Sudan and Operation Decisive Storm

Sudan’s decision to join Operation
Decisive Storm with Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Gulf countries to fight
Yemeni Houthi rebels comes as no surprise.

The government of Sudan has
no limits when it comes to its regional and international allies. Aerial
bombardments were one of the techniques being used against people in South
Sudan during the 1990s civil war, and more recently in the Darfur Genocide and
in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile regions. Nuba Reports, who report from the frontlines in South Kordofan, stated that
3470 bombs targeted civilians since April 2012.

Considering Sudan’s history,
the government is neither concerned with human rights nor the protection of civilians
in Yemen or elsewhere. However, what is surprising is the opposition parties’ overt
support for Sudan’s participation in Operation Decisive Storm.

The Sudan Shadow Government is an opposition
initiative that aims to provide citizens with alternative ways of opposing the
government, in an attempt to evade the conventional ideological clashes that regularly
take place. They monitor government performance, and their volunteer ministers
suggest alternative pursuable programs.

This time around, the
initiative offered no alternatives to taking part in Operation Decisive
Storm, which the government claims will improve Sudan’s international relations
and economic stance.

A statement issued on
the 27 March 2015 did criticize the government for exhausting its
limited military resources and urged diplomatic missions to maintain regular
contact with Sudanese residents in Yemen. However, the shadow government
welcomed military intervention in Yemen on the grounds of breaking Sudan’s
regional isolation due to close relations with Iran since 1989.

The shadow government’s statement
failed to address the consequences the operation would have on civilians in Yemen,
where thousands of Sudanese civilians also reside. On 26 March Altareeq reported that militias had attacked
Sudanese families in Yemen. It was only on 31 March that the evacuation of
Sudanese started to take place.

What’s odd is that there are
concerns for Sudan’s regional legitimacy while the regime’s legitimacy is constantly
being questioned by its own people—a regime that came to power through a
military coup in a country that has been in endless wars ever since.

Major opposition parties in
Sudan boycotted the elections that took place earlier this month, because they are
refusing to give the regime legitimacy. However, representatives of National
Umma Party (NUP), Sudanese Communist Party and Sudanese Baath Party support the
government’s decision to join Operation Decisive Storm.

On the one hand, Mr.
Fadlallah Burma Nasir, the vice president of NUP, told Alsharq Al-Awsat that the operation is taking
place to protect Yemen’s legitimate president from rebellion. It is worth
noting that NUP has signed a joint agreement with the Revolutionary Front—the Sudanese rebels' coalition. It would be interesting to see how the NUP would
react if the Sudanese government called on its allies to eradicate rebellion in
Sudan.

On the other hand Mohamed Ali
Jadin, leader of the Sudanese Baath Party, cautioned against Iranian
intervention. It’s worth noting that the Sudanese Baath Party is ideologically
affiliated with that of Syria, which is supported by the Iranian regime in its
war against the Syrian people.

Amusingly Jadin described Sudan’s
participation in the operation as a step towards fragmenting institutions of
political Islam, even though it is clearly being led by Saudi Arabia – the
leading pillar of Wahhabism and extremism.

Sudan itself is governed by
one of the oldest institutions of political Islam in the region, the Muslim Brotherhood,
who took control of the government in 1989.

Sudan’s opposition stance towards
Operation Decisive Storm has received a lot of criticism from Sudanese social
media users. Some users questioned the Shadow Government’s statement on their Facebook
page. While Ahmad, activist and filmmaker, tweeted:
“It would have been more appropriate if Siddig
Yousif of the communist party announced his solidarity with Yemeni people
rather than supporting a military operation”.

The operation has affected hundreds
of innocent people in Yemen. Yasin Alqubati, a doctor and political activist
from Taaz, posted a photo of a toddler who had been
burnt to death urging parties to stop the hostility and save the lives of
civilians. Abdel Aziz Baraka Sakin, a novelist and Sudanese writer, commented
on the photo with a dark sense of humor: "Maybe
this toddler was one of the disbelievers in Yemen,"
pointing to the government’s justification of joining Operation Decisive Storm to
protect Islam in the region.

The
solidarity with the people in Yemen being expressed on social media suggests
that political boundaries and nationalities are no longer tools for patriotism.
The people who experienced, or are even slightly affected, by war are standing
firmly against it.

It
seems that political parties and initiatives need to learn more about
compassion for their fellow human beings, regardless of the diplomatic gains
they wish to achieve.

As
such, the opposition’s motives to change the regime in Sudan remain questionable
since they see no harm in justifying military operations elsewhere.