Sudanese strongman Omar al-Bashir was ousted by the military Thursday after three decades in power, closing a chapter of Sudan’s political history engulfed in armed rebellions, economics recessions, and a civil war that resulted in South Sudan’s secession.
Over the past several months, Bashir, 75, kept Sudan on the brink of another civil war as his government clung to power and cracked down on political dissent, resulting in scores of political prisoners and clashes between authorities and civilians on the streets. After losing the confidence of his military, Sudanese officials organized a coup to oust him from the presidency and install a provisional military state.
Sudan has appeared on officials lists of sponsors of terrorism since the Clinton administration, after the State Department found evidence that Bashir’s government harbored Islamic militants in his country. As a result, Sudan was hit with a wave of economic sanctions from the international community. The economic instability brewed massive political disruptions, culminating in a civil war with South Sudan in 2011.
After Bashir lost the civil war, South Sudan seceded, taking with it nearly 75% of the oil fields that propped up Bashir’s power.
In the late 2000s, Bashir was indicted by the International Criminal Court on charges of murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, rape, genocide, and pillaging of civilians in his efforts to remain in power. The court accused Bashir of ethnic cleansing, saying he “masterminded and implemented” a plan to destroy the three main ethnic groups in Sudan as he perceived them a political threat to his legitimacy.
Bashir was arrested by military officials and is currently serving house arrest. His home is heavily guarded with Sudanese military as tens of thousands of people took the streets of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, in celebration of Bashir’s oust from power.
Sudan’s Minister of Defense, Awad Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Auf, confirmed the coup Thursday afternoon, explaining that a two-year military council will oversee the transition of power from Bashir to a new, democratically-elected leader. A three-month state of emergency has been declared by the military, including a mandatory curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Much like his own rise to power, the military’s coup against Bashir is so far bloodless, with no credible reports of deaths linked to the ouster. Ibn Auf confirmed that Bashir is now being “kept at a safe place.”
According to military officials, much of Sudan’s executive government will be dissolved, including Sudan’s constitution, as the provisional military council takes power. The judiciary, public prosecution, embassies, and diplomatic entities will continue to function as normal, Ibn Auf confirmed.
Political prisoners taken in by Bashir’s government in the wave of crackdowns the last several months will be freed.
