A/HRC/42/63 14. The standoff between the protesters and the Government escalated on 6 April, when thousands of protesters began a sit-in in front of the headquarters of the Sudanese Armed Forces in Khartoum, asking the army to side with their demands. Similar sit-ins were held in front of the army headquarters in other states, including in Darfur. Forces of the National Intelligence and Security Service in Khartoum, under separate command from the army, acted to break up the sit-in on 8 and 9 April, using tear gas and, reportedly, live ammunition. Credible reports indicate that junior army officers intervened to protect protesters and clashed with forces from the National Intelligence and Security Services. 15. The events in early April marked an apex of reported excessive use of force against protesters by security forces, particularly by members of the National Intelligence and Security Services. According to multiple reports, security forces stormed and raided hospitals, mosques, university campuses and houses. On 8 April, the Government stated that 46 people had been killed since the beginning of the protests in December 2018. 6 However, human rights groups and the Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors, which is affiliated with the Sudanese Professionals Association, later suggested that the death toll exceeded 100 between December and April. Reports also suggested that an enormous number of protesters had been arbitrarily arrested, including opposition leaders, political activists, journalists, members of civil society, doctors, university professors, engineers and students. The Government imposed severe restrictions on national and international media, banning several local newspapers, raiding the office of the Al-Jazeera television network in Khartoum on 7 April and closing the Al-Arabiya television network on 9 April. 16. On 11 April, President al-Bashir and his Government were removed from power by the newly formed Transitional Military Council. The Council was briefly led by the First Vice-President and Minister of Defence, Awad Ibn Auf, who stepped down on 12 April, after which Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan was appointed as the new Chair. Lieutenant General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the Rapid Support Forces commander also known as Hemedti, was appointed Deputy Chair. Following demands by the Forces for Freedom and Change, four members of the Transitional Military Council and the Director of the National Intelligence and Security Services resigned. The Permanent Representatives of the Sudan to the United Nations in New York and Geneva were recalled from their positions. Political detainees numbering in the hundreds, and possibly thousands, were released. 17. The sudden changes in power in the Sudan prompted the Peace and Security Council of the African Union to issue a statement on 15 April demanding a handover of power to a civilian-led transitional authority within 15 days; the deadline was subsequently extended for an additional period of up to 60 days, to 30 June. 18. The events in Khartoum and across the country had a particular effect in Darfur, where the use of force by security forces on protesters reportedly left as many as 47 civilians killed and 186 injured between 11 April and 12 June. In one of the most significant incidents, community members of Deleij village in Central Darfur reported that armed men, who they alleged were affiliated with the Rapid Support Forces, carried out an attack on their village on 9 and 10 June that resulted in the deaths of at least 15 people and significant destruction of homes, shops and other private property. 19. The series of protests and the responses by the Government and security forces starting in December 2018 also influenced the Darfur peace process. Although a prenegotiation agreement had been signed by the Justice and Equality Movement, the Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minawi and the Government of the Sudan on 6 December, the Darfuri signatory movements suspended their participation in the follow-up negotiations in solidarity with the protesters. Many armed movements from Darfur became constituent members of the Forces for Freedom and Change, welcomed the fall of President al-Bashir and supported demands for a civilian-led transitional government, but they had yet to articulate a coherent position on their role in the transition by the end of June. Reports also suggest that on 27 June in Chad, under the auspices of the President of Chad, Idriss Déby, an understanding on cessation of hostilities was reached between the Deputy Chair of the 6 “Sudan says protests death toll rises to 46”, Sudan Tribune, 8 April 2019. 5