Sudan has been through a lot over the past 20 years: a brutal civil war that created the country of South Sudan and another war in the western region of Darfur. With all of this conflict, it’s easy to forget the other problem they have: the president of Sudan has been in power for 30 years, and he is known for bringing a cruel iron fist down on the country to keep it.

Omar al-Bashir first took power in 1989 from a military coup. During this time, Sudan was deeply entrenched in the second Sudanese Civil War, and the country was in a state of mass conflict and instability. The coup was made in an attempt to stop the civil war, although despite it, war still raged until 2005. While Al-Bashir is responsible for eventually ending this war with negotiations, he is by no means a savior to the Sudanese people. He has been known to oppress the non-Arab population, starting the war in Darfur where he has been indicted as an “indirect co-perpetrator” by the International Criminal Court for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Despite this, the Sudanese government does not recognize these charges or the International Criminal Court, so he could not be stopped. Additionally, he has been known to house Islamist leaders and extremists, including for a time, Osama bin Laden. bread and gas. Sudan’s economy is so horrible that the price of bread has tripled in recent times. The economic crisis started because of US sanctions due to Sudan harboring terrorists, which was al-Bashir’s idea. The people, having realized this, are now trying to get rid of him. It seems that the lack of war has made the people of Sudan painfully aware of their ruler’s

While these are horrible crimes, they are not the reason that the people are now calling for his removal. Instead, these protests started in a way we have seen before in history: over bread. Organized rebellion began on December 19th, after the announcement of even higher prices on authoritarian behavior, and they are done putting up with it.

Despite people all over the country demanding his resignation, al-Bashir has hardened his position, and the ruling party has still agreed to back him in the upcoming 2020 elections. As of right now, he still holds power, but no one is sure whether he will be able to quash a rebellion of this magnitude, or if it will finally mark the end of his tyrannous reign. “Revolution is the people’s choice” is a chant that can be heard throughout the streets of Khartoum. Let’s hope that the people get what they want.