{"id":20108682,"date":"2025-01-05T15:09:23","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T14:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20108682"},"modified":"2025-01-06T17:15:54","modified_gmt":"2025-01-06T16:15:54","slug":"from-dreams-to-ashes-a-year-in-sudanese-cartoons-by-omar-dafallah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/from-dreams-to-ashes-a-year-in-sudanese-cartoons-by-omar-dafallah","title":{"rendered":"From dreams to ashes: A year in Sudanese cartoons by Omar Dafallah"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One and a half years since the war between Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) began in Sudan, Dabanga – Radio TV Online presents you with a visual compilation of struggles for power and peace during wartime, featuring a dark and witty series from the barbed pen of Sudanese veteran cartoonist Omar Dafallah.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The year began on a sour note in Sudan, as the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) warned that the humanitarian response was insufficient for the victims of “the world\u2019s largest displacement crisis<\/a>.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 20, Sudanese de facto government froze<\/a> its Horn of Africa Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) membership after the organisation received RSF Commander Mohamed \u2018Hemedti\u2019 Dagalo at its summit earlier that month. One of the first cartoons of the year joked about the ‘tactical withdrawal’<\/a> of SAF troops from garrisons during battles with the RSF. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Man (R): “They say that El Burhan wants to withdraw from IGAD.” Man (L): “In which state lies this IGAD garrison?” (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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As reports of people starving to death<\/a> began to emanate from Darfur in February, the warring powers tried their hands at intnernational relations. The Sudanese de facto government and Iran made amends, as Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, president of the Sovereignty Council and SAF commander-in-chief, travelled to Algeria, Libya, and Egypt. Hemedti visited Libya. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, hopes of the Tagadom alliance meeting with the army leader<\/a> to talk about a Declaration of Principles<\/a> and ceasefire faded, then sparked again in March after former PM Abdalla Hamdok was invited to Cairo<\/a> for talks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Is the arena ready to receive a third force? (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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So the Saudi Arabians rolled out the red carpet, in another attempt to bring together the warring parties, which failed to adopt the UN Security Council\u2019s adoption of Resolution 2724<\/a> urging an immediate halt to hostilities in Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Saudi-US mediation, despite managing to lure in Burhan, failed to agree on the involvement of regional parties<\/a>, especially the United Arab Emirates. In an interview with Dabanga, senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington Cameron Hudson <\/a>asked: “Is it too late for Washington to regain its lost influence?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The carrot is not working anymore (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"Did the warrior pass by here
Like a shell in war?
Did his fragments break the teacups in the caf\u00e9?
I see cities made of paper armed with kings and khaki suits,
I see cities crowning their conquerors,
And the East is sometimes the opposite of the West,
And the East is sometimes the West,
With its icons and commodities.
I see cities crowning their conquerors,
And exporting martyrs to import whiskey,
And the latest inventions in sex and torture.
Did the warrior pass by here,
Like a shell in war?<\/em>\"

- Omar Dafallah<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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Imagination wastes away while the children play (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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By May 3, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) warned of famine in Sudan if food access did not improve. The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) issued a damning report on human rights atrocities<\/a> later that month, as the RSF advanced into new territories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The de facto government reportedly began working on a new constitutional framework for a new government<\/a> in Port Sudan, as the military junta claimed to be strengthening relations with Russia and Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Do not drag me from the depths (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee warned that “time is running out for millions of people<\/a> in Sudan” towards the end of May. Reports of mass displacement in Jebel Marra, Central Darfur, were compounded by confirmation that RSF elements had killed more than 100 people<\/a> in Wad El Noura village in El Gezira.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On June 11, this prompted the International Criminal Court (ICC) to step-up its investigations into crimes<\/a> committed during the war in Sudan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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He swung between the daggers of the world and the gates of heaven and died in oblivion like the ancient nation (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Despite the ongoing documentation of humanitarian violations, extrajudicial killings, detentions, rape, bombing, and malnutrition in Sudan, news of the crisis did not seem to reach across national boundaries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As both warring parties began accusing civilians of aligning with the opposition, the risk for those who spoke out against the war<\/a> grew significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Can Geneva succeed where Jeddah failed? (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Towards the end of August, new Geneva talks<\/a> led to a breakthrough when the Sovereignty Council agreed to reopen the Adr\u00e9 crossing at the Chad-Darfur border for three months to transport much-needed aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That month, the Sudanese Air Forces continued to bombard residential areas, including camps for displaced people. Meanwhile, the RSF continued to attack civilians in the areas under their control. “With Sudan\u2019s media muzzled, famine ravages a nation in the dark<\/a>,” the Sudan Media Forum reported on August 23.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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UN mission announces that it suspects war crimes in Sudan (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\"How many times will you travel?
And for how long will you travel?
And for what dream?
And if you return one day, 
To what exile will you return?
To what exile will you return?<\/em>\"

- Omar Dafallah<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
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How many times will you travel? (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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In September, UN human rights experts<\/a> expressed \u201ctheir grave concern for the many documented cases of sexual abuse, rape, enforced prostitution, sexual slavery<\/a>, kidnapping<\/a>, enforced disappearances<\/a>, and unlawful killings by the RSF and other armed groups.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From January 1 to November 29, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data organisation (ACLED) recorded 1,792 incidents of violence against civilians<\/a> and 4,202 reported fatalities as a result of civilian targeting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On December 24, the IOM estimated that 11,532,774 people were displaced in Sudan<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A billion dollars of Sudanese gold into Egypt’s coffers (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Despite the ongoing atrocities, reports piled in of international actors profiting from the war<\/a> in Sudan, as depicted by Dafallah’s cartoon of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi escaping Sudan with a suitcase of gold. The production and trade of gold, which lies in rich deposits across the country, actually surpassed prewar levels in 2024. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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From dreams to ashes (Cartoon: Omar Dafallah \/ RD)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The latest IPC Acute Food Insecurity Projection for Sudan, published on December 24, reported that Abu Shouk and El Salam camps for displaced people in North Darfur and parts of the Nuba Mountains are now experiencing famine<\/a>. Five additional areas in North Darfur are projected to face famine within six months. 17 areas in the Nuba Mountains and parts of North and South Darfur are at significant risk of famine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the humanitarian crisis deepens and international aid remains crucial in halting the ongoing freefall, Dafallah’s cartoons continue to accurately depict the twists and turns along Sudan’s path to peace<\/a>, which grows ever more elusive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\"And we came from a country that has no country,
We came from the hands of factions and from exhaustion...
The desolation of this land that extends,<\/em>
From the prince\u2019s palace to our cells,
And from our first dreams to\u2026 ashes<\/em>\"

- Omar Dafallah<\/pre>\n