We just heard you talking about the history of Sudan
to explain how the the Neighborhood Resistance Committees started.
Could you please repeat that again?
You said there were three military coups, three uprisings.
How did that all lead to the revolution of December 2018
and to the creation of these Neighborhood Resistance Committees?
Actually, the neighborhood resistance committees.
started in 2013.
After the 2013 uprising,
there was a massacre on the streets of Khartoum and other cities.
More than 300 people
lost their lives.
The previous two uprisings in 1964
and in 1985,
Sudanese people were using trade unions
to get rid of the dictatorships.
And
in 1989,
the Islamists took over the power,
with a military coup, and they learned from the history
of the Sudanese struggle and they dissolved
all the trade unions
so as to deprive the Sudanese from the traditional weapon
that they used to get rid of the dictatorships.
In 2013, actually
the government followed
the International Monetary Fund prescription
and lifted subsidiaries
and people took to the street
against this decision and they have been killed.
After the Islamists were successful
in putting this uprising of 2013 down
Here came the call for forming
the neighborhood resistance committees
from the Sudanese Communist Party.
And it started in 2013
as neighborhood committees.
Their basic work
was providing services for the neighborhood,
like cooking gas,
subsidiaries for the people.
And other things.
The starting of this committee was into 2013.
It is part of our culture in Sudan
this neighbor committees is not a structure from outside Sudan,
that people implement it,
but is part of our culture. People are gathering
and they are helping each other most of the times,
and 2013 due to the massive demonstration that happened
during the regime time of Omer El-Bashir
People started to organize themselves to serve their neighbors
and try to form a different kind of platform that people, all of them, can join.
And it is started from the grassroots movement and the participation.
was very holistic and very diverse and is built by lot of challenges
until 2016, they have been announced
and 2018 by leading, the same group there, by leading the revolution in Sudan.
And from the time up to today, the ready
the resistance committees has become our strong body in Sudan
and our pillar of power.
The neighborhood resistance committees kept developing
through the years, and in 2016
there was
a general disobedience and political strike.
It was very successful in 2016 for three days.
And this was a turning point
in the history of the neighborhood resistance committees
because the neighborhood resistance committees in 2016
start playing a political role
and also adopting political views.
And this kept devolving
until we reached the peak of the Sudanese peoples' struggle
in 2018
And this was
another turning point in the history of the Sudanese revolution.
In 2018,
the neighborhood resistance committees start organizing
demos in different places.
Actually, the thing started away from the capital Khartoum,
is started from a very tiny village
village in the south of the Blue Nile, which is called Meirnou,
in the 16th of December.
And and the things kept developing
it was like a snowball.
And it continued for four months
and there was a lot of repression and so many killings
and kidnapping
and arresting and forced disappearance
for the members of the neighborhood resistance committees.
But eventually, on April 2019,
the military
had no other options
under the pressure of the masses of the people.
The military has no other option.
then to offset President Omar al-Bashir
and the Islamists, and put him under arrest
and form this
military council.
And after the forming of the military council,
people created this what is called sit-in area
in the front of the army
headquarter in Khartoum
and the sit-in continued for two months
and on the 3rd of June
and the military council
who had overthown Omar al-Bashir
decided to crush the sit-in area.
So there was a massacre which is known as Khartoum massacre,
and more than 3000
persons lost their life
in this crackdown of the sit-in area.
And and from there
also things developed again.
There was a huge demonstration
after almost 27 days of the
of the massacre, of Khartoum massacre.
on the 30 of June, 2019,
there was a mass demonstration.
Millions of the Sudanese people took out to the streets
despite that there was no Internet.
The military council shut down the Internet.
There was no any means of communication that people start communicating
the message of
for the
demo of the 30th of June on the walls,
on the streets,
with writing, the graffiti, everything.
This is how they spread the word
among the Sudanese people so,
after 30 of June
the military council was obliged to go and to negotiate
and to form this transitional government for two years,
which is a shared power between military
and civilians.
Civilians who form this kind of government
or who share the power
with the military council
were mostly what is known in Sudan
- for the radical I mean - the "soft landing wing".
And the "soft landing wing"
also played a role,
that is dictated by the international community
and they are considered for the radicals in Sudan
and also for the neighborhood resistance committees
as counterrevolutionaries. They are reactionaries actually,
but adopting
the revolution
and slogans.
But eventually it turned out
that they are working as agents and compradores
for the regional and international powers.
You talked about
privatization and land grabbing.
Can you just
say a bit more about the importance of that?
Yeah.
Actually, the Islamists,
the Islamist are considered as capitalists.
And I mentioned that in Sudan we have this new term
for this kind of capitalist,
which we call a parasite capitalist in Sudan.
And the Islamist government
started privatizing
the public sector,
especially the agriculture sector
and also the health sector
and education sector.
It was a right,
also before the Islamists,
to receive medical aid
and education for free.
But with the Islamists, everything being privatized
and not only this,
not only the healthcare sector
or education sector,
but also the agricultural land.
And it is well known that Sudan
has the most fertile lands in the world
and Sudan has more than 200 million hectares
of fertile land,
land good for agriculture.
The Islamists grab the land,
from the small farmers
and also privatized the public sector in agriculture
and agriculture, like the Al-Jazeera scheme,
The Al-Jazeera scheme is the biggest irrigated
agricultural project in the world.
It is this.
This scheme is between the two Niles,
between the Blue Nile and the White Nile.
It has a huge size of land, which is
2 million feddan (840.000 hectares), irrigated,
a very systematic irrigation.
And the Islamists privatized all this
and the land-grabbing percentage in Sudan
amounted to 48% of the land.
And all this land being sold by the Islamists
to the regional states like United Arab Emirates
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain,
Qatar and Egypt
and also
United States
and UK and Germany
and EU in general.
Can you just briefly explain what
led to the war in April of 2023?
And what's the role that the neighborhood committees
have today, since the war?
I think the war is is just a game
because the two generals are wanted for committing crimes
against humanity, ethnic cleansing
and war crimes in Darfur
and also in Khartoum.
And along with the international power
and the so-called international community
and the regional powers,
which I mentioned now,
they are trying
the international community is trying to keep
its compradores and its agents in power.
In Sudan.
And the Neighborhood Resistance Committees, who are insisting
on holding the two generals,
the leader of the militia and the leader of the army,
accountable for their crimes.
And the international community designed
what is called in Sudan
or in the Sudanese politics
a "framework agreement".
A framework agreement
intended to bring those agents
whether they are civilian or from the military,
to the political scene again.
And when the Neighborhood Resistance Committees refused
this framework agreement,
until now,
the generals are warring in Khartoum
and I am saying this is just a game.
Why? - Because they want to bring the Sudanese people
to the point that we just need to leave in safety.
We're not asking for democracy.
We are not asking for a better life.
We are not asking for a better education.
We just want to save our lives.
I think this is a main aim for this war.
It's another obstacle
in the course of the revolution.
But the Neighborhood Resistance Committee is fully aware of that.
And from the first day of the war, the Neighborhood Resistance Committees
released a press statement
that this is not our war, is not the Sudanese peoples' war
it's the war of the two generals and let them fight.
And who will prevail at the end
will face the Sudanese people.
You said that the state doesn't function anymore.
The state institutions are not running
and there are these emergency rooms:
Can you please talk about that so we get an impression?
Yeah, in fact,
after the outbreak of the war,
everything stopped,
as you mention.
The government was not functioning at all.
More than 90% of the health and medical facilities
were out of service
and people were suffering
from the wounds and casualties
and also the dead bodies on the street.
So the Neighborhood Resistance Committees
formed what is called the "emergency rooms".
The emergency rooms is another step in the development
of the Neighborhood Resistance Committees.
In 2023 now
the war started in April.
Who is doing the serve, who is facing the challenges?
The Resistance Committees.
They become our alternative government for Sudan now.
And overall Sudan,
the Resistance Committee was being functioning
and during this war also they are been working 24 hours.
They are being replacing doctors.
They are being replacing hospital, because all the hospitals, schools,
infrastructure was being damaged completely because of the war.
No, they're taking
plus the initiative that they are being uprising during the war.
They are cooperating together
and working together for emergency room, doctor emergency room.
Food and water supplies
and also shelter for women.
They are doing a lot of great work.
And that is the outcome
from the pressure that happened in 2013 and before that.
These people now, they are united and they are very strong.
They have food and water supply room, they have emergency room, they have even
safe existence,
for people to leave the places when they have bombs,
trying to check the neighbors also if they're hurt,
if they don't hear from them for two or three days or so, they go around
like a small group to check the neighbors.
And also this kind of psycho-social support for the neighbors
who are still remain in Sudan,
they cannot leave the city where they have the bombs
or they have the conflict.
This neighborhood committees
because they have a body, they have people who operate
like a contact person, have been trust and have been also
nominated by the the group and they are knowing each other's.
If they have something, the people or the civilians, they reach them
and they go to, for example, 1, 2, 3 houses
they have no water, they have no food
and they are monitoring and evaluating the situation outside.
And then they try to bring the stuff.
It's very risky, but they are taking the risk
and we appreciate that we still have
this kind of young, strong people,
who can fight during the war
for their needs and also try to support the other civilians.
And it's really hectic.
But we have no choice.
The emergency rooms, for example,
this medical emergency rooms
providing medical help for the people.
It is not so easy for them because
there is no safe passages,
so they have to manage how to deliver the aid
to the areas or hotspots.
And if you see in the media that the Resistance Committee
is not being highlighted or being appreciated, what they are doing
mostly that you can see in a public media or international media,
the two generals
who are making the noise and fighting, they are being very famous,
but in the ground there are those people who are saving the civilians.
And also there is
what is called "agriculture emergency rooms"
to save the agricultural season.
And the Neighborhood Resistance Committees is fully aware
that people who are losing their lives
due to famine and starvation
is much more than those
who are losing their life due to war.
So the Sudan is also under threat of famine.
But now the Neighborhood Resistance Committees
is trying to save the agricultural season
and also to create
this cooperative organization in the neighborhood:
They are trying
to grow the sorghum,
which is the main food for the Sudanese people,
in the areas like Gedaref,
which is a rain fed area.
It's it's not an easy thing to do this
because it's a huge step, I think,
it's a leap jump towards
shifting the agricultural workers
from just workers to producers, to owners
through this cooperative organizations.
And also this thing will
minimize
the banking sector.
The banking sector is the biggest
funder
for the agriculture.
And actually, they are not funding
the small farmers.
They are only funding the big companies,
who are growing wast lands in Sudan.
So this step
from the Neighborhood Resistance Committees will minimize
the role of the banking system in the agricultural process.
So it is not an easy thing
because we know that the capitalists will fight back.
Not only the Sudanese capitalists, but the international capitalists also
will support them, especially
states like
United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar,
because they will be also deprived from what they grabbed
from the Sudanese land.
Your you talked a little bit about how the
Neighborhood Resistance Committees
are organized, locally and regionally,
that there are delegate meetings, or things like that.
Can you explain how they are organized on the different levels?
Actually each nighborhood
has its own committee.
And for example, a city or a village
is divided into sectors
and the sector might have more than five
neighborhood committees.
And each sector has its own coordination body.
And the coordinating body is not
delegated to make decisions
is only just to coordinate
between the neighborhoods, the different neighborhoods.
So each
district or each sector of the city or a village
has its own coordination bodies.
And each group of sectors has its coordination body.
And at the end there's a coordinating body
for the whole city or a whole village.
And each neighborhood is an autonomous body.
So it has the right
to participate here, or to refuse this, or...
Yeah, so there is no
hierarchy on the Neighborhood Resistance Committees' structure
It's not vertical
it's a horizontal structure.
And in the Neighborhood Resistance Committees there is no voting.
There is an ongoing discussion and people use to discuss
util everybody is satisfied
and there is a common consent about
whatsoever decision they are discussing.
And what is the advantage of this form of decision making
and this form of horizontal organization, in your view?
I think,
it has a lot of advantages. For example,
if there is no
concentration of power
in few hands of people,
and also it keeps
every
neighborhood resistance committee autonomous
and independent,
but in coordination
with the other neighborhoods
Of course also it has
a negative side, which is
it takes so long, sometimes,
to reach a decision.
But at the end, I think its advantages is more
than its disadvantages.
Across the country
there's more than 5,200 Neighborhood Resistance Committees
in different cities and different villages, everywhere.
The Neighborhood Resistance Committees is a huge
network: grassroots,
self-organized network.
It is huge and it started stretching and expanding
after 2016, as I mentioned before,
but it expanded
its maximum I think in 2018/2019
And what is your assessment
of the political situation that there is now?
Will people win eventually, or not?
And what what is needed for the Sudanese people to win?
What is needed
for the Sudanese people to win.
Actually, the Sudanese people need support.
Especially
in this
humanitarian crisis, which now Sudan is witnessing
and also the Sudanese people need
from the international community to stop intervening
in in the Sudanese politics
and to stop supporting dictators,
whether they are civilian or from the military.
What we need is
from the global leftists
is just to spread the word and support
and to put enough pressure on their governments
to lift their hands
from the Sudanese internal politics.
If the international community
distanced itself from supporting
these
dictators in in Sudan,
I think the Sudanese people are able to deal with them.
Do you have a call for our listeners,
for our viewers?
I call on all those
who are hearing us
to get some knowledge about what is going on in Sudan
and to support the Sudanese people
and to put more pressure on their governments
here or outside Europe,
if there is listeners from outside Europe,
to stop interfering in Sudan.
And also
the Sudanese people are in need for medical help.
And now starvation is a big threat
for the Sudanese people. We are already in the fall season.
And if the agricultural season is not successful,
most probably millions of people will lose their lives.
Our people will be dying because of the basic needs: food, drinks, medicine.
It is not our conflict, but we are paying the price.
We’ve lost our family, our inheritage, we lost everything.
But still there are people left behind.
We don't like to lose them.
We need to support them and we need to stand for that.
And one of the things that make me really unhappy:
the silence of the International Community
I hear that it’s an “internal conflict”. Yes, internal conflict.
But who's putting his hand inside this conflict?
Who is supporting the militia?
The international community, EU, Germany one of them.
I call on the
international organizations
to deal with the neighborhood resistance committees
because the neighborhood resistance committees now
are representing the Sudanese people, not the government,
not the official bodies.
They are just thieves and criminals.
The sad thing is that most of the international organizations
refuse to deal with the neighborhood resistance committees
because the neighborhood resistance committees
are not registered bodies.
So I call on the international organizations
and other organizations
to recognize the neigborhood resistance committees
with its emergency rooms. That is very critical
for the success of the Sudanese Revolution.