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Sudan
STATE OF INTERNAL SECURITY
A population divided among nearly 600 ethnic groups and tribal
units and a conspicuous split between a largely Arab population
in the north and black, non-Muslim southerners meant that Sudan's
government had a high potential for instability. Political movements
based on these regional, tribal, religious, and socioeconomic
divisions have been responsible for numerous breakdowns of authority.
Nimeiri's autonomy solution for the south in 1972 ended the first
civil war. His decision in 1981 to abolish the Southern Regional
Assembly and the later redivision of the south into three regions,
however, revived southern opposition and helped to reignite the
southern insurgency. Dissatisfaction with Nimeiri's rule also
grew in the north as economic distress became more acute. The
1985 military coup that ousted Nimeiri was preceded by massive
demonstrations in Khartoum triggered by price increases of food
staples. The traditional political parties that dominated civilian
politics reemerged in 1986 after a year of transitional military
rule. Most parties continued to reflect sectarian loyalties rather
than to promote national interests. Unable to function effectively
through shifting political coalitions and unable to end the war
in the south, civilian authority was again overturned, to be replaced
by the authoritarian rule of Bashir on June 30, 1989.
The new military government immediately invoked emergency legislation
banning strikes and other work stoppages as well as unauthorized
political meetings. Political parties and trade unions were dissolved
and their property frozen or seized. Leading members of the main
political parties were arrested, as were senior members of the
Sudan Bar Association and other prominent figures thought to be
unfriendly to the new regime. More than 100 trade unionists were
detained, while others were dismissed from the civil service,
the army, and the police.
Although some political prisoners had been released by early
1990, evidence of continued opposition to the military government
brought harsh repressive measures. In December 1989, a prominent
physician was sentenced to death (later commuted to imprisonment)
for organizing a doctors' strike. Another doctor was sentenced
to fifteen years' imprisonment. In March 1990, the government
announced that it had crushed a coup conspiracy, arresting prominent
members of the Umma Party and military officers. Less than a month
later, the regime alleged that it had discovered another coup
plot among the military and executed twenty-eight high-ranking
officers whom it claimed were implicated.
Although the military government was widely unpopular, its ruthless
suppression of any manifestation of discontent appeared to have
frightened the internal opposition into silence. A number of exiled
politicians active in the previous Sadiq al Mahdi government announced
the formation of an opposition organization, the National Democratic
Alliance, in early 1990. The SPLA radio station in Ethiopia allotted
broadcasting time to the alliance, but the group, brought together
by political expediency, had difficulty organizing effective opposition
to the Bashir regime. Former armed forces chief of staff, Lieutenant
General Fathi Ahmad Ali, was among the exiled dissidents and became
head of the National Democratic Alliance. Military purges, however,
had left the majority of active officers silent for fear of dismissal
and loss of their commands. Infiltration of informers into the
SPAF made any form of dissident activity risky. Curfews were imposed,
and detachments of troops guarding bridges and other key points
minimized the possibility of military action to topple the regime.
At the Khartoum International Airport, the Airborne Division,
which was considered loyal to the government was available at
short notice to help repel a coup attempt.
The presence of as many as 1 million refugees from southern Sudan
in the vicinity of Khartoum was potentially destabilizing, but
the refugees were weak and too divided into ethnic and regional
groups to be a political threat. Student groups had in the past
been involved in demonstrations that contributed to the downfall
of unpopular governments, but the loyalty of the majority of students
was uncertain.
The small communist movement, with considerable support among
educated Sudanese and involvement in student and union organizations,
was among the opposition elements to the Bashir government. The
Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) played an important role in the
first years of Nimeiri's rule but was harshly suppressed and forced
underground after participation in the unsuccessful coup against
Nimeiri in 1971. Although Nimeiri's campaign of reconciliation
with his political opponents in 1977 enabled some prominent SCP
members to resurface, communists arrested for organizing strikes
and demonstrations comprised the largest single group of political
prisoners. The SCP's role in the urban demonstrations of 1985
contributed to Nimeiri's overthrow. The SCP became active in parliamentary
politics in 1986 but was among the political groups banned by
the Bashir regime. It joined with other parties in underground
opposition to the military government. Several communists were
rounded up and detained without charge after the 1989 coup, allegedly
for instigating a protest against the government among students
at the University of Khartoum.
Data as of June 1991
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