but it was incredible women in the generations that followed them who would lead the uprising, becoming icons and demanding their rightful place as equals in Sudanese society.  

Through peaceful means, the people of Sudan have demonstrated their power, they must have their chance to build a peaceful and just nation.