Today marks six years since the bloody massacres unleashed by Sudan’s counter-revolutionary forces, led by the country’s two main militias—the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 

On June 3, 2019, these state-backed death squads launched a coordinated assault on peaceful revolutionaries camped outside military headquarters in Khartoum and in 13 other cities across Sudan. Thousands were killed, women and men were raped, bodies were burned, and many were tied by their legs and thrown—still alive—into the Nile. It was a calculated act of terror, designed to crush a revolutionary movement that had dared to challenge decades of military dictatorship and capitalist exploitation.

The sit-ins, which began on April 6, 2019, after months of mass protests, strikes, and civil disobedience, became revolutionary spaces—alive with music, discussion, political education, and dreams of a new Sudan. Outside the gates of military power, students, workers, artists, and intellectuals gathered to meet and organise a radically different future. These revolutionary encampments posed a direct threat to the regime—not only by demanding the fall of Bashir, but by beginning to build, from below, an alternative to the corrupt and violent state.

The very same generals and warlords who led the 2019 massacres turned their guns on each other in April 2023. What began as a power struggle between rival militias of the ruling class quickly escalated into a genocidal war, with the revolutionary movement still their primary target. More than 14.5 million people have been displaced—making Sudan the site of the world’s largest displacement crisis. Entire cities have been destroyed. Hospitals, schools, and vital infrastructure lie in ruins. But the goal remains the same: to drown the revolution in blood.

Behind both the massacres and the war lie not only the hands of the SAF and RSF, but the fingerprints of foreign powers and multinational profiteers who arm and fund these militias in pursuit of oil, gold, and geopolitical control. These counter-revolutionary militias do not act alone—they are backed by regional dictatorships, global arms industries, and imperialist governments who see Sudan’s revolution as a threat to the global and regional order.

As we mark this sixth anniversary, we remember the martyrs not with silence, but with struggle. We honour their sacrifice by redoubling our commitment to the revolutionary forces still organising in the face of genocide—from the resistance committees and trade unions to the women’s organisations, demand-based campaigns, and grassroots mutual aid networks. Their bravery is our hope. Their cause is just. Their call—Freedom, Peace, and Justice—continues to ring out across Sudan and beyond.

We stand in full solidarity with the Sudanese revolution. We say clearly: the future belongs not to the generals or their foreign backers, but to the people, to the workers, and to the revolutionary forces fighting for liberation from capitalism, military rule, and imperialism.

Freedom, peace, and justice; revolution is the choice of the people!

Take action:

• Access our Stop the War in Sudan toolkit and sign the postcard addressed to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, urging the British government to support the Sudanese people.
• Share this motion with your union branch and advocate for its adoption: Model Motion – Stand with Sudan: Stop the War, Support the People
• Read our analysis, “The Illusion of Choice: Why People Should Reject Both Sides of the War in Sudan”, for essential background on the warring factions and the revolutionary alternative.
• Download / order our newly released “Sudan’s Revolutionary and Popular Movements: a research report”. 

Download resources:

• ‘Sudan’s Militia War on the People’ Sudan Update April 2025 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Reject both sides in Sudan’s war’ Sudan Update February 2025 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Famine is the new war’ Sudan Update September 2024 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Stopping Sudan’s hidden war’ Sudan Update March 2024 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Why is there a war in Sudan?’ Sudan Update May 2023 – download the leaflet >>here
• ‘Stop the war in Sudan’ Sudan Update April 2023 – download the leaflet >>here
• Stop the war in Sudan / Refugees welcome A4 poster – download >>here