Sudan will no longer be allowed into AU activities until it restores a civilian government.
Activists across the continent, in an open letter, criticised the coup, calling on the AU to crack the whip.
The African Union on Wednesday suspended troubled Sudan after the military forcibly took power and dissolved the transitional government.
The decision announced by the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) means that Sudan will no longer be allowed into AU sessions or vote on crucial matters until it restores a civilian government.
“The AUPSC decides to suspend the participation of the Republic of Sudan in all AU activities until the effective restoration of the civilian-led Transitional Authority,” a communique said after the 15-member Council met virtually on Tuesday and condemned the coup.
The Council, comprising of member states of the AU on a rotational basis, is a standing organ that works to prevent, manage or resolve conflicts on the continent. This month, Mozambique is the chair of the Council and was expected to send a delegation to Khartoum by the weekend to discuss the transition with the military chiefs.
Sudan’s military ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on Monday morning took power, arrested members of the transitional government under Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and imposed a state of emergency including shutting down the internet.
He reappeared in public on Tuesday promising to set a government “free of politics” and freed Dr Hamdok who had been detained with his wife. He rejected his decision as a coup, saying he had acted to safeguard the transition.
Suspending Sudan is routine though. The AU’s policy requires total disregard to “unconstitutional changes” in government and usually suspends members until they agree to return to civilian rule.
The Council said the AU Commission chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat should “take necessary measures and intensify his engagement with the leaders of the Transitional Government and the Sovereign Council in order to facilitate the resumption of dialogue towards a successful transition in Sudan.”
That, the Council indicated, includes dispatching a team to Khartoum.
Crack the whip
The decision of the AU came even as activists across the continent criticised the coup, calling on the continental body to crack the whip.
In an open letter, more than 70 entities and individuals said Sudan’s junta had violated basic rights by denying them a chance to take part in the transition as well as suffering a communication blockade.
“These actions violate the AU Shared Values and specific provisions of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance regarding unconstitutional changes of government.
“We note that the military takeover has negative consequences for Sudan’s transition into a democracy, a journey that had a major turning point in 2019 when civilians got rid of dictator Omar Hassan Al-Bashir through a peoples’ revolution,” they said in an open letter on Wednesday.
The junta also closed down the main airports and restricted the movement of people.
“These limitations on the rights and freedoms of the Sudanese people as well as other nationalities present in Sudan is in stark violation of both the Sudanese Constitution as well as African and International Human rights norms,” they said under their banner of ‘African citizens and its diaspora.’
They demanded that all of Hamdok’s ministers arrested on Monday be released, people allowed to picket and the military return power to civilians.
List
The groups included 40 civil society groups and 38 individual rights campaigners whose list is found here below.
A – Institutions
Advocacy Network for Africa, Washington DC, USA
AfricanDefenders (Pan African Human Rights Defenders Network)
African Union Watch, Banjul, The Gambia
African Women and Youth Initiative
African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)/ Réseau de Développement et de Communication des Femmes Africaines
African Women Leaders Forum (AWLF), Zimbabwe
Atrocities Watch Africa (AWA), Kampala, Uganda
Chapter One Foundation, Lusaka, Zambia
Coalition for an effective African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACC), Arusha, Tanzania
Coalition Togolaise des Défenseurs des Droits Humains (CTDDH), Lomé, Togo
DefendDefenders (East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)
Disability Amalgamation Community Trust (DACT), Zimbabwe
DITSHWANELO - The Botswana Centre for Human Rights, Gaborone, Botswana
Eastern Africa Youth Empowerment on Peace and Security
Echoes of Women in Africa Initiatives, Nigeria
HUDO Centre, Kampala, Uganda
Human Rights Institute of South Africa (HURISA)
Institut des Médias pour la Démocratie et les Droits de l'Homme (IM2DH), Lomé, Togo
Institute for Young Women Development (IYWD), Zimbabwe
International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI), Kampala, Uganda
Inuka Kenya Ni Sisi!, Nairobi, Kenya
Kamma Organization for Development Initiatives (KODI), Sudan
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), Nairobi, Kenya
Nawi – Afrifem Macroeconomics Collective, Nairobi, Kenya
Network of Independent Commissions for Human Rights in North Africa
Nubsud Human Rights Monitors Organization (NHRMO), Sudan
OnetoAll Foundation, Meru, Kenya
Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), Johannesburg, South Africa
Oromo Legacy Leadership and Advocacy Association
Oromo Professionals Group (OPG), Washington DC
Rape Hurts Foundation, Uganda
Pan African Citizens Network (PACIN)
Pan African Lawyers Union (PALU), Arusha, Tanzania
Pan African Law and Justice Initiative, Kenya
Panos Institute Southern Africa
Plateforme de la Diaspora Tchadienne en Amerique
Southern Defenders (Southern African Human Rights Defenders Network)
Wakiso District Human Rights Committee, Uganda
Yearning Voices Foundation (YVF)
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Harare, Zimbabwe
B – Individuals
Abel K. Walendom, Co-Facilitator, Plateforme de la Diaspora Tchadienne en Amerique
Abdalla Komi Kodi, Executive Director, Kamma Organization for Development Initiatives (KODI), Sudan
Achieng’ Akena, PanAfricanist, Uganda
Adaobi Egboka, Human Rights Lawyer, Nigeria
Arnold Tsunga, Human Rights Lawyer, Zimbabwe
Brian Tamuka Kagoro, Uhai Africa Ltd, Harare, Zimbabwe
Bridget Musungu, Panafrican, Nairobi Kenya
Bushra Gamar Hussein, Executive Director, HUDO Centre, Kampala, Uganda
Bonaventure N’Coué MAWUVI, Journaliste et Défenseurs des Droits Humains, Lomé,Togo
Chidi Anselm Odinkalu
Chris Kwaja
Danford M. Chirwa, Dean, UCT Law
Donald Deya, Pan Africanist, Nairobi, Kenya
Dzimbabwe Chimbga, Human Rights Lawyer, Zimbabwe
Edigah Kavuravu, Human Rights Lawyer, Kenya
Femi Falana SAN, Human Rights Lawyer, Nigeria
Feyi Ogunade, Human Rights Lawyer
George Kegoro, Lawyer, Nairobi, Kenya
Gitahi Githuku, Human Rights Defender, Nairobi, Kenya
Golda Keng, Advocacy and Campaigns Consultant, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Hakima Haithar, International Development Consultant, Johannesburg, South Africa
Ibrahima Kane: Ibrahima Kane, lawyer Senegal
Irene Mwendwa, Lawyer, Policy Uganda
Jok Madut Jok, Professor of Anthropology, Syracuse University and Director of The Sudd Institute
Khabele Matlosa
Martin Masiga, Africa Judges and Jurists Forum (AJJF)
Martin Mavenjina, Constitutional and Human Rights Lawyer, Nairobi, Kenya
Musa Mwenye, SC, Former Attorney General of the Republic of Zambia
Nikiwe Kaunda, Mzuzu, Malawi
Otto Saki, Zimbabwe
Roland Ebole, Human Rights Lawyer, Nairobi, Kenya
Roselyn Hanzi, Human Rights Lawyer, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
Sarah Mukasa
Sharon Nakandha, Lawyer, Uganda
Siphosami Malunga, Executive Director, Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
Tiseke Kasambala, Chief of Party, Freedom House, Johannesburg, South Africa