Sudan Country Background
This page is meant to provide an overview of Sudan as a nation state, including a broad timeline of key historical events. It includes events relevant to the current conflict and mentions the critical domestic, regional, and international players working towards peace.
PILPG Podcast Series covering Sudan’s history through the lens of Peace Negotiations:
Current Conflict Context
Sudanese stakeholders had been on the verge of finalizing a political agreement that was designed to put an end to the political instability the country had been experiencing since the military takeover on October 25, 2021. Regrettably, the full-fledged eruption of the armed conflict between the SAF and the RSF in April 2023 has halted the ambitious political process facilitated by the Trilateral Mechanism and closely encouraged and supported by the Quad Mechanism (composed of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates).
Concluding phase I of the political process, civilian and military stakeholders signed the Political Framework Agreement in December 2022. The signing of this agreement was a significant step towards redirecting the country on a path of democracy and civilian rule. The second and final phase of the political process was meant to resolve five contentious issues that civilians and the military establishment did not agree on. Five workshops were conducted to tackle these suspended issues, including justice and transitional justice; dismantling the former regime of June 30, 1989; the Juba Peace Agreement; the case of East Sudan; and security sector reform. Representatives from the SAF, the RSF, the Intelligence Services, and the Police Forces presented papers in the security sector reform workshop. Differences in vision and the respective positions of the RSF and other forces, particularly the SAF, regarding the reform issues were clearly deeply ingrained. While all parties accepted the strategic goal of forming one national professional army, disagreement arose between the SAF and the RSF on the timeline of the integration of the RSF into the SAF, as well as on the command and control of the forces before this process was completed. Observers believe that the disagreement between the SAF and the RSF was not based on mere technical differences, but rather was deeply rooted in far-reaching political goals and strategies.
The tensions between the two armed forces intensified rapidly. Considerable national and international efforts were undertaken to defuse the deadly tension. Mediation mechanisms established by civilian signatories to the Framework Agreement, the JPA signatories, the Trilateral Mechanism, and the Quad Mechanism all failed to prevent the deadly fighting that broke out between the SAF and the RSF in the early morning of April 15, 2023. A full-fledged armed conflict quickly engulfed greater Khartoum, Merowe, Darfur, and North Kordofan.
During April, al-Burhan dissolved the RSF, calling it a “rebel force.” Conversely, Hemedti, the RSF Commander, called on al-Burhan to surrender or be captured or killed. The RSF stated that its war against the SAF was in reality a fight against former regime Islamists who had hijacked the army. Many prisons throughout the country were attacked and thousands of inmates, including prominent Islamist hardliners, were released. Foreign diplomatic missions rushed to evacuate personnel and nationals. The fighting quickly spread to West Darfur, where Al-Geneina, the state capital, became a battleground of a bloody tribal conflict between armed Masalit tribesmen, the RSF, and Rizeigat militant tribesmen allied to the RSF.
The outbreak of fighting between the SAF and the RSF has led to a dramatic deterioration in all aspects of civilian life, including attacks on civilian objects. Intensive military operations inside urban areas have resulted in gross human rights and international humanitarian law violations. Civilian infrastructure, including homes, hospitals, shops, schools, and places of worship, have been indiscriminately targeted and destroyed by artillery and airstrikes. The fighting has also resulted in the closure of businesses, airports, and roads, which has interrupted the movements of goods, services, and people. It has also triggered acute shortages of food, water, medicines, and fuel and limited access to communications and electricity. Most healthcare facilities are closed or operate at a significantly reduced capacity. The chaotic security situation has enabled the looting of homes and markets, sexual gender-based violence, carjackings, and vehicle theft. The Masalit ethnic group in West Darfur is once more at serious risk of genocide, and many commentators fear that the intractable nature of the conflict and the development of conflict dynamics are leading Sudan into a situation analogous to that of Somalia.
Internal Politics
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In the past months, SAF commanders expressed their openness to “any serious initiative that can bring an end to the war while safeguarding national sovereignty and state institutions,” as put by the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the SAF in an interview with Al-Jazeera. However, the SAF’s preconditions to engage were inclusivity and comprehensiveness of any political dialogue. Al-Burhan explained in a televised speech that any political process must be “solid, fair, and acceptable to all,” a statement many understood as a strategy to enable the inclusion of the Islamist Movement and supporters of the former regime. However, al-Burhan reiterated his unwavering commitment and resolve to wage war until the RSF is completely eradicated on many other occasions. On September 6, 2023, al-Burhan issued two presidential decrees dissolving the RSF and repealing the Rapid Support Forces Act of 2017, as well as its 2019 amendments.
On August 24, 2023, al-Burhan left the General Command Headquarters for the first time since the war erupted. Al-Burhan, who established a base in Port Sudan, immediately started a regional tour that included Egypt, South Sudan, Qatar, Turkey, and Eritrea. Observers believe the goal of these visits was the pursuit of political and military support.
On September 21, 2023, al-Burhan addressed the UN General Assembly. In his speech, he accused the RSF of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes, and he called upon the international community to designate the RSF as a terrorist organization. He warned that the RSF threatens regional and global peace and security. Al-Burhan declared readiness to negotiate but accused the AU and IGAD of being subject to external influences. He also said that the SAF are committed to transferring power to civilians if they can reach a broad consensus.
The Forces for Freedom and Change – Central Council (“FFC-CC”) voiced their disappointment with al-Burhan’s speech at the General Assembly, asserting that it lacked a clear commitment to peace. The FFC-CC urged the warring parties to engage in negotiations and a comprehensive political process to end the suffering of civilians and to establish a path toward democratic civil transition, including the creation of a professional and apolitical unified national army.
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On September 21, 2023, and before al-Burhan addressed the General Assembly, Hemedti also released a recorded video statement directed to the General Assembly. He announced his readiness to enforce an immediate ceasefire and to initiate comprehensive political discussions to achieve a political solution that paves the way for establishing a civilian-led government. Hemedti recalled his previously announced political proposal, which comprises ten points that include a long-term ceasefire, the establishment of a democratic civilian rule, the implementation of federal governance, and the creation of a new national army.
In an audio clip released two weeks before his address to the General Assembly, Hemedti stated that RSF had “no intention of seeking control over Sudan” but would “fight on to the last soldier.” He explained that their fight was not against the SAF but rather against the remnants of the former regime which controls the SAF.
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A delegation assigned by the Signatories to the Political Framework Agreement, led by FFC-CC, recently conducted a regional tour where they convened meetings with high-level officials in Uganda, Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Kenya, and Qatar. These visits aimed to discuss ways to end the war in Sudan, address the humanitarian catastrophe and reach a comprehensive and just political solution that leads to democratic civilian rule and sustainable peace.
In Cairo, Egypt, the Executive Office of the FFC-CC convened its first meeting since the beginning of the war. The July 24-25 2023 meeting discussed political and organizational issues crucial to building a broad civilian front. The final communique of this meeting stated that the meeting had extensively discussed four agenda items: (1) humanitarian issues, (2) strategic political vision, (3) the unity of the civil democratic anti-war forces, and (4) post-war recovery and reconstruction efforts. Under these headings, FFC-CC discussed and approved several key positions:
The FFC-CC would release a “political vision to end wars and establish the new Sudanese state through a new renaissance project that achieves sustainable peace and establishes a democratic civil system that respects Sudanese diversity and improves its management and builds a single national professional army that distances itself from politics and submits to civil authority.”
The FFC-CC excluded the National Congress Party and its fronts from the call for civilian unity. The FFC-CC called for the designation of the National Congress Party as a terrorist organization responsible for crimes ranging from genocide and splitting the country to the ignition of the April 15 war.
The FFC-CC condemned both warring parties for their crimes and violations. It called for an immediate end to the war, an effective response to the humanitarian catastrophe, and holding perpetrators accountable.
The FFC-CC declared support for the Jeddah platform, the Cairo Summit of Sudan’s Neighboring Countries, and the AU efforts led by the IGAD.
As part of the civilian effort to forge consensus, the Coordination and Communication Body of the Civil Front to Stop the War and Restore Democracy in Sudan, led by the FFC-CC, held a meeting in Addis Ababa on August 17-18, 2023. This meeting stressed the need to redouble the efforts to build an anti-war democratic civilian front. It designated a preparatory committee to reach out to political and civil groups and actors to lay the groundwork for a broader meeting in October.
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On July 25, 2023, an alliance composed of the FFC-DC, the National Movement Forces (Al-Tijani Al-Sisi), the National Accord Forces, and the National Forces Alliance held a press conference in Cairo. These groups, which oppose the Political Framework Agreement, comprise some armed movements, Islamists, and politicians affiliated with Al-Bashir’s regime. At the press conference, the alliance declared an initiative to end the war in Sudan. The initiative had two parts: one related to a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian issues and the other to dialogue and the international community’s role. The FFC-DB announced its support for the Jeddah platform and the Cairo Summit of Sudan’s Neighboring Countries. It called on al-Burhan to appoint a caretaker government to run the country during the war and to prepare for a nationwide Sudanese-Sudanese dialogue.
Leaders of the FFC-DB led a delegation to meet with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on September 7, 2023. The delegation included the Bloc Chair Jaafar al-Mirghani, his deputy Muhammad al-Amin Tirik, Minni Arko Minnawi, Mubarak Al-Fadil Al-Mahdi and Abdurahman Al-Sadiq Al-Mahadi. The last two figures served as presidential assistants to al-Bashir.
Later, the alliance convened a meeting in Asmara, Eritrea, where they issued a declaration calling for the establishment of a Sovereignty Council composed of five civilians and four military representatives under the chairmanship of the SAF Commander-in-Chief, a two-year transitional period, and a parliamentary system. They also called for the full implementation of the JPA. Regarding current affairs, the group condemned the violations committed by the RSF, expressed their belief that the Framework Agreement had triggered the war, and stressed that the dialogue must be Sudanese-Sudanese, without external intervention.
Prominent leaders from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) held an organizational conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on August 28-30, 2023. The leaders accused the movement’s chair, Gibril Ibrahim, of personally profiting from signing the JPA, supporting the October 2021 coup, aligning with the SAF in the current war, and imposing his Islamic leanings on the movement. The conference designated Sulaiman Sandal as the new chair, Gibril Adam Bilal as his deputy, and Ahmed Tugud Lisan as the secretary-general. Gibril Ibrahim had previously sacked the defecting leaders after they met with the RSF Deputy Commander in Chad back in June 2023.
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In mid-October 2023, a group of 100 Sudanese civilians met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to begin preparing for a civilian conference on negotiations to end the conflict. A wide spectrum of political, civil, and labor forces attended the meeting, and the agenda focused on preparing for the general conference of civil forces, outlining a common political vision to be agreed upon, and identifying the participating groups in the anticipated inaugural conference to be held in November. The meeting also sought to establish an agreement on unifying negotiation platforms to halt the war, such as the African Union (AU) initiative and the Jeddah platform.
The Preparatory meeting facilitated in-depth discussions among the participants on the following axes: political, economic, humanitarian work, and the media. The meeting also developed drafts of working papers that will be presented to the Founding Conference. The preparatory meeting decided to organize specialized workshops to provide detailed recommendations on the following issues:
Developing the negotiating position of civil forces
Security and military reform
Transitional justice
Institutional reconstruction of state agencies (civil service and judicial agencies)
Peace, strengthening the social fabric, and combating hate speech
Making a permanent constitution
The economic program for reconstruction
Issues of states and local government
Notably, participants also identified the following non-negotiable principles as underlying the negotiating stance of the civil forces:
Rejecting power-sharing between the two warring parties
Rejecting any compromise on the principle of impunity. Perpetrators must be held accountable for their crimes
The military, security system, and rapid support system must cease all independent economic activities and submit to civilian oversight agencies
Agreement on timetables and international guarantees for security and military reform leading to a unified national army
Dismantling economic empowerment systematically, transparently, and fairly
Accountability for crimes against peaceful civilian demonstrators, including the June 2019 sit-in dispersal
Amending prior agreements to align with the constants in this negotiating position.
Regional & International Peace Efforts
Jeddah Talks
Talks between the SAF and the RSF, facilitated by the US and Saudi Arabia, culminated in the two parties signing the May 11 “Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan.” However, both parties violated all successive declared humanitarian ceasefires. The Jeddah forum has not yet achieved notable progress despite the facilitators’ affirmed commitment to end the conflict. The SAF delegation to the Jeddah talks returned to Sudan on July 26, 2023. While the two warring parties achieved some consensus regarding the general principles for negotiation and a monitoring and verification mechanism, the SAF delegation pulled out due to other critical points of disagreement with the RSF. Sudan’s Foreign Minister told Sudan’s official news agency (“SUNA”) that negotiations would not resume unless the RSF declared their “commitment to evacuating public facilities, vacating citizens’ homes, and ceasing activities such as looting, road blockades, and disruptions to people’s lives.”
International and Regional Actors
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In June 2023, the IGAD formed “The Sudan Quartet Group of Countries for The Resolution of The Situation in The Republic of Sudan,” composed of Kenya, South Sudan, Djibouti, and Ethiopia. On July 10, the IGAD Quartet convened a 2-day closed summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The summit, which discussed the implementation of the IGAD roadmap for peace in Sudan, was attended by the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs and the Saudi Ambassador to Sudan. An FFC-CC delegation participated in the closing session. The summit communique emphasized that there is no military solution to the conflict in Sudan and thus called for a face-to-face meeting between the leaders of the SAF and the RSF to agree on an immediate ceasefire supported by an effective enforcement and monitoring mechanism.
The coup government of Sudan boycotted the meeting based on its opposition to Kenya’s chairmanship of the Quartet. Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “Kenya is not neutral and is home to RSF rebel leaders.” On September 4, 2023, Kenyan President Ruto told CNN that Al-Burhan had called him to drop the partisan allegations against Kenya and express his willingness to engage in negotiations with the RSF under IGAD’s facilitation, in collaboration with the initiatives of Sudan’s Neighboring Countries and the US and Saudi Arabia to utilize the Jeddah platform to harmonize all processes. However, the next day, Sudan’s Foreign Ministry reiterated its rejection of Kenya’s chairmanship of the Quartet. The Foreign Ministry warned that Sudan might reconsider its membership in the IGAD Bloc if Kenya remained the chair.
Nevertheless, the IGAD Quartet convened a meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 6, 2023, where leaders called for the consolidation of various initiatives to end the conflict in Sudan. They noted that the unification effort falls under the umbrella of IGAD and the African Union and aligns with the principle of “African Solutions to African Problems.” The IGAD Quartet appealed to international actors to endorse a unified, comprehensive platform led by IGAD and the African Union. On September 9, al-Burhan sharply criticized the AU, voicing his strong opposition to the AU’s interference in Sudanese internal affairs. Al-Burhan threatened to solve the conflict without the AU’s help.
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On July 13, 2023, Egypt organized a summit for Sudan’s neighboring countries: Egypt, Libya, Eritrea, Chad, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. The declared goals of this summit were to find a solution to the ongoing armed conflict in Sudan and to curb any potential spillover effects on regional stability. The summit appealed to the SAF and the RSF to immediately adopt a ceasefire and engage in dialogue without external interference. The summit firmly underscored the importance of Sudan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and described it as an internal matter. It agreed to hold the Arab League and the African Union accountable for implementing its outcomes. It established a mechanism overseen by the foreign ministers of the seven participating countries. The mechanism is responsible for developing an action plan to resolve the conflict in Sudan, mitigate the adverse effects on neighboring countries, and secure the means to handle the humanitarian situation.
On August 7, 2023, the ministerial mechanism convened its first meeting in N’Djamena, the Chadian capital. It discussed a three-part action plan to address three key areas: security, the political process, and the humanitarian situation. The mechanism provided no further detail on specific measures. However, the Egyptian Foreign Minister charged it with reaching practical solutions to the crisis and giving feasible recommendations to persuade the conflicting warring to halt hostilities.
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The former SRSG and head of UNITAMS, Volker Perthes, was scheduled to address the UN Security Council in a session devoted to Sudan and South Sudan. However, the coup government in Sudan threatened to terminate and expel UNITAMS if Volker was allowed to address the Security Council. Despite wide protest, the UN elected to replace Volker Perthes as Assistant Secretary-General for Africa to deliver the UNITAMS report. The US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said: “We were told yesterday that Volker would be briefing the Council. And this morning his name was pulled […] we understand that that happened because the Sudanese government threatened to pull UNITAMS out of Sudan if he briefed the Council.” Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield added: “We were appalled by it, it was outrageous, it was unacceptable.”
However, on September 13, 2023, Volker Perthes briefed the UN Security Council (“UNSC”) on the situation in Sudan for the last time. In his statement, Perthes said he had asked the UN Secretary-General to relieve him of his duty as SRSG and head of UNITAMS. Volker Perthes’s resignation instigated a new chapter in the troubled relationship between the UN and Sudan, which may prove adverse to civilian aspirations for a just peace and democratic transition.