The African Union on Thursday announced it’s decision to suspend Sudan’s membership due to ongoing political crisis amid violence.
The decision was made unanimously by members at an emergency meeting of the AU in Addis Ababa.
The Union in a statement on it’s twitter account said “The #AU Peace and Security Council has with immediate effect suspended the participation of the Republic of #Sudan in all #AU activities until the effective establishment of a Civilian-led Transitional Authority, as the only way to allow the Sudan to exit from the current crisis”.
The continental body earlier warned Sudan of sanctions if it did not return to a civilian rule. A sixty day ultimatum was given after Omar al-Bashir was toppled in a military coup in April.
Sudan political crisis worsened this week after soldiers shot into protesters who had camped outside the military headquarters in Khartoum.
Monday’s violence led to the death of over 100 people. On Tuesday more soldiers were deployed across major cities.
The AU in a statement on Thursday said it “deplores the loss of innocent lives which took place in recent days in Sudan and expresses its condolences to the families of the deceased; Further wishes a speedy recovery to the injured persons.”
The #AU Peace and Security Council has with immediate effect suspended the participation of the Republic of #Sudan in all #AU activities until the effective establishment of a Civilian-led Transitional Authority, as the only way to allow the Sudan to exit from the current crisis pic.twitter.com/ioBlnfnxcl
— African Union Peace (@AU_PSD) June 6, 2019
The aftermath of toppling Bashir
The Transitional Military Council (TMC) which is currently governing the country after the overthrow of former leader, Omar al-Bashir has denied deliberately targeting civilians in the operation.
It said it was clamping down on some criminals who in avoiding arrests joined the protesters.
On Tuesday the military council called a snap election within nine months to resolve the country’s political crisis.
But the opposition coalition has rejected the call demanding a civilian regime immediately.
There was an earlier three-year transition period towards a civilian rule deal. But the opposition and the military failed to agree on the details.
The AU concluded in its statement that “should the Transition Military Council fail to hand-over power to a civilian-led Transitional Authority, Council shall, without any further delay, automatically impose punitive measures on individuals and entities obstructing the establishment of the civilian-led Transitional Authority”.
Source: Africafeeds.com
