An affiliate of the Sudanese Professionals Association

February 3rd 2019
Special Release.

A) The 2018 December Uprising
Honor and Glory to the Martyrs of Sudan's December 2018 Uprising and to all the those who gave their lives fighting for Freedom Justice and Dignity to the Sudanese People during the 30 years Dictatorship of the present regime. Our sincere condolences to their families. As we wish a speedy recovery to the countless who were injured, we pay special respect to the more than 3500 men and women representing the whole spectrum of the Sudanese civil Society who were detained by the Security Apparatus of the regime during the ongoing Popular uprising. It is with dread that we await credible information on the well being of political leaders and professional and youth activists who are held in detention centers run by The State Security and Intelligence Service of the government of Sudan in contravention to Sudan's Constitution and without giving them the right to the due process of law. Their only crime being submission of memoranda and peaceful demonstrations.
The Sudanese people have been peacefully resisting for years the oppression of the present Regime always with dire consequences. Of particular note is the peaceful youth uprising of September 2013 to protest steep price hikes in which the Security forces killed over 200 protestors in cold blood. It was with great sorrow and anger that the Sudanese people endured this atrocity in addition countless others committed against civilians especially in the conflict areas in Southern Sudan and later in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and the Blue Nile Provinces. By 2016 the intensity and scale of opposition increased. This manifested itself in the doctors strike, Pharmacists strike, Teachers strikes, students protests, limited Civil disobedience and a multitude of small scale protests from special grievances groups.
Following the catastrophic 2018 budget almost all major political opposition parties protested in peaceful demonstration against it with resultant mass arrests of political leaders by the state security. From then onwards the opposition adopted an approach of joint coordination aiming at collective organized action towards ending a corrupt regime which was pushing the whole country into economic ruin with resultant distruction of the social fabric of the country culminating in chaos and disintegration.
The current Popular Uprising started on the 13th of December 2018 by the Blue Nile University students in Damazin and Sinnar in the form of peaceful demonstrations protesting against severe shortages in bread, fuel and currency and hyperinflation. They were joined by the general public. This was followed by demonstrations on a massive scale

in the cities of Atbara in the Northern State, and Portsudan the Red Sea port on the 19th, and Gadarif city in Eastern Sudan on the 20th of December. The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), a parallel non official organization of 8 professions, joined this genuine grassroots uprising by a Declaration of Support on the 23rd of December and conducting two defiance marches on the 25th the 31st of December, aiming to reach the presidential palace with a memorandum demanding Albashir and his regime to abdicate power to the people of Sudan. The two marches were brutally suppressed but they established the SPA as the de-facto leader of the December Uprising especially among the youth and women movements. This was a natural turn of events as in the collective psyche of the people of Sudan this has had historical precedents twice before. The first in the October Revolution of 1964 against General Ibrahim Abboud's Military Dictatorship, and the second in the April Uprising of 1985 Against Gaafar Nimairy's Dictatorship, in both of which the professionals trade unions led the uprisings till the downfall of the regimes. From then on the December Uprising under the organization and guidance of the SPA in collaboration with the opposition political parties spread to all the major cities in Sudan and to small cities and villages in the rural areas. The protests have one aim in mind and that is the downfall of the regime and restoration of Democracy.
B) The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA)
The SPA was originally formed by 8 Professional Associations that included University Lecturers, Doctors, lawyers, School Teachers, journalists, engineers, veterinary doctors, and pharmacists. The idea of forming a secret professionals organization parallel to the state controlled and sponsored unions to fight for the well fare of its members started in the year 2013 after the September uprising but gained momentum after the Doctors strike of October - November 2016. Secret Organizational work started in early 2017. The SPA was announced officially in a press conference in May and again in August 2018. It launched its activity by holding talks with some members of parliament in regards to poor wages in the face of the ongoing economic crisis generated by the 2018 National Budgetary measures. When the Popular Uprising ignited for the first time in Sudan outside the capital Khartoum the SPA issued a historic declaration on the 23rd of December supporting the uprising, calling for the downfall of the regime and ordered the first peaceful march on the 25th to the palace to force President Albashir to hand power peacefully to the people. To date almost all other professional associations and unions, and Students from all public and almost all private universities, declared their allegiance to the SPA and the Declaration of Freedom and Peace.
For obvious reasons the identity of the SPA leadership is kept secret, a major weapon against the brutal machinery of the State Security. Already a multitude of professionals, including women, were arrested among them two members of the SPA Secretariat. The first is Mohammed Nagi Alassam a Doctor who broadcasted the Freedom and Change Declaration uniting the opposition on U-Tube, and the second Ahmed Rabie Sidahmed the

secretary general of the SPA who declared its formation in a press conference back in August 2018.
C) The Freedom and Change Coalition
Following extensive meetings, a broad coalition (Annex 1) was formed including almost all opposition political parties (including the two main opposition coalitions the National Consensus Forces and the Sudan Call), Professionals and Trade Union groups under the umbrella of the Sudan Professionals Association (SPA), youth and women's movements, civil society movements and institutions and a multitude of groups with special grievances. All were united under the "Declaration of Freedom and change" signed on the 1st of January 2019 (Annex 2). The door was left wide open for all, even for the islamists to join the peoples uprising.
"The Freedom and Change Coalition" is committed to an all inclusive transparent democratic system in which all have equal rights under the law. The coalition has been building upon and updating all previous agreements and national recovery policies developed over the years since the Asmara accords in 1995 and contributed by the various political alliances and groups to date including the latest viz. "The Third Option Initiative" of the Sudanese professionals working in international organizations and The University of Khartoum initiative on the transitional period governing structures and programs . On the basis of all these, the Interim Constitution and hence governing bodies of the Transitional period, and its recovery programs are almost ready and await unanimous agreement.
B) Special Issues.
There are special issues which have been raised by many of our regional and international stakeholders. These are genuine concerns and will be addressed briefly in the coming paragraphs.
1) Transitional Justice.
The Freedom and Change Coalition advocates an all inclusive democratic and transparent system with equal rights to all under the constitution. This includes even the islamists. We urge them to join the December uprising and stand by the peoples' choices. However All those who are found through judicial process to have committed crimes during the last 30 years will be subjected to fair trials under the national prevailing laws and in accordance with international norms.
2) Southern Sudan.
The Declaration of Freedom and change in Article B item 7 on foreign policy stresses on a unique and special relationship with Southern Sudan. The Freedom and Change Coalition is committed to exerting every effort in helping to consolidate and maintain the peace process in Southern Sudan. The coalition advocates free trade agreements with Southern Sudan with free access to Sudan's Red Sea Ports, and free movement of people between the

two states. In addition there is almost unanimous agreement on restoring the right to the Sudanese citizenship to all those Sudanese of Southern ethnicity who have been residing in the North before the 2011 referendum, which was denied them by the present regime.
3) Sudan's Neighbors and the international Community.
The Freedom and Change forces Coalition is committed to improving and maintaining good relations with all of Sudan's neighbor based on mutual cooperation and non- interference . After three decades antagonistic and adventurous policies by the present regime The Coalition looks forwards to becoming again an active member in the international community promoting peace and stability.
4) Immigration and Refugees
There is no doubt that a new democratic rule post this regime the flood of citizens seeking legal and illegal immigration abroad will cease dramatically. In addition, as it happened before after the April Uprising of 1985 and Comprehensive peace agreement of 2005, a sizable proportion of those who had immigrated to various parts of the world will return back home to contribute to national rebuilding.
As to refugees from other nationalities residing in, or passing through lawfully, Sudan has always been a safe place during periods of wars, conflicts, and hard times. This included most of our neighbors at one time or another. Of late Sudan have accommodated even refugees from as far away as Syria. This policy would continue but international assistance will be needed to safeguard the safety and well being of the refugees in such a way as to find legal solutions for their predicaments. Major assistance will be needed in borders control and in fighting the illegal smuggling and trafficking in human beings.
5) The issue of Counter Terrorism
The Sudanese people have endured great economic and social hardships resulting from the current regime's policies since it came to power in 1989 in sponsoring terrorist groups, providing them with a safe haven in Sudan, supporting radical organizations, and directly involving itself in acts of terror as evidenced by many examples and incidents. The reversal of the regime's stance and its current collaboration in the fight against terrorism is not a genuine one but the outcome of the extreme pressure in various forms exerted by the international community. The acts of Terror that the regime is committing now is towards its own people
The Coalition of Freedom and change is fully committed to the cause of fighting terrorism regionally and internationally in all its forms as it has suffered greatly form it.