Special Report
2022
The Spread of Non-Violent Action: The Case of the 2018–2019 Revolution in Sudan
In April 2019, Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir was deposed in a coup d’etat that was preceded by months of pressure from the largest social movement in recent history.
In August 2018, Omar al-Bashir, the long-time ruler of Sudan, announced he would run for a third term, but the ruling coalition was divided about supporting this move, which would require changing the constitution. In December 2018, mass protests against rising food prices broke out in several cities and on January 1, 2019, hundreds of civic and political organizations came together to form the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), a committee that coordinated the subsequent nonviolent resistance movement which eventually led to the president's ouster.
What contributed to this movement’s unprecedented scope and scale? And why did it start in January 2019, when economic discontent had been growing for years? Click here to download the case study summary and click here to download the full case study report to learn more about these protests in Sudan.
This case study is part of Freedom House's research project, How Civic Mobilizations Grow in Authoritarian Contexts .