90 Sudanese protesters killed since December: Doctors

KHARTOUM (AA) – At least 90 Sudanese demonstrators have been killed since anti-regime protests erupted countrywide last December, the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors said in a report released Monday.

“The most recent casualty was Saad Mohamed Ahmed, who was killed by a bullet to the abdomen,” the report asserts.

Ahmed was reportedly killed Saturday when security forces used live ammunition to break up a demonstration in the southwestern city of Nyala.

In its report, the doctors’ committee provides the names of the 90 slain protesters, along with information on the circumstances of their death.

It also urges members of the public to provide any additional information they might have regarding the death of demonstrators.

The committee goes on to lament the difficulties involved in documenting victims amid what it describes as a “media blackout” imposed by the Sudanese security forces and “those who still seek to protect the regime”.

According to the doctors’ committee, protesters have been killed by gunfire, by torture and by inhaling excessive teargas. Some, it said, had been run over by vehicles during recent demonstrations.

On April 11, the Sudanese army announced the “removal” of President Omar al-Bashir following months of popular protests against his 30-year rule.

A Military Transitional Council (MTC) is now overseeing a two-year “transitional phase” during which it has pledged to hold free presidential elections.

Demonstrators, however, have remained in the streets to demand that the MTC hand over power -- at the earliest possible date -- to a civilian authority.