Sudan Commemorates One-Year Anniversary of Khartoum Massacre

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the deadly Khartoum crackdown which saw at least 118 protesters killed during mass demonstrations in Sudan's capital. After former President Omar al-Bashir stepped down and the military subsequently took over, protesters participated in a sit-in where they demanded that the military transfer power to civilians instead. In an alleged attempt to disperse the protesting crowd, the military used deadly force.

A year has passed since London's Brunel University student, Mohamed Mattar, was killed as he attempted to protect two women amid the dispersion of protesters by armed security forces. A year since social media turned blue in honour of the young man and "all those Sudanese people who have fallen in the uprising," Mattar's friend Shahd Khidir explained.

As many have attempted to make their way to Khartoum to commemorate the massacre, the army has been deployed and has erected barbed wire fences and concrete slabs to block off roads leading to the capital city, BBC reports. It is not yet clear, however, why there are attempts to prevent people from peacefully gathering at the site.

Although the country has gone on to form a transitional government or Sovereign Council comprising of members of both the military and civilians, alongside the appointment of Abdalla Hamdok as the transitional Prime Minister, many of those responsible for the loss of life during protests have not been brought to book.

Women who were raped by security forces on that day have also expressed tremendous dismay at their perpetrators having not been duly charged for their crimes. A trauma center at Khartoum's Ahfad University, which received victims on that day, reportedly documented at least 64 rapes.