Thirty years. That is how long Omar al-Bashir held Sudan in a grip that felt, to many, like it would never break. He wasn't just a president; he was the system. When he finally fell in 2019, it wasn't because of a foreign invasion or a sudden heart attack. It was bread. Well, bread and the collective exhaustion of a nation that had seen enough.
If you want to understand the chaos in Sudan today, you have to look at the shadow cast by Omar al-Bashir. He is currently a man defined by two very different realities: the luxury of the presidential palace he occupied for decades and the sterile walls of a prison cell—or a military hospital, depending on which report you believe this week.
He’s a complicated figure. To some in the Arab world, he was a defiant anti-imperialist. To the International Criminal Court (ICC), he’s a fugitive wanted for genocide. To the average person in Khartoum, he’s the man whose economic policies eventually made it impossible to buy a loaf of bread without waiting in line for five hours.
The Rise of a Paratrooper
Omar al-Bashir didn't come from a political dynasty. He was a military man through and through. In 1989, he led a bloodless coup against the democratically elected government of Sadiq al-Mahdi. At the time, Sudan was a mess. The civil war between the north and south was chewing up the country's resources. Bashir promised stability. He promised an end to the "chaos" of democracy.
He teamed up with Hasan al-Turabi, an Islamist hardliner who wanted to turn Sudan into a laboratory for political Islam. It was a weird partnership. Bashir provided the guns; Turabi provided the ideology. Together, they dissolved parliament, banned political parties, and restricted the press. They basically hit the "reset" button on Sudanese society, but the settings they chose were incredibly rigid.
Things got dark pretty fast. In the 90s, Sudan became a pariah state. Why? Because Bashir opened the doors to some of the most dangerous people on the planet. Carlos the Jackal lived there. Osama bin Laden had a business empire in Khartoum and helped build roads while planning global jihad. The U.S. noticed. In 1993, the State Department put Sudan on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. In 1998, Bill Clinton ordered a missile strike on the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum, claiming it was making chemical weapons. Sudan said it was just making aspirin. The truth is likely somewhere in the murky middle, but it showed how isolated Bashir had become.
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The Darfur Crisis and the ICC
You can't talk about Omar al-Bashir without talking about Darfur. This is where his international reputation was cemented as a "villain" in the eyes of the West. In 2003, rebels in the western region of Darfur rose up, complaining that the central government was ignoring them. Bashir’s response was brutal. Instead of sending just the regular army, he empowered the Janjaweed.
These were nomadic Arab militias—the "devils on horseback." They rode into villages, burned everything, and committed atrocities that the UN later labeled as the first genocide of the 21st century.
Bashir always denied he ordered the killings. He called the death toll figures—often cited as 300,000—exaggerated by "Zionist media." But the ICC didn't buy it. In 2009, they issued an arrest warrant for him. Then another in 2010. He became the first sitting head of state to be indicted by the Hague.
Ironically, this didn't stop him from traveling. He'd fly to South Africa, Jordan, or China, and despite the warrants, he was rarely touched. It was a huge embarrassment for international law. It showed that if you have enough oil or enough powerful friends, "international justice" is kinda optional.
The Economy: The Real Killer
While the world focused on Darfur, the Sudanese people were focusing on their wallets. In 2011, South Sudan became independent. This was a massive blow to Bashir. Sudan lost about 75% of its oil reserves overnight.
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Suddenly, the "economic miracle" Bashir had touted was gone. The Sudanese pound tanked. Inflation went through the roof.
Imagine living in a country where the price of fuel doubles in a week. That’s what happened in 2013 and again in 2018. Bashir tried to use his old tricks—crackdowns, arrests, blaming foreign agents—but the anger was different this time. It wasn't just the political elite; it was the doctors, the lawyers, and the youth who had never known any leader other than him.
By December 2018, the protests started in the city of Atbara over the price of bread. It spread like wildfire. By April 2019, hundreds of thousands were camping outside the military headquarters in Khartoum. They stayed there for months. Eventually, the military saw the writing on the wall. Bashir’s own generals, the men he had promoted and trusted, walked into his residence and told him it was over.
Life After the Palace
Since 2019, the legal saga of Omar al-Bashir has been a bit of a circus. First, he was convicted of corruption after millions of euros and dollars were found in suitcases at his home. He claimed the money was a gift from Saudi Arabia and he hadn't used it for himself. The judge didn't care. He was sent to Kober Prison—the same prison where he used to send his political enemies.
But then things got complicated.
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Sudan fell into a brutal civil war in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF is basically the rebranded Janjaweed, led by "Hemedti," a man Bashir himself empowered. The irony is thick enough to choke on. The two generals now tearing Sudan apart—Burhan and Hemedti—were both Bashir’s proteges.
During the chaos of the current war, Bashir was reportedly moved from prison to a military hospital. Some say he’s still there. Others think he might have been smuggled out. There are even rumors that the current military government might try to hand him over to the ICC as a bargaining chip to get international support, though that hasn't happened yet.
What Most People Get Wrong
People often think Bashir was a "lone wolf" dictator. He wasn't. He was the head of a massive patronage network. He stayed in power by playing his generals against each other. He’d give one group control of the gold mines and another control of the telecommunications industry.
When people ask, "Why is Sudan in a civil war now?" the answer is Omar al-Bashir.
He spent 30 years dismantling every civilian institution so that only the military had power. When he was removed, there was no "state" left to take over—only a collection of armed groups fighting over the scraps of a dying economy. He didn't just rule Sudan; he hollowed it out.
Key Takeaways and Current Status
- Legal Limbo: Bashir faces charges in Sudan for the 1989 coup and remains under ICC indictment for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
- Health and Location: As of late 2024 and early 2025, his exact whereabouts are obscured by the ongoing conflict, though the military maintains he is in "secure custody" in a medical facility.
- Legacy of Conflict: The current war between the SAF and RSF is a direct result of the security architecture Bashir built to protect his own presidency.
- Economic Ruin: Sudan’s current 400%+ inflation rate is a continuation of the fiscal mismanagement that began during the final decade of his rule.
To understand the present, you have to look at the man who spent three decades making sure no one else could lead. The story of Omar al-Bashir isn't just a biography; it's a cautionary tale about what happens when a country's entire identity is fused to a single person.
If you are following the situation in Sudan, the most important thing you can do is look beyond the headlines of the current war. Research the "Sudanese Professionals Association" and the grassroots "Resistance Committees." These are the civilian groups that actually ousted Bashir and are still trying to find a way to a democratic future despite the generals' war. Monitoring the updates from the ICC regarding the "Ali Kushayb" trial is also vital, as it is the first real legal reckoning for the Darfur atrocities committed under Bashir's watch.