The African Union has suspended Sudan’s membership of the bloc following a brutal military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters on Monday, which left dozens dead.
The AU’s Peace and Security Council tweeted a response to the military rulers’ suppression of a protest camp in Khartoum on Monday, which saw the bodies of the demonstrators dumped in the River Nile.
“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 body said on Twitter.
Meanwhile the African Union Peace body on Twitter also announced the boycott of the military rulers, who are supported by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Russia.
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“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,” it tweeted.
At least 108 people were killed in the crackdown by the military, according to medics, while the health ministry put the death toll at 61.
This week, dozens of bodies have been reportedly retrieved from the waters of the Nile.
Despite the massacre – which coincided with the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr – pro-democracy activists have pledged to continue their protests until the Transitional Military Council hands over power to civilians and those responsible for the killings are brought to justice.
The Sudanese Professionals Association called for people to block main roads in the capital to “paralyse public life” in response to the killings, according to Al Jazeera.
Russia on Thursday appeared to back the Sudanese military’s crackdown on civil society groups and activists.
“Naturally, in order to do that, you need for order to be imposed, and you need to fight against extremists and provocateurs who don’t want the stabilisation of the situation,” he said, according to Reuters.
“That’s the situation right now, but we are against any external intervention, the imposition of anything on the Sudanese.”
Sudanese led months of protests against the regime, which led to the overthrow of long-time dictator Omar al-Bashir.
A military junta has taken over from Bashir, although civilians have challenged the generals’ monopoly on power in the country.
