Calls to Designate Sudan’s MB as a Terrorist Organization: Will This Dry Up the Sources of War?

With the recent US decision to designate the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) branches/chapters in Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan as “Terrorist Organizations,” the question of Sudan -naturally- comes to the forefront: Is it time to subject the Sudanese Islamic Movement, the Brotherhood’s arm in Sudan, to the same designation?

Calls are rapidly growing from civil society groups, experts, and political actors who believe that the events that took place in Sudan —documented with evidence— are orchestrated by the Muslim Brotherhood as a force driving the war from behind the scenes, exploiting the political vacuum and the conflict of interests within the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) un an effort to prolong the conflict and thwart any negotiated solution.

From this perspective, designating the Sudanese Islamic Movement as a terrorist organization becomes far more than a punitive measure, indeed, it therefore constitutes a necessary step to eliminate one of the most significant sources fueling the ongoing war and clear a genuine path towards peace; one not built upon old networks of destruction.

The MB in Sudan and the War

According to experts, analysts, and a wide spectrum of civilian political forces in Sudan, the Sudanese Islamic Movement —the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan— bears primary and direct responsibility for the ongoing war between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since (April 2023).

Calls to Designate the Sudanese MB as a “Terrorist Group”

Furthermore, the Movement has a “direct role in inciting the continuation of the conflict and obstructing any local, regional, or international initiatives aimed at establishing peace in Sudan,” according to experts interviewed by (Al-Ain News). They emphasized that the Islamic Movement’s record of violence across its various fronts since seizing power in Sudan through a military coup in (June 1989) makes its designation as a terrorist organization, alongside the other branches/chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood targeted by the recent US decision, a priority.

The Administration of US President Donald Trump designated three branches/chapters of the group —in Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan— as “Terrorist Organizations” and imposed sanctions on their members as well as institutions. 

In statements obtained by (Al-Ain News), Khalid Omar Youssef, Vice President of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), accused the Sudanese Islamic Movement of being the “spearhead” of the Muslim Brotherhood in the region. He called on international organizations and major powers to designate it a terrorist organization in an effort to cut off its funding sources as a logical step towards supporting peace in Sudan.

Youssef pointed out that during the rule of former President Omar Al-Bashir (1989-2019), the Islamic Movement provided a “political and security umbrella” for harboringand funding extremist groups, in addition to participating in regional and international terrorist operations, such as the bombings of the US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Furthermore, according to the Vice President of the (SCoP), the Islamic Movement “played a pivotal role in igniting the ongoing war between the Sudanese Army and the Rapid Support Forces, leading to the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.” He stressed that designating it as a terrorist organization has become an important and necessary step toward establishing peace in Sudan.

Mitigating the War

In an interview with (Al-Ain News), Sudanese Journalist and Political Analyst, Maher Abu Al-Jokh stated that designating the Sudanese Islamic Movement as a terrorist group effectively blocks its attempts to perpetuate the war and impose itself by force in future arrangements.

Abu Al-Jokh explained that the group’s empowerment and control over civilian and military institutions in Sudan necessitates its dismantling and removal through terrorist designation, transcending local considerations of eliminating them to become a matter of international and regional consensus.

“This will lead to restrictions on the group’s political, media, economic, and military activities, thus weakening its effectiveness in disrupting the overall political scene,” according to the Sudanese political analyst, who pointed out that “Achieving sustainability and stability for any democratic civilian government in Sudan -at the moment- constitute an impossible task to accomplish without dismantling and ending the military, civilian, and economic influence of the group linked to the terrorist National Congress Party (NCP) with its various affiliates.”

In addition, the Sudanese Journalist and Political Analyst emphasized that “Peace, stability, and an end to the war cannot be achieved without weakening and compelling the Sudanese Military leadership to abandon its alliance with this group, in an attempt to remove it from the scene entirely,” referring to the Islamic Movement (the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan).

A Domestic Approach

The same point was made by thecSudanesePolitical Analyst and Academic Researcher, Hatem Taha, who stressed that any potential designation of the Muslim Brotherhood on international terrorism lists constitutes a mere contributing external factor, which cannot effectively replace an internal or domestic approach.

He explained that “Its true effectiveness depends on the ability of the Sudanese people to utilize it as an opportunity to boldly and responsibly re-examine the Muslim Brotherhood’s experience, rather than reducing it to a mere tool for political alignment or an invitation to regional polarization.” 

In regards to building a consensus Sudanese opinion about the Muslim Brotherhood, the Sudanese Political Analyst shared that such aims require a clearly defined domestic approach based on three fundamental pillars:

First; An explicit acknowledgment of the violent nature of the organization’s rule, as an authoritarian experience that utilized the State and its apparatus to marginalize and subjugate the society.

Second; The necessary conceptual distinction between religion -as a system of spiritual and moral values- and the political organization that employed religion in an effort to justify violence and monopolize power.

Third; Subjecting the organization itself —not ordinary individuals— to legal and political accountability, including its financial, security, and media networks, as they are part of the power structure that led to the current collapse.

Moreover, in regards to the Muslim Brotherhood’s experience in Sudan, Tahastated that the Movement in Sudan was not limited to being an intellectual current or a political party that participated in the democratic process and the transfer of power. Rather, since the 1989 coup, it transformed into a violent and closed authoritarian organization that reshaped the State as well as its institutions based on ideological and organizational loyalty, not on citizenship or competence grounds.

According to Taha, such transformation was accompanied by systematic practices that included:

○ Political repression.

○ The use of systematic torture tactics.

○ Undermining the independence of the Judiciary.

○ Politicizing the Security Service. 

○ Dismantling the Civil Service. 

○ Instigating internal wars.

○ Building economic and financial networks with direct links to the organization.

The Political Analyst and Academic Researcher went on to point out that the absence of a transitional justice project, coupled with the failure to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood’s organizational and economic structure following the fall of their regime in (2019) allowed the organization to reposition itself within State institutions, particularly the military and security establishment.

Declaration of Principles

At the end of last year, the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, witnessed the signing of a joint declaration of principles by the Civil Democratic Alliance of Revolutionary Forces (Sumoud), headed by former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, with the Sudan Liberation Movement, led by Abdul Wahid Al-Nur, and the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party. The aforementioned declaration aimed to end the war in Sudan and called for the designation of the National Congress Party, the Islamic Movement (the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood), as well as its affiliates as “Terrorist Organizations.”

The “Declaration of Principles” group, representing a broad spectrum of Sudanese civil forces and comprising more than 30 professional as well as political entities and Resistance Committees, had previously called on the Quad, major powers, and the Arab League to designate the National Congress Party -the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood- and its affiliates within the Islamic Movement as terrorist groups due to their role in fueling violence, perpetuating the war, and threatening regional as well as international peace and security.

The Sudan Liberation Movement – led by Abdul Wahid Mohamed Al-Nur, stated following the signing of the declaration of principles: “The Sudanese Islamic Movement represents an organized network that contradicts human values and international legal standards. It has been involved in undermining democratic regimes through military coups, instigating internal armed conflicts, fueling ethnic and regional divisions, and supporting armed groups in neighboring countries, which, in turn, resulted in regional security crises and instability. Furthermore, it has been implicated in political assassinations targeting leaders and heads of State in neighboring countries, and in draining national economic resources through networks of corruption and illicit financing, in addition to its empowerment policies that served to weaken State institutions and cost the civil service its qualified personnel.”