The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have fought since April 2023, erasing the fragile gains of Sudan’s 2019 revolution and leaving no path toward civilian rule. Watercolour of the revolutionary pro-democracy protests in 2019 by Sudanese artist Hussein MerghaniAl Bashir dictatorshipMarking the International Day of Democracy, Sudan’s long authoritarian past under Omar Al Bashir shows how the deliberate dismantling of democratic institutions paved the way for today’s crisis. As Radio Dabanga reported, his period is remembered as “the worst experience of authoritarian rule” in Sudan’s modern history. Freedom House notes that the coup marked a sharp reversal in Sudan’s political rights and civil liberties, pushing the country back toward military rule and undermining public trust in the transition. The Human Rights Watch World Report 2025 notes that over 10.8 million Sudanese are displaced, including more than 8 million uprooted since April 2023.