SUDAN WATCH: 2003

Showing posts with label 2003. Show all posts

Friday, November 17, 2023

Sudan: Darfur rebels JEM & SLM join SAF against RSF

Report from BBC News

By James Copnall & Danai Nesta Kupemba

Dated Friday, 17 November 2023 - here is a copy in full:

Sudan civil war: Darfur's Jem rebels join army fight against RSF

IMAGE SOURCE, AFP Image caption,

The Sudanese army has lost control of key bases in the last few weeks

Two rebel groups from Sudan's Darfur region say they will fight alongside the army in the country's civil war.

This comes after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) made major gains in Darfur, where it has been accused of ethnic cleansing.

Rebel leader Gibril Ibrahim told BBC Newsday they "want to defend their civilians" from the RSF, which he says has been burying people alive.

He said the decision to join forces with the army was not an easy one.

The leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) said it had taken seven months to come to an agreement.

The relationship between Jem and the Sudanese army is fraught. Mr Ibrahim's brother was killed by the army, who was previously the group's leader.

Jem and the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM) took up arms in Darfur in 2003, accusing the government of marginalising the region's black African communities.

The government then mobilised Arab militias against them, leading to what has been described as the 21st Century's first genocide.

These militias have since transformed into the RSF, which has been fighting the army for control of the country since April.

The RSF has taken several key towns in Darfur in recent weeks, including the country's second biggest city, Nyala.

Last week, there were reports they had massacred hundreds of people in the West Darfur capital of El Geneina.

The RSF has denied responsibility for the killings, saying they were part of a "tribal conflict".

A joint statement from Jem and the SLM read: "We have announced ending any neutrality and joining the military operations at all frontlines without hesitation."

Jem and the SLM are not as strong as they used to be, but their entry into the Sudanese civil war is significant.

Both Darfuri rebel leaders signed a peace deal in 2020, and have since been closer to the Sudanese military than would once have seemed possible.

It is possible JEM and SLM will see their ranks swell with new recruits - increasing their importance on the Sudanese political scene.

In joining the fray now - after months of professed neutrality - they seek to defend their support base in Darfur, in particular the Zaghawa ethnic group both men come from.

They will also have concluded that an RSF victory would be disastrous for them, and Darfur.

Mr Ibrahim expressed concern at the RSF's advances, saying he feared Sudan would end up divided.

There are fears it could declare its own government in the impoverished war-torn western region.

The international dimension is significant too.

The Zaghawa are present in Chad as well as Sudan, and dominate Chadian politics. Mr Ibrahim and others have accused Chad of supporting the RSF.

He will be hoping that he can use his connections - including with Chad's leader Gen Mahamat Deby - to cut any ties between Chad and the RSF.

Thursday, May 04, 2023

Darfur war leader Abdul Wahid Nur is in South Sudan

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: A day after I mentioned Abdul Wahid Nur's name here, I go to sleep and wake up to find him in this news report by AFP.

He’s 55. 20 years ago he and his gormless gang along with a more intelligent and ruthless JEM gang started the Darfur war. Tintin springs to mind here.

AFP's report says he is now based in Juba, South Sudan but doesn't say how he funds his work-free life, travel, hotel rooms, fancy clothes, family if any.

France & Germany host Darfur rebels. Maybe supporters pay for him to laze around Paris, save his skin, drink beer, visit Israel. He makes my foot itch.

The report is copied here in full to show the standard of his chat. Note that he states the obvious saying Sudanese people want a civilian government.

He rarely visits Darfur as support for him has dwindled. He has delusions of becoming president of Sudan or Darfur or anywhere that'll have him.

________________________________________________________________________________

Report from Yahoo News

By Agence France-Presse (AFP)

Dated Thursday 4 May 2023, 11:24 am BST - full copy:

'No winner' in Sudan war: exiled Darfur rebel leader

Sudanese exiled rebel leader Abdel Wahid Nur -- a veteran of decades of fighting in the troubled Darfur region -- says there can be "no winner" in the war now raging between two rival generals.

"The Sudanese people want neither of them," Nur, now based in neighbouring South Sudan, told AFP. "They want a civilian government."

Battles have flared for weeks between Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his former deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

"What's happening in Sudan is a disaster," Nur, 55, said in an interview in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, where he lives after spending years in Paris.

"There is no winner in this war," said the leader of a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) whose members, he said, have not joined the fighting.

The battles have turned Khartoum into a war zone and also killed scores in Darfur, which Nur said once more suffers "war crimes and crimes against humanity".

Nur was a leader of the Darfur rebellion from 2003 when African minority groups rose up against Arab elites they accused of monopolising Sudan's political power and wealth.

The Islamist-backed strongman then in power, Omar al-Bashir, unleashed the notorious Janjaweed militias, the forerunners of the RSF, whose atrocities shocked the world.

The unrest killed at least 300,000 people and displaced 2.5 million, according to the UN. The bloodshed led to international charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Bashir and others.

Although Darfur's conflict subsided over the years, the region remains awash with weapons and sporadic violence erupts, often over access to water, land and resources.

- 'Hands of oppression' -

Sudan's military ousted Bashir in April 2019 following mass pro-democracy protests, and Burhan has been the de facto leader since then.

Daglo, from Darfur's pastoralist camel-herding Arab Rizeigat people, rose to prominence with the Janjaweed, which made up the bulk of the RSF formed in 2013.

In October 2021, Burhan and his then number-two Daglo jointly staged another coup that upended the country's fragile transition to civilian rule.

The two generals then engaged in a power struggle, most recently over the RSF's integration into the regular army, which has now flared into bloody violence.

"The two bodies fighting now once acted as Bashir's hands of oppression," said Nur.

"The army and Burhan personally supervised the making of the Janjaweed," he said, adding that his own movement opposes both and only fights "oppression".

Nur described the conflict as the expected outcome of a "political struggle that became militarised".

The current fighting has killed more than 550 people, wounded thousands and sent more than 100,000 fleeing abroad.

In West Darfur state, the UN says, the hostilities "have triggered intercommunal violence", which have seen many deaths and accounts of rampant looting and burning of property.

- Ambition to rule -

Nur's SLM faction refused to sign a 2020 peace deal with Sudan's short-lived transitional government installed following Bashir's ouster.

It charged that the accord, signed by other rebel groups, failed to address the root causes of Sudan's conflicts.

Nur said his movement had however observed "a unilateral ceasefire since Bashir's ouster and have since committed to it" to give a chance to the planned transition to civilian rule.

Nur belongs to the ethnic Fur tribe in Darfur, and analysts believe his faction still maintains considerable support.

A report last year by UN experts said Nur's faction was among Darfuri armed groups "receiving payments and logistical support" in exchange for sending mercenaries to strife-torn Libya.

The UN experts, in 2020, also said Nur's group had strengthened its miliary capability following the discovery of gold in its area.

Nur rejects the allegations and says he does not support either side in the current war, stressing that his fighters play no role in it.

Nur said the conflict reflects the two generals' ambitions to rule Sudan but is only "increasing the suffering" of the people, especially in Darfur.

In a country with a history of military coups, Burhan and Daglo have each touted themselves as champions of democracy seeking to restore the transition to civilian rule.

Nur, recalling the mass youth-led protests that led to Bashir's overthrow, said the Sudanese people reject both of them.

"I don't think they will ever accept military rule," he said.

bur/it/fz

View original: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/no-winner-sudan-war-exiled-102413405.html?guccounter=1

[Ends]

Darfur Sudan: ICC trial Ali Kushayb Janjaweed Leader

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: In April 2022, the first trial into atrocities committed in Sudan’s Darfur region began at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Several sessions of the trial at the ICC are scheduled to continue this month. I made the transcript of a powerful video here below.

Video by Human Rights Watch

Posted at YouTube on 29 March 2022

Title: ICC trial of Ali Kosheib: Landmark Case of ‘Janjaweed’ Militia Leader

Description:

Ali Kosheib, or Kushayb, is the nom de guerre of Ali Mohammed Ali, identified by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as Ali Mohammed Ali Abd–Al-Rahman. Kosheib is believed to have been the principal leader of the Janjaweed militias in the Wadi Saleh area of West Darfur. He also held commanding positions in Sudanese government auxiliary forces, the Popular Defense Forces and Central Reserve Police.

In early 2003, the Janjaweed worked alongside the Sudanese government forces during its armed conflict with rebel groups to carry out a systematic campaign of “ethnic cleansing.” The campaign targeted civilians from African Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa ethnic groups, from which the members of the rebel groups were drawn. Attacking from the air and land, Sudanese government forces and allied militias killed, raped, and forcibly displaced more than 2 million people from their homes and land. The Sudanese government recruited, armed, and trained the Janjaweed forces. -Human Rights Watch

Transcript:

MURDER, PILLAGE, RAPE, TORTURE, FORCIBLE TRANSFER, PERSECUTION, INHUMANE ACTS

Just some of the charges Ali Mohammed

Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, known as Ali Kosheib,

will face before the International Criminal Court in his trial starting Tuesday, April 5, 2022.

This trial is the first time a leader will have to answer for serious crimes allegedly committed in Darfur by government forces and allied militias.

Kosheib, a commander of the Janjaweed militias, is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur between 2003 and 2004.

Voice: Darfur community leader

“We appreciate the role of the ICC, not in a vindictive way, but for justice. People all over the world should know that no one is above justice, and every dictator who wishes to exterminate and kill his people or his neighbors has to know he will face the law.”

Serious crimes in Darfur have continued over the years, where perpetrators are emboldened by impunity.

Victims and communities in Sudan have been waiting for over fifteen years to finally see an accused perpetrator stand trial.

Voice: Darfur Activist

“The Kosheib trial is a good step towards justice. But achieving full justice in Darfur relies on the surrender of Omar al-Bashir, Ahmed Haroun, Abdulraheem Mohammed Hussein and others.”

For justice to be done, Sudanese authorities should help transfer the other ICC fugitives to the ICC without further delay.

hashtag justice matters

[Ends]

View the above video at YouTube here: https://youtu.be/nn5V6H4XOow

Related reports

Sudan Watch

Thursday, May 04, 2023

Darfur Sudan: ICC warrants of arrest still pending against MM Harun, Al Bashir, Banda, and Hussein

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/05/darfur-sudan-icc-warrants-of-arrest.html

Sudan Watch

Thursday, May 04, 2023

ICC trial of Janjaweed Leader helps justice for Darfur

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/05/icc-trial-of-janjaweed-leader-helps.html

[Ends]

ICC trial of Janjaweed Leader helps justice for Darfur

Video by The New Humanitarian

Posted at YouTube on 08 February 2023

Title: ICC trial brings mixed feelings for Darfur Janjaweed victims

Description:

Survivors of Darfur’s conflict say they have experienced a mixture of painful memories and feelings of relief as the first trial into atrocities committed in the western region of Sudan continues proceedings at the Hague-based International Criminal Court. - The New Humanitarian.

Transcript:

PEACE MEANS JUSTICE FOR DARFUR

Voices: ICC trial brings mixed feelings for Darfur’s war survivors

In April 2022, the first trial into atrocities committed in Sudan’s Darfur region began at the International Criminal Court.

Witnesses have been testifying against Ali Kushayb. He is accused of atrocities committed while commanding the Janjaweed armed group in 2003 and 2004.

The Janjaweed was an Arab militia created by the government of Omar al-Bashir to crush a revolt by Darfur’s mostly non-Arab rebel groups.

Janjaweed victims are still living in displacement camps dotted across Darfur.

Darfuri journalist and rights monitor, Ahmed Gouja, spoke to some of them last year.

Amina Abdelrahman, Resident Kalma displacement camp:

“For me, as a woman, this is a triumph. Darfuri women are the major victims of the war. We lost parents, dearest children, and mothers. The mass rape was expected. People witnessed the Janjaweed raping their daughters and wives. The Ali Kushayb trial is a tremendous gain for all Darfuri women.”

Yaqoub Mohamed Abdalla, Leader of Kalma displacement camp:

“We are delighted for this progress toward justice. it feels good to find a court that rules on behalf of the vulnerable. It is a lesson for all those afraid of the law, but not afraid of God. That is why the ICC is a necessity”.

Hanan Hassan Khatir Abdelbakhit, Community leader displaced from Wadi Salih:

“We have mixed feelings. We are rejoicing in the news of Ali Kushaybs; trial. But we feel deep sorry recalling all the crimes that he committed against us. Genocide, mass rape, ethnic cleansing, looting of our possessions, destroying out villages, and all the offensive acts that I cannot describe”.

Prosecutors have accused Kushayb of being “a willing and knowing participant in crimes”. He claims he is the victim of mistaken identity.

Community leaders described to Gouja some of Kyshaby’s alleged crimes.

Ada Husseein Sharif, Community leader and displaced person:

“Janjaweed embarked on arresting the displaced people. They took them to the Deleig police station and forced them all to the ground. Ali Kushayb was stepping on the bodies of detainees. He killed one of our sons, Adam Abdelrahman. He was an agricultural worker”.

Though many Darfuris are relieved to see Kushayb on trial, they have called for al-Bashir to be handed over to the ICC too. They also called for an end to recent violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of Darfuris.

Darfuri voice:

“The situation is not safe yet in Darfur. We still need the support of the international community. Darfur needs to be safeguarded immediately and before anything else. We demand food, education for children, and better health services”.

Darfuri voice:

“To achieve justice for Darfur, Omar al-Bashir must be turned over to the the ICC. So should all the names in the arrest warrants issued by the ICC.”

[Ends]

View the video at YouTube here: https://youtu.be/ZED3BVQBILU

Darfur Sudan: ICC warrants of arrest still pending against MM Harun, Al Bashir, Banda, and Hussein

ICC warrants of arrest are still pending in the context of the Situation in Darfur (Sudan) against MM Harun, Al Bashir, Banda, and Hussein. For further information check here.

International Criminal Court, The Hague, The Netherlands (Credit ICC)

Note, Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman ("Ali Kushayb") was transferred to the ICC's custody on 9 June 2020, after surrendering himself voluntarily in the Central African Republic.

Ali Kushayb pictured here is in ICC custody.

See Next Sessions in May 2023 here and information for victims here.

Source: https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-darfur-sudan-ali-kushayb-icc-custody

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: fadi.el-abdallah@icc-cpi.int

Source: https://www.icc-cpi.int/contact

Friday, June 10, 2005

Friedhelm Eronat and Cliveden Sudan named as buyer of Darfur oil rights

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Further to the previous post at this site Sudan Watch, here is a June 10, 2005 report from The Guardian by David Leigh and Adrian Gatton. Note, the UK's Channel 4 TV News in its special report last night, interviewed JEM rebel Ahmad Hussein Adam.

Full copy of news report from The Guardian.co.uk

Written by David Leigh and Adrian Gatton

Dated Friday 10 June 2005, 00.05 BST

Title 'Briton named as buyer of Darfur oil rights'

A millionaire British businessman, Friedhelm Eronat, was named last night as the purchaser of oil rights in the Darfur region of Sudan, where the regime is accused of war crimes and where millions of tribespeople are alleged to have been forced to flee, amid mass rapes or murders.

The disclosure was greeted with outrage by human rights campaigners. "From a moral point of view these people are paying a government whose senior members may end up in front of the international criminal court for war crimes," Simon Taylor, director of Global Witness, said yesterday.

A London representative of the Darfur rebels last night called for oil exploration to stop until there was a peace settlement. "The only beneficiaries are the ruling elite," Ahmad Hussein Adam told Channel 4 news. "This is going to support their military campaign against our people."

Documents seen by the Guardian suggest that Mr Eronat, who lives in a GBP 20m house in Chelsea, swapped his US passport for a British one shortly before the deal was signed with the Sudan regime in October 2003. US citizens are barred from dealing with Sudan under sanctions dating from 1997.

The disclosure that Britain is serving as a base for questionable African oil transactions comes in the run-up to the July G8 summit at Gleneagles, at which Tony Blair's central theme will be the need to help Africa.

The documents show that Mr Eronat may have been acting for China, which has been prominent in the new "scramble for Africa" and its oil deposits. Two Chinese corporations were given an option to buy 50% of Mr Eronat's newly acquired stake in the Darfur field. The option expired last year. It is not known whether China took it up. Mr Eronat's lawyer said yesterday that he "has purchased no oil concessions in Sudan ... and Mr Eronat has no interest" in the oil concession. An initial $3m was paid to the Sudan regime for exploration rights, shared with the state oil company and some other Sudanese interests.

Mr Eronat, who is reputed to be worth GBP 100m, has made a fortune out of oil deals, mainly through his offshore Cliveden Group. He was accused by Global Witness last year of being the owner of a Swiss company allegedly used as a conduit to pass millions of dollars from Mobil Oil to the president of Kazakhstan. A trial is pending in the US of a banker involved in those transactions. Mr Eronat was not charged with any offence.

The Islamist regime in the largely Arab north of Sudan has become an international pariah because of long-running attempts to crush rebellions in the south and more recently in Darfur in the west. A peace agreement in the south included agreements to divide up oil revenues, but the deal provoked a second rebellion in the adjoining Darfur region, which began in spring 2003. The military regime's violent response is estimated to have caused more than 1.5 million people to flee.

The international criminal court says it is considering bringing charges of war crimes and possible genocide against government officials in Sudan. Announcing a formal investigation into the murders, rapes and massacres that have taken place in recent years, a spokesman for the court said evidence was being gathered and a list of suspects would be drawn up.

A UN commission of inquiry said there had been serious violations of human rights. The UN has forwarded a list of more than 50 suspects to the ICC. Mr Eronat's London lawyer, John Reynolds of McDermott Will & Emery, said yesterday: "Mr Eronat has purchased no oil concessions in Sudan." He said the oil exploration group had various shareholders, of which Cliveden Petroleum Sudan Ltd was only one. "Are you alleging that killing has taken place in [the] concession acreage?" he asked.

The company documents seen by the Guardian show that at the time of the 2003 sale, Mr Eronat confirmed that he was the sole owner of Cliveden Sudan, registered offshore in the British Virgin Islands with bearer shares and no register of ownership. The documents state that Cliveden Sudan in turn bought the largest single share in the oil exploration concession from the Sudan regime on October 21 2003.

The disclosure of Mr Eronat as the man behind the Darfur deal followed a dispute between him and the former chairman of one of his companies, the lawyer Peter Felter. Mr Felter said last night: "Eronat is not interested in Darfur or political issues. He's interested in making money."

SOURCE: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2005/jun/10/sudan.oilandpetrol

- - -

New bid to stop Darfur fighting

BBC confirms June 10 peace talks between Khartoum regime and two Darfur rebel groups have resumed in Nigeria after a six-month break. Read Full Story.

- - -

NATO to airlift AU troops into Darfur

NATO defence ministers gave the green light on Thursday to an operation to airlift extra African troops to Darfur, the alliance's first mission on the continent.

Photo: NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (L) listens to NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe General James Jones on the second day of a NATO defence ministers meeting at NATO headquarters, Brussels, June 10, 2005.

Source: Reuters/Francois Lenoir - Jun 10, 2005.