Showing posts with label ed Da'en. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ed Da'en. Show all posts

Sunday, April 23, 2023

New fighting and looting in North Darfur: 11 killed, 1 police; 57 injured. SAF demotes RSF to a rebel group.

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: In the past few days Sudan's Army chief Gen. Burhan demoted Hemeti's RSF to a rebel group. Some males in the RSF are very young. They can become lost, neglected, drugged and frightened. 

Many rebels have to steal food, water, meds, drugs, cashphones, clothes, petrol, vehicles and attack aid convoys for supplies. Being a rebel is a way to become gainfully employed, part of a gang with camaraderie and a purpose.

Most of them become street wise, creative and resourceful, clever and able to think fast on their feet. I am not up to date with the law on recruitment of child soldiers but I hope it is now unlawful and classed as human trafficking. 

Report from Radio Dabanga in Netherlands - www.dabangasudan.org

By Radio Dabanga

Published Friday 21 April 2023

New reports about fighting and looting in Darfur

PHOTO: RSF soldiers deployed in a neighbourhood of Khartoum (Photo supplied)


EL FASHER / NYALA / ED DAEIN – Eleven people were killed in battles between Sudanese army soldiers and paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, on Wednesday [19 Apr].


Among the 11 people killed was one policeman, the North Darfur Radio Dabanga correspondent reported from El Fasher. 57 others were injured.


“The Southern Hospital is overcrowded,” she said. “Luckily, youth initiatives have led to the opening of five health centres that provide free diagnosis and treatment.”


Yesterday morning, the North Darfur capital witnessed relative calm with sporadic clashes, he said. “But the plundering continues.”


The Specialised Children’s Hospital was looted, and two ambulances were stolen on Wednesday, she said. Many houses have been plundered as well.


Youngsters are barricading the streets in the neighbourhoods to prevent more plundering.


“At the markets She further noted a significant decrease in the prices of clothes, shoes and other commodities, as thieves offered stolen goods for sale as well.”


‘Cautious calm’


Nyala, capital of South Darfur, witnessed a cautious calm on Thursday after clashes earlier this week that left at least 31 people dead. People left their homes to buy food and other needs from the shops. Many markets are still closed.


“However, intermittent exchanges of fire with heavy weapons continued in the northern part of the city on Thursday,” a correspondent in Nyala said.


He also reported widespread plundering. “People in various neighbourhoods resorted to barricading the streets to prevent looting.”


A listener told Radio Dabanga from Nyala that the plundering is done by armed men riding on motorcycles and in rickshaws. “Youths have formed groups that are patrolling the neighbourhoods.”


He said that the army forces are stationed at the base of the 16th Infantry Division, not far from the airport. The RSF soldiers are deployed in the El Matar, El Riyadh and El Malja neighbourhoods close to the army command.


Ed Daein, capital of East Darfur, has hardly been affected by the ongoing battles, residents told Radio Dabanga.


Activist Emameldin Maw said that the situation is calm except for two incidents on Sunday, the second day of the war, which led to the death of four army soldiers. He attributed the calm to the ability of native administration leaders to control the forces “by virtue of the social composition of the two parties”.


Continue Reading

Fighting continues in Sudan capital, UN warns for collapse of health system

Sudan: RSF attack police stations in El Obeid, 20 policemen killed

View original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/new-reports-about-fighting-and-looting-in-darfur

[Ends]

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Sudan: Darfur lawyers say Musa Hilal's trial is invalid (Part 18)

‘All activities concerning the resisting and opposing the former regime are legitimate and do not constitute crimes’ –Darfur Bar Association

Article from and by Radio Dabanga.org
Dated Thursday 19 September 2019 - KHARTOUM / DARFUR
Darfur lawyers: ‘Hilal Court Martial invalid - resisting Al Bashkir regime is no crime'
Photo: Former Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal (File photo)

The Darfur Bar Association has described the trial by Court Martial of former Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal and his affiliates as invalid and has no legal ground because the alleged crimes relate to the resisting and opposing the former regime, which are legitimate activities that cannot constitute crimes.

Yesterday, a statement issued by the Darfur Bar Association stated that the trial of Musa Hilal and his affiliates for crimes related to the opposing or resisting the former regime confirms the continuation of the policies of the former regime and its organs, which contradicts the goals of the revolution. Thus it is an insult to the role of the Forces for Freedom and Change and the newly formed government. Further, the Bar Association stressed in its statement that all activities concerning the resisting and opposing the former regime are legitimate and do not constitute crimes.

The military court on Monday [16 Sep] prevented four lawyers assigned by Hilal’s family to defend him, from attending the session held at the general army command in Khartoum.

The trial of Musa Hilal, the leader of Mahamid and the head of the Revolutionary Awakening Council, which was postponed twice in this month, is due to resume on Monday [23 Sep].

The adjourned court sessions were accompanied by demonstrations demanding his release in front of the Military Headquarter in Khartoum and other cities in Darfur, including Mystria, Ed Daein, Zalinge,i and El Geneina.

Crowds gathered on Sunday in front of the army command, as well as in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur.

2017 arrest
Hilal was arrested in a raid on his stronghold in Misteriya, North Darfur, in November 2017. His sons, brothers, and entourage were detained as well, in addition to some 2,000 members of his clan.


In July last year, the NISS arrested Hilal’s hearing-impaired son, Ahmed Musa. The next month, several ‘associates of Hilal’ were arrested from a house at Gurrat El Zawiya area in North Darfur.

Atrocities in Darfur
Hilal is held responsible for the atrocities committed in Darfur against civilians after the conflict erupted in 2003. In that year, he was released from prison by the Sudanese government with the purpose to mobilise Darfuri Arab herders to fight the insurgency in the region.

With full government backing, Hilal’s militiamen (janjaweed) targeted villages of African Darfuris. They rarely came near forces of the armed rebel movements.

View original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/darfur-lawyers-hilal-court-martial-invalid-resisting-al-bashir-regime-is-no-crime

Monday, July 29, 2019

Darfur, Sudan: ICC 2005 investigation into Haskanita

Note from Sudan Watch Editor: For the record, here is a copy of a page from Wikipedia last edited on 16 July 2019 at 00:49 (UTC) plus a photo from BBC News. Yellow highlighting is mine.
Photo: Twelve Africa peacekeepers died in the attack on the AU camp in Haskanita, South Darfur, western Sudan on 29 September 2007. Credit: BBC News report Sudan: Darfur rebel leaders surrender to Hague court https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10329167 
Raids on Haskanita
The raids on Haskanita was an attack on African Union peacekeepers by rebel groups during the Darfur conflict. The attacks took place on 30 September and early October 2007 near the town of Haskanita in South Darfur. Three rebel commanders were arrested for the attacks on warrants issued by the International Criminal Court.

Background
The Darfur conflict started in 2003 when two rebels groups took up arms against the Sudanese government. The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) claimed that the government discriminated against black Africans in favor of Arabs. Local Arab Janjaweed militias intervened on the side of the government. Following an initial ceasefire in 2004, African Union peacekeepers were deployed as the African Union Mission in Sudan. (AMIS)[1] AMIS established a base in Haskanita, in Um Kadada District, North Darfur province and 100 km northeast of Ed Daein.[2]

In November 2006 the area around Haskanita was taken over from the SLA by the National Redemption Front - a splinter group from the JEM. Aid agencies suspended their operations in the neighbouring districts of Ed Daein and Adila.[3]

First raid
On 30 September 2007 approximately 1,000 rebels attacked an AMIS base, killing 10 peacekeepers, including seven from Nigeria and one each from Mali, Senegal and Botswana,[4] and wounded many more. A further 50 personnel were initially unaccounted for, but later found. The attack occurred just after sunset, and came amid increasing tensions and violence between the separatist rebels and AMIS peacekeepers, who the rebels accused of bias towards the central government. Survivors said the rebels used heavy weaponry to attack the AMIS base, including rocket-propelled grenades and armored vehicles.[5] Sudan's army and Darfur rebel movements initially blamed each other for the attack.[6]

Second raid
The town of Haskanita was attacked again in early October, and most of it was set on fire. Following the attack, the town's mosque and school were some of the few buildings remaining intact.[7] The ruins still act as a base for African Union forces, headquartering a full 800-strong battalion. Although it has yet to be confirmed, unnamed sources in Khartoum claimed the fires were set by AU forces and Janjaweed militia in retaliation for the attacks in late September.[8]

International Criminal Court investigation
The Darfur conflict had been referred by the UN Security Council in 2005 to the International Criminal Court and the Chief Prosecutor had opened an investigation into crimes related to the conflict.[9]

In July 2008, the Chief Prosecutor said he knew who were the perpetrators of the Haskanita raids, and he was committed to prosecuting them.[10] In November 2008, he requested arrest warrants for three rebel commanders from the Justice and Equality Movement for these attacks.[11] One of these — Bahr Idriss Abu Garda — voluntarily surrendered to the court in May 2009.[12] However, charges were dropped in February 2010 when judges ruled the prosecutor could not prove he had planned the attack.[13] The other two commanders - Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain and Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus - surrendered to the court in June 2010 and were charged with three counts of war crimes:
Banda led a splinter group from the Justice and Equality Movement and Jerbo led the Sudanese Liberation Army - Unity faction.[13] Abu Garda led the United Resistance Front, another splinter group from the JEM.[14]

External links
References
  1. ^ See the articles on Darfur conflict and AMIS.
  2. ^ See this map Archived 2011-10-30 at the Wayback Machine for the location of Haskanita]
  3. ^ USAID situation report Archived 2009-08-05 at the Wayback Machine, USAID, 1 December 2006
  4. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19940585/
  5. ^ Rebel attack came at end of Ramadan fast USAToday, October 1, 2007.
  6. ^ News: Sudan, Sudan gov't, militia forces raze Darfur town-rebels
  7. ^ BBC NEWS | Africa | Army-controlled Darfur town razed
  8. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21098619/
  9. Security Council Refers Situation in Darfur, Sudan, To Prosecutor of International Criminal Court, United Nations, 2005-03-31, accessed on 2007-01-11
  10. ^ Court vows to try Darfur rebels, Al Jazeera, 2008-07-18
  11. ^ Prosecutor to present third Sudan case within weeks Archived 2008-10-20 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters, 2008-10-18
  12. ^ First Darfur rebel to appear before Hague court, Reuters, 2009-05-17
  13. ^ Jump up to:
    a b c Sudan: Darfur rebel leaders surrender to Hague court, BBC, 16 June 2010
  14. ^ See Bahr Idriss Abu Garda article for more information and sources.
Map of Darfur within Sudan, July 2011, courtesy of Wikipedia.
- - -

Further Reading

WAR CRIME ALERT: UN peacekeeper slain in Abyei, Sudan/South Sudan. When will the ICC investigate?

Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General on the situation in Abyei
UN Press Release
Published: July 17, 2019

Attack on peacekeepers a war crime: Ban Ki-moon
Article from The Hindu
By Special Correspondent New Delhi
Published: April 10, 2013 01:45 IST
Updated: June 10, 2016 07:39 IST

Killing of peacekeepers a war crime: Ban ki-Moon
Article from The Hindu 
Published: April 10, 2013

Monday, April 12, 2010

Great news report from Khartoum, Sudan by Alex de Waal

Good for Sudan
From ssrc.org Making Sense of Sudan
By Alex de Waal
Monday, 12 April 2010

The last two days I have been in Khartoum, on the phone and email to people in all corners of Sudan. Places like Bor, Renk, Damazin, Aweil, Geneina, ed Da’ien, Hamush Koreb, Kadugli.

Names seared into the memory. Places where I took photographs of burned villages and disfigured survivors, or wrote accounts of misery and destruction. Some places that I never visited, but which were described to me by escapees who detailed their imprisonment, violation, hunger and despair. As Deborah Scroggins wrote of the displaced camps along the railway line to the south in 1988, these were “places so sad that the mind grows queasy trying to understand them.” For the last 24 years, since I spent Sudan’s last multi-party election day in the village of Nankose, south of Zalingei, whenever I received a message from one of these places, it was usually to report a story of execution, starvation, or forced displacement. My questions were, who is dead and who is alive, who is in prison and who is still free?

Today the questions are, did the ballots arrive in time? Were all the names on the electoral roll? What was the voter turnout?
Quietly, with dignity, with apprehension and sometimes with confusion and frustration, millions of Sudanese are voting. Good for them.