A coalition of Sudanese revolutionary, political, and professional groups marked the anniversary of the June 30, 1989 coup by calling for an end to the war, a return to civilian democratic rule, and firm resistance to the revival of Islamist authoritarianism.
In a joint statement issued Sunday, signatories from across civil society described the 1989 coup—which brought Omar al-Bashir’s Islamist regime to power—as the beginning of “three decades of repression, destruction, and authoritarianism.” They warned that the same forces behind that coup are once again trying to impose a military-Islamist order under new names.
“This project dismantled the state for the benefit of militias, spread division, persecuted political actors, and rebuilt the machinery of oppression,” the statement said. “It directly led us to the hellish war we live through today.”
The groups accused Islamist movements of exploiting religion to justify violence, state capture, and the proliferation of armed militias that have undermined national security and crippled the Sudan’s army.
They called on all “living civil forces” to shoulder their historical responsibility to preserve Sudan’s unity, end the war, protect civilians, and work toward a just, inclusive, and sustainable peace. The signatories emphasized the need to fight hate speech and racism, isolate warmongers, ensure justice for victims, and build a democratic, constitutional, federal state based on equal citizenship.
The statement also expressed support for existing political and civil alliances—particularly youth, women’s, and professional unions—committed to halting the war and reviving Sudan’s democratic transition. It urged intensified dialogue and coordination to build a unified civil front, independent of both warring sides, and to push for a peaceful political solution.
“Democracy, for all its challenges, is worth enduring a thousand times more than recycled tyranny or cohabitation with those who take up arms against the people,” the statement concluded.
