The Big Losing Deal (5-7) Pre-War Arrangements

Al-Tijani Abdel Qader Hamid
July 25, 2024

In order for the “deal” to be implemented accurately, Hemeti was given three tactical steps to follow: media statements, constitutional arrangements, and military-field preparations. As for media statements – which is the easiest step – only a few months after the deal was concluded, Hemeti began issuing the agreed-upon statements, and suddenly announced his relinquishment of power to civilians. Although he did not give up the position of “deputy” who masterminded the coup, the Forces of Freedom and Change FFC – the Central Council – rushed (Saturday, July 23, 2022) to praise that announcement (which was agreed upon in advance), and said in a statement that Hemeti’s statement contained a positive acknowledgment of some of the demands of the mass movement, the most important of which is the necessity of handing over complete power to civilians, and the complete withdrawal of the military institution from politics (1). Lt. Gen. Hemeti followed up that statement with a second statement (2) saying that the SAF had failed to correct the course, and that Sudan was heading towards the worst.
When asked if he was thinking of running for president, he said that he had no political ambitions, but “if we see Sudan collapsing, we will be there.
Then, for the third time, he wanted to confirm his new position, so this time he chose Kordofan state (where his tribal incubator is located), while addressing the forum of native administrations of West and South Kordofan states.
He was speaking in that meeting, fully embodying the role of the President of the Republic that he had promised in his meeting with the Group of Four, where he affirmed that he “will not allow” Sudan to return to what it was before the fall of the deposed president’s regime, in reference to the (Islamic and native) forces that stood with the initiative of the grandfather Khalifa.
Some local newspapers did not miss this major shift, as the main headline in Sudan Tribune was: Hemeti makes provocative statements and criticizes allowing demonstrators to reach the palace and suppressing others. (3) It is clear from this reference that Hemeti wanted to flirt with the youth of the revolution who were demonstrating against the coup of which he was one of the pillars, so he repeated the saying: “I am with change, even the youth who insult me ​​in the streets, I am with them.” Although he did not attack Lt. Gen.Burhan, he made negative references to Lt. Gen. Kabashi, a member of the Revolutionary Council and a main partner in the coup, against the backdrop of the tribal conflict between the Misseriya and the Nuba in the city of Lagawa, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF )were accused of participating in it in favor of the Misseriya.
However, the statements alone were not enough, as there must be an appropriate constitutional cover through which the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) can restore what has become known as the “blood partnership” (4) with those they described as the military-coup component, so that they can reposition themselves in the political arena.
Likewise, Hemeti was in need of a similar constitutional cover through which he could transform himself from a conspiratorial coup plotter into a noble democrat. That cover suddenly came from an unexpected corner, dragged by a temporary committee of the Bar Association.
The Bar Association and its Constitutional Arrangements:

In order for the proposed constitutional arrangements to gain momentum that would conceal their source and content, they were intended to emerge in the form of a noisy celebration.
The Bar Association in Al-Amarat suburb witnessed – as stated in some press reports (5) – an unprecedented gathering, under a huge tent, in which the ambassadors of the Quartet (the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia and the Emirates) were notable, in addition to the ambassadors of Germany, Norway, Canada, Sweden, Spain and others. The meeting held was a workshop called by the temporary committee of the Bar Association to present a proposed draft constitution for the transitional period that would abolish the basic constitutional document on which the ruling coalition prior to the coup was based.
The draft law includes many articles that there is no room to list now, but two things are noteworthy: the first is the cancellation of decisions issued before, on or after October 25, 2021, including regional and international agreements (meaning, of course, the Sudanese-Russian agreement); the second is what was stated regarding the crime of dispersing the sit-in (June 2019), and regarding immunities for those holding constitutional positions.
The draft law referred in a hidden way to the sensitive, essential issue related to the crime of “dispersing the sit-in at the leadership”, and stipulated the formation of a new national committee (bypassing the previous committee headed by lawyer Nabil Adeeb) that will be entrusted with the task of investigating all crimes committed during the armed conflict in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, with the reconstitution of the National Committee to Investigate Violations and Crimes Committed on June 3, 2019 (i.e. the crimes of dispersing the sit-in).
He pointed out – in the immunities clause – that it is not permissible to take legal action against those occupying the highest sovereign positions in the regular agencies upon the issuance of the constitution by virtue of their constitutional or military positions regarding any legal violations committed before the signing of the transitional constitution. Then the draft constitution made a fundamental amendment to the composition and powers of the Sovereignty Council TSC, making its presidency rotating, and making among its tasks the granting of “general and conditional amnesty and the dropping of punishment.” Based on this, it was not surprising that Lt. Gen.Hemeti was the first to express a warm welcome to this draft without reviewing its other clauses, as these clauses provide him and his forces with sufficient legal immunity, and then open the door wide for him to be a potential president of the Sovereignty Council TSC (as long as it is a rotating presidency), and it also puts him in a position to “grant amnesty and drop punishment” if circumstances change and the “sit-in” file moves and reaches the judiciary. As for the presence of the ambassadors of Group of Four, it represents strong support for Lt. Gen. Hemeti, and an affirmation of commitment to the deal that was previously concluded with him.
On the other hand, the military component (Burhan’s wing) found itself in a difficult position, as it was unable to completely object to a document that it knew the Quad Mechanism was behind, so it resorted to the “amendments” approach.
It submitted two amendments, one in the section on immunities and the other in the investigation procedures related to the dispersal of the sit-in.
In the section on the dispersal of the sit-in, it proposed that: “The leaders of the armed forces SAF and the Rapid Support Forces RSF pledge to assist and not object or obstruct in implementing the following: expediting the completion of the investigation into the dispersal of the June 2019 sit-in, identifying those criminally responsible for it, forming a transitional justice commission, and designing a comprehensive process with the participation of the victims’ families to ensure the disclosure of the facts, justice for the victims, comprehensive reconciliation, and institutional reform that ensures that past crimes are not repeated.”
This is a text that the armed forces introduced because they believed that they would not lose anything from it, but for Lt. Gen.Hemeti and his partners in the Quad, it is a heavy and bitter text that is difficult to swallow. The other text that will destroy both the draft and the deal is what was included in the second amendment submitted by the military component in the chapter on immunities.
Instead of being satisfied with what was included in the draft, which stated that “legal measures may not be taken against those occupying senior sovereign positions in the regular agencies upon the issuance of the constitution by virtue of their constitutional or military positions regarding any legal violations committed before the signing of the transitional constitution,” the amendment stated: “unless that act or omission that is the subject of the violation involves a physical assault that the supreme leadership directly ordered an individual or member to commit” (6). That is, there is no immunity for the senior constitutional and military leaderships if the investigation proves that they were involved in the crime of dispersing the sit-in.
These were undoubtedly shocking amendments to Lieutenant General Hemeti, because they would undermine the pledge made with him by the Quadripartite Mechanism, which caused the draft of the lawyers and their committee to be thrown together into the trash can (it was later confirmed that the Lawyers’ Committee was a dissolved committee that had no legal basis or real representation of Sudanese lawyers, and it was also suggested that the draft put forward in their name was nothing more than a translation of a document prepared by an American organization. (7) We continue
Margins:
(1) BBC Arabic, July 24, 2022
(2) BBC Arabic, August 1, 2022
(3) Sudan Tribune newspaper (November 27, 2022)
(4) The Sudanese Communist Party withdrew from the Forces of Freedom and Change (the ruling coalition at the time) on November 7, 2020, and considered that the “QHT” partnership with the military was a “blood partnership” that would not lead to achieving the demands of the Sudanese revolution. See Madar newspaper, September 30, 2021). (5) Al Jazeera Net, September 15, 2022
(6) For a summary of these amendments, see: Sawt Beirut International (SBI), November 15, 2022. www.sawtbeirut/world-news 2022
(7) This organization is known as the Public International Law & Policy Group, and its team includes members of the Forces of Freedom and Change, and provides its legal services to those who wish. (See its website: www.publicinternationallawandpol
icygroup.org)