The popular campaign to protect service facilities – the face of truth – ✍️ Ibrahim Shaqlawi
In the midst of the complex conflict in our country, a new national initiative entitled “the popular campaign to protect service facilities” appeared, as the expression of increasing community vigilance in the face of targeting Sudan. This initiative came to present a societal vision aimed at protecting infrastructure, the most important of which is the electrical installations which have become a frequent target of systematic attacks by the rapid support militia, using advanced technologies, such as strategic clarifications, in a clear indication of direct regional support.
The attacks of last Wednesday against the power plants of the Greater Omdurman City -such as the Al -Martiya station, the Wad Al -Bakhit station and the Mahdia station -took place during a short period of time not exceeding half an hour, which reflects a high level of technical and shameful military coordination, and confirms that its objective is to paralyzer facilities and disrupt the daily life of the population.
It is clear that the case has exceeded the sabotage of the infrastructure, to target societal stability. In light of the interruption of electricity and water, and the stop of hospitals and bakeries, it becomes impossible to restore the natural lifestyle or the return of the population at home, which contributes to deepening the crisis of internal displacement and destabilization of citizens.
From the point of view of international humanitarian law, targeting these facilities is a war crime. Article 52 of the first Protocol of Geneva Conventions in 1977 stipulates that “civil objects cannot be a target of attacks”. The status of the criminal court also considers that targeting civil vital installations, such as hospitals and power plants, constitutes a serious violation of the law. Consequently, targeting electrical installations in Sudan is a local violation which is a sentence of criminal liability, especially if there is direct or indirect external support for these operations.
In this context, the popular campaign launched by activists came as an urgent response to the threat and a model of civil resistance which seeks solidarity with the State in the protection of installations. The initiative, which offers the training of popular media, engineers, businessmen and others, aims not only on the field protection, but also seeks to consolidate the concept of community participation in the preservation of the country’s capacities. The state is not only built with armies, but also the awareness of citizens and their desire to sacrifice, even if it requires that they are human shields to protect these installations. It is now necessary for large media support and a serious interaction of various sectors, and the impact of this initiative is measured by the extent of the response of these sectors and their interaction with the size of the threats.
In this context, what the philosopher Jean -Jacques Rousseau said: “When the homeland faces the danger, the citizen’s first duty is not to ask what the state does, but what he can do for that.” This sense sums up the initiative that sees in people an effective and effective element, and in solidarity is a weapon of non-value that the pistol.
At the official level, government spokesperson Khaled Al -Sir accused the United Arab Emirates of having enabled the quick support militia to use Chinese suicide bombers, violating what is known as the “final user certificate” which requires legal restrictions on weapons import countries. The Sudanese government has also called for direct Chinese intervention to disrupt the technologies of these planes, considering that the collusion of Abu Dhabi with the militia threatens Sudanese national security and contradicts the historic positions of China towards Sudan.
In light of this systematic destruction of the infrastructure, which included Port Sudan on May 6, 2025 and the power plants in Umm Dabaker, Atbar and the Meroe dam, on January 13, a painful paradox is highlighted: the calls to negotiate with the rapid support militia despite its responsibility for this targeting. Unfortunately, Dr. Abdullah Hamdouk, in his recent statements, was satisfied with the call to arrest war without explicit condemnation of the attacks, contenting himself with saying that Sudan crosses the greatest disaster of his history, “the Middle East”. According to observers, silence towards this attack is an immoral position, and it is possible to neglect its condemnation.
According to what we see from the face of the truth, the popular campaign to protect service facilities is a step in the right direction towards the restoration of society in the initiative, and represents a nucleus of national solidarity which confirms that the State cannot be held alone, and that its survival needs a conscious and participating person of defense, defense, the face of challenges. The danger that threatens Sudan today is military and existential, and it obliges everyone as an individual or as an institution to consider himself a party in the battle to defend the idea of the country, and a homeland, until all our efforts are crowned with the restoration of security and peace.
You are fine and well.
Saturday May 17, 2025 ad shglawi55@gmail.com
