military coup - The African Mirror

Jan

2023

Sudan factions start talks for final transition deal

SUDANESE political parties began talks to try to reach a final deal to form a civilian government and resolve other outstanding issues more than a year after a military coup. Last month, the parties signed an outline deal with the military to launch a new political transition towards elections, but protesters criticised the agreement as unrepresentative, and it left contentious points for further talks. One of those points, the policy for dismantling the administration of Omar al-Bashir after his overthrow in an uprising in 2019, is the first to be tackled in talks this week. The process of dissolving Bashir-era institutions and retrieving funds…

Aug

2022

By The African Mirror

Sudanese journalists form independent union to defend freedoms

MEDIA FREEDOM

SUDANESE journalists have formed the country's first independent professional union for decades, in what campaigners said was an important step towards re-establishing freedoms after a military coup. "The victory is to regain our syndicate after more than 30 years in order to defend the freedom and professionalism of the press," said one journalist Waleed Alnour, who waited hours in the sun to cast his vote in an election for the union's leadership on Sunday. The union has 1,164 members, 659 of whom took part in Sunday's vote. Shadow unions that sprang up in opposition to autocrat Omar al-Bashir, who packed…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Guinea has a long history of coups: here are 5 things to know about the country

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ON September 5, officers of an elite special forces army unit overthrew the 83-year-old Guinean President Alpha Condé in a coup. The nation of 13 million is now under the control of junta leader Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, who has dissolved the government and made a series of pronouncements. These include an assurance of calm to the vital mining sector. SUSANNA FIORATTA, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Bryn Mawr The coup was greeted by celebrations on the streets. It has also received the backing of opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo. But there is a lot of uncertainty as to what happens next.…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

Guinea junta freezes govt accounts

NEWS

SALIOU SAMB GUINEA'S military junta, which seized power over the weekend, has ordered the central bank and other banks to freeze all government accounts. On Sunday a group of special forces soldiers said they ousted President Alpha Conde over concerns about poverty and endemic corruption. The banking freeze was aimed at "securing state assets", a junta spokesman announced on the national broadcaster. "This includes public administrative and commercial establishments in all ministries and the presidency, presidential programmes and projects, members of the outgoing government as well as senior officials and administrators of state financial institutions," the spokesman said. A mining…

Sep

2021

By The African Mirror

West African regional bloc suspends Guinea after coup

NEWS

SALIOU SAMB WEST Africa's main political and economic bloc suspended Guinea's membership on Wednesday following a weekend military coup that ousted President Alpha Conde and dealt the latest in a flurry of setbacks to democracy in the region. During a virtual summit, leaders from the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) demanded a return to the constitutional order and Conde's immediate release, and also agreed to send a high-level mission to Guinea as soon as Thursday, said Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Alpha Barry. "At the end of that mission, ECOWAS should be able to re-examine its position," Barry…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

China, Russia undermine international Myanmar response, EU’s top diplomat says

WORLD

KATE ABNETT THE European Union's top diplomat said on Sunday Russia and China were hampering a united international response to Myanmar's military coup and that the EU could offer more economic incentives if democracy returns to the country. "It comes as no surprise that Russia and China are blocking the attempts of the U.N. Security Council, for example, to impose an arms embargo," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a blog post. "Geopolitical competition in Myanmar will make it very difficult to find common ground," said Borrell, who speaks on behalf of the 27 EU member states. "But…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

More than 90 killed in Myanmar in one of bloodiest days of protests

WORLD

SECURITY forces killed more than 90 people across Myanmar yesterday in one of the bloodiest days of protests since a military coup last month, news reports and witnesses said. The lethal crackdown came on Armed Forces Day. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade in the capital Naypyitaw to mark the event that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy. State television had said on Friday that protesters risked being shot "in the head and back". Despite this, demonstrators against the February 1 coup came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

Myanmar court files more charges against Suu Kyi, police crack down on protests

WORLD

MYANMAR'S ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared at a court hearing via video conferencing yesterday as supporters marched in several towns and cities in defiance of a crackdown after the bloodiest day since the February 1 military coup. Police fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse hundreds of protesters in the main city of Yangon on Monday, witnesses said. They later combed through side streets firing rubber bullets and at least one person was hurt, media reported. Army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing In an evening address on state television, army chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing…

Mar

2021

By The African Mirror

At least 18 killed in Myanmar on bloodiest day of protests against coup

WORLD

MYANMAR police fired on protesters around the country yesterday in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations against a military coup and at least 18 people were killed, the U.N. human rights office said. Police were out in force early and opened fire in different parts of the biggest city of Yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up crowds. Soldiers also reinforced police. Several wounded people were hauled away by fellow protesters, leaving bloody smears on pavements, media images showed. One man died after being brought to a hospital with a bullet…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Huge crowds in Myanmar undeterred by worst day of violence

WORLD

HUGE crowds marched in Myanmar yesterday to denounce a February 1 military coup in a show of defiance after the bloodiest episode of the campaign for democracy the previous day, when security forces fired on protesters, killing two. The military has been unable to quell the demonstrations and a civil disobedience campaign of strikes against the coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others, even with a promise of new elections and stern warnings against dissent. Tens of thousands of people massed peacefully in the second city of Mandalay, where Saturday's killings took place, witnesses…