Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman Burhan (Arabic: عبد الفتاح عبد الرحمن البرهان‎; born 11 July 1960) is a Sudanese politician and Sudanese Army lieutenant general who is currently serving as Chairman of the Sovereignty Council of Sudan, the country’s collective transitional head of state. Before assuming this role in August of 2019, he was the de facto head of state of Sudan as Chairman of the Transitional Military Council after former Chairman Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf resigned and transferred control in April 2019.

He was formerly the General Inspector of the Sudanese Armed Forces.

Burhan’s record is considered to be cleaner than that of most of Sudan’s generals, and he met with protesters during the Sudanese Revolution to listen to their demands.

In May 2019, Burhan’s first international trip was to Egypt to meet Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. His second visit was to the United Arab Emirates.

Chairmanship of Military Council

Shortly after his appointment, Burhan ordered the release of all jailed prisoners who had been arrested by his predecessor, Omar Al-Bashir, in a televised address.

Khartoum massacre

In early June 2019, following al-Burhan’s and Dagalo’s visits to the Egyptian, UAE and Saudi leaders, the Sudanese Security Forces and Rapid Support Forces, including Janjaweed militias, led by al-Burhan and his deputy cracked down on peaceful protests in Sudan, starting with the 3 June Khartoum massacre. Dozens of peaceful protesters were killed and about forty of the bodies were thrown in the river Nile, hundreds were tortured, violated and raped in the streets of Khartoum.

Al-Burhan’s talks with the opposition on forming a combined government were then cancelled. During the days that followed, the TMC arrested several of the opposition leaders.

El-Baghdadi interpreted the decision-making by the TMC under al-Burhan’s leadership as being strongly influenced by the general context of the Saudi, UAE and Egyptian leaders being afraid of democratic movements. Mahmoud Elmutasim, a political activist and doctor who graduated from the University of Khartoum, similarly stated that Saudi Arabia and the UAE are opposed to the existence of democracies in the Middle East, since if “the idea of democracy itself [should] ever take root, or become widespread in the Middle East,” then it would constitute a threat to the governmental systems of Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Internet shutdown

Several human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch condemned the Burhan-led TMC for shutting down internet. A spokesperson, Shamseldin Kabbashi, stated that the internet would be shut down for a long time because it represented a threat to national security. The move was described by HRW as a “Gross violation of human rights”. International media saw this as a sign of dictatorship and condemned the act. Many believe it was an attempt to hide what Al Burhan’s allied militia known as the Janjaweed were doing in Khartoum and to delay uploading evidence of the violations that took place on the 3 June 2019 and the days that followed.

Civilian government negotiations

Numerous protesters asked for a civilian government. On Saturday 13 April 2019, Burhan announced that a civilian government would soon be established. Burhan promised that the transitional period would take a maximum of two years. Negotiations started to take place with the opposition leaders to achieve this.

In late May 2019, al-Burhan visited the Egyptian president el-Sisi and the de facto ruler of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. İyad el-Baghdadi, a human rights activist who became famous during the Arab Spring, later interpreted these visits (together with a visit by TMC deputy leader Dagalo to Mohammad bin Salman in Saudi Arabia) as encouragements for the TMC to cancel negotiations with the opposition.

Personal life

Burhan studied in a Sudanese military college. He later studied abroad in Egypt and Jordan.
He has a wife and three children.