Documents show Sudanese government ordered its security units to tolerate Janjaweed activities - HRW

Human Rights Watch report alleges Sudanese government documents show it was much more closely involved with the Janjaweed than it had admitted, writes Jeevan Vasagar and Ewen MacAskill in The Guardian 20 July 2004.

Note this excerpt from 10 January 2006 article at Assyrian International News Agency:

The documents, which Human Rights Watch said it had obtained from the civilian administration in Darfur and are dated February and March this year, call for "provisions and ammunition" to be delivered to known Janjaweed militia leaders, camps and "loyalist tribes".

One document orders all security units in the area to tolerate the activities of Musa Hilal, the alleged Janjaweed leader in north Darfur interviewed by the Guardian last week.

Peter Takirambudde, the executive director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division, said: "These documents show that militia activity has not just been condoned, it's been specifically supported by Sudan government officials."

The official government line is that it did not arm or support the Janjaweed, though its presence was useful in helping to combat rebels in Darfur.

Further reading

July 17, 2004 A POLICY OF FORCED EXPULSION by Eric Reeves - The Guardian found this Janjaweed leader, "dressed in a crisp white robe and prayer cap," sitting in a plush chair as he "patted his nephew's head and offered sweet pastries" (The Guardian [dateline: Khartoum] July 16, 2004). The interviewer later noted:

"In Khartoum Mr Hilal showed no fear of being arrested. There were no bodyguards and no security checks at the gates of the walled compound. When the interview concluded, he was relaxed enough to joke about the Janjaweed with the Guardian's photographer."

*Sudan Watch Editor's Note 11 January 2006: Thanks to notes I've received from Eugene Oregon of Coalition for Darfur and Eric Jon Magnuson of Passion of the Present the above item now contains links to HRW's report and The Guardian article originally published July 2004. Assyrian International Agency's article is dated 10 January 2006.