Alert to HRW & ICRC Sudan: Thousands missing since April 15. Names of 91 missing persons in Khartoum

THANKS to Radio Dabanga for its report (30 June 2023 - ACJPS calls for accountability regarding war crimes in Sudan) linking to the article now reprinted here below. This post (hosted by Google) will be picked up by search engines and made freely available on the internet for many years to come. Many people, mostly males, disappear in Sudan possibly arrested or enslaved by fighters. Note that using children as child soldiers is a war crime.

Here is an article published at Africa Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) website on Thursday 29 June 2023 - full copy:

Photo Credit: Al jazeera

URGENT CALL TO SUDANESE AUTHORITIES, RSF AND SAF TO ACCOUNT FOR THOUSANDS OF CITIZENS WHO HAVE GONE MISSING SINCE THE ARMED CONFLICT ERUPTED 

(29 June 2023) - Africa Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) expresses deep concern about the increasing number of missing persons across Sudan since the armed conflict erupted on 15 April 2023. 

We call upon the Sudanese authorities, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to account for all the missing persons, specifically those who are known to have been forcefully disappeared or are being held incommunicado by SAF and RSF.

Sudanese authorities must uphold their international obligations under relevant regional and international treaties which Sudan ratified by immediately carrying out independent, transparent and effective investigations with a view to determining the fate and whereabouts of all missing persons since 15 April 2023. 

Where victims are in the custody of the state (SAF), they should be either unconditionally released, or charged before the courts of law.

We also call upon the RSF to release all victims in their custody. For those who have died, graves must be shown to families/relatives and bodies released for proper burial. Perpetrators must be held to account through fair trials. We further call upon the warring parties to desist from arbitrarily arresting, detaining and torturing civilians.

Since the armed conflict broke out on 15 April 2023, ACJPS has documented 91 missing persons most of whom have been arrested by either by SAF or RSF. A few people have since been released. 

For example, Mr. Mohamed Alhadi, a medical doctor who was arrested at a check point near Jackson Station in Khartoum by SAF soldiers. Mr. Mohamed was stopped and the soldiers asked for his Identity Card which he presented. The soldiers then started questioning him about his origin and accused him of being affiliated to RSF. He was then arrested and taken to a detention centre where he found 17 other detainees in a small cell measuring 4 by 4 metres. The detainees were all arrested for similar reasons and they were subjected to torture. They had their hands tied and were beaten up by the soldiers and verbally abused.

On 29 April 2023, Mr. Husham S Mohamed was arrested by RSF at a check point in Jabel Awlia. Mr. Mohamed was on his way to Port Sudan when a bus he was travelling in was stopped and he was asked to get out. He was questioned about the whereabouts of Gen. Al-Burhan to ascertain whether he is a SAF member to which he answered in the negative. He was then searched and assaulted before he was allowed to return to the bus. Mr. Mohamed arrived at his home in Alkalaka safely but it was later destroyed by an air bomb.

 

In the recent years, there has been increased use of “short-term” disappearances where victims are detained incommunicado for a period of time and, eventually freed. The same tactic was used during the 2018-2019 Sudan revolution and after the 25th of October 2021 coup. 

Unfortunately, enforced disappearances in Sudan are often coupled with other gross human rights violations, such as the practice of arbitrary arrests and/or detention, torture, rape and in some cases death, particularly by national security officers, RSF and armed militias. This is facilitated by the fact that victims are often detained incommunicado, in “inaccessible” detention centres and in unknown locations, thus placing them outside of protection of the law with no access to legal remedies.

Sudan must domesticate the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances  as a fundamental step towards the prevention, and the ultimate elimination, of the inadmissible practice of enforced disappearances. Laws that grant immunity to perpetrators must be amended, detention centres outside the normal custodial system, where victims are frequently held incommunicado must be closed. We urge regional and International human rights bodies to collectively and strongly demand that Sudan must end all enforced disappearances and ensure that perpetrators are held accountable. An independent international fact-finding mission, must be dispatched to establish the facts and circumstances of the alleged recent crime of enforced disappearance committed in the Sudan.

ACJPS has obtained names of 91 missing persons since 15 April 2023 in Khartoum.

• Abdeen Salah Youssef (m) from Alazhari neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 18th April, 2023
• Abdul Gadir Bala (m) from Industrial Area neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Abdul Gadir Mohamed Abdul Gadir (m) from an area around SAF headquarters in Central Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023.
• Abdul Rahim Bakhit Abdul Rahim (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 26th April, 2023
• Abdul Rahim Bakhit (m) from Omdurman. Went missing on 27th April, 2023.
• Abdulla Osman Abdullah (m) from Alduom East neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Abdullah Ismail (m) from Alryad Alhuria neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 29th April, 2023
• Abu Bakar Mohamed Osman (m) from Alnuzha neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 21st April, 2023
• Adam Bakhit Mohamed Fad Allah from Alshiglah neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Adam Jamal Eldien (m) from Jabrah neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 28th April, 2023
• Adil Alagib Farah (m). Went missing on 15th April, 2023 from Khartoum International Airport
• Adil Salah Sharaf Eldien Suleiman (m) from Almanshia neighborhood in Khartoum. Went Missing on 21st April, 2023
• Ahmed Zachariah Aldood (m). Went missing on 15th April, 2023 from Khartoum International Airport.
• Ali Mohamed Ali Tarar (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 29th April, 2023
• Ali Omer Tuto Kafi (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 20th April, 2023
• Aljazuli Osman Fageer (m) from Al-haj Youssef neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 29th April, 2023
• Almahadi Ahmed Almahadi (m) went missing on 28th April, 2023 from Central Khartoum Market
• Almudathier Suliman Adam (m) from Althura, Square 7 in Omdurman. Went missing on 18th April, 2023
• Alnoor AL Bashir Alskekh (m) from Karari neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 16th April, 2023
• Alwathiq Abu Damir Mohamed (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 23rd April, 2023
• Amaal Abadi Aldaw (f) from Althura neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 20th April, 2023
• Awad Mohamed kHalifa (m) from Air Port Street in Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Ayoum James Manyol Arul (m) from Algadsia neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 19th April, 2023
• Azil Awad Aljazuli (m) from Alamarat neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 20th April, 2023
• Badur Eldien Abdullah (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 23rd April, 2023
• Bashir Ismail Ahmed Elyas (m) from Almualim neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Dahab Ali abdul Aziz (m) from Aabic Market in Khartoum. Went missing on 16th April, 2023
• Doud Musa Mohamed Ibrahim (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Elteyeb Mutwakil (m) from Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 20th April, 2023
• Esam Eldien Adam Isa (m) from Omdurman. Went missing on 28th April, 2023.
• Faris Abdul Hameed bahar (m) from Aljrafa neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Farooq Zahir (m) from 60th Street in Arkaweet neighborhood, Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Hamam Abdullah Al-Mubarak (m) from Kafori neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Hashiem Mohamed Alaskan (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023 and was last seen near SAF club in Khartoum
• Hassan Mohamed Adam (m) from Alsahafa neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Ibrahim Abdul Kareem Ahmed (m) from Burri neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 16th April, 2023
• Ibrahim babakir Ibrahim (m) from Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Ibrahim Babkir (m) from Khartoum ii neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 20th April, 2023
• Ibrahim Fakhar Eldien awad salih (m) from Alryaad neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 30th April, 2023
• Ibrahim Humida Agabeen (m) from Alfetihab neighborhood in Omdurman. Went missing on 24th April, 2023
• Ismail Abbas (m). He went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Ismail Abdul gadir Aljali (m). He went missing on 24th April, 2023
• Jafar Sulfab Mohamed Sulfab (m) from Aldroshab neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 20th April, 2023
• Khalid Muzaz Saad Ibarhim (m) from Alamarta neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 20th April, 2023
• Mahmoud Munstaris (m). He went missing on 21st April, 2023
• Mamdoh Jamal Mohamed Ahmed (m) from Burri neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 16th April, 2023
• Maysoon Mahjoob Mohamed (f) from Hai Adobate neighborhood in Omdurman. She has been missing since 4th April, 2023
• Mazin Ahmed Hassan (m) from Alhalfaia neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 15th April, 2023
• Mazin Taha (m) from Jabara neighborhood in Khartoum. He went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Mohamed Abu Bakar Hamada (m) from Arkaweet neighborhood in Khartoum. He went missing on 19th April, 2023
• Mohamed Adam Ibrahim Alhaje (m) from Alamir (Umbada) neighborhood in Omdurman. He went missing on 26th April, 2023
• Mohamed Ahmed (m). Went missing on 20th April 2023 from Khartoum Arabic Market
• Mohamed Alhadi Isa Obid (m) from Eldom East neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 20th April, 2023
• Mohamed Alhaj Mohamed (m) from Jabrah neighborhood in Khartoum. He has been missing since 16th April, 2023
• Mohamed Alhashimi Atif (m) from Shambat neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. He went missing on 16th April, 2023
• Mohamed Bashir Mukhtar (m) from Alengaz neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 25th April, 2023
• Mohamed Bashir Mukhtar Abakar (m) from Alengaz neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 25th April, 2023
• Mohamed Elyas Hameed (m) from Alkalakla neighborhood in South Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Mohamed Fadlaah Alamin (m) was last seen 15th April, 2023 from SAF headquarters square in Khartoum
• Mohamed Fadul Allah Alamin (m) was last seen on 14th April, 2023 near SAF headquarters in Khartoum
• Mohamed Haneef Allah (m) from Alhuria neighborhood in Khartoum. He has been missing since 19th April, 2023
• Mohamed Hasan hashem (m). Went missing on 15th April, 2023 at Sudanese Army Forces Club neighborhood in Khartoum
• Mohamed Hassan Mohamed Alneam (m) was last seen on 15th April, 2023 at Khartoum International Airport
• Mohamed Hassan Mohamed Nameem (m) has been missing since 15th April, 2023 and was last seen at Khartoum International Airport
• Mohanad Mahamoud Zain (m) from Alfetihab neighborhood in Omdurman. Has been missing since 24th April, 2023
• Muhi Eldien Bashir Abdul Bagi (m) from Haj Yosef Almagoma neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 22nd April, 2023
• Mujaheed Shaish Eldien (m) from central Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Muneer Maki Segen Harwat (m) from Khartoum. Has been missing since 16th April, 2023
• Murad Endook Wisk (m) from Aljereef neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 16th April, 2023
• Murtada Abbas Eltelib (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 16th April, 2023
• Musab Abdullah Elteyeb (m) from Jeyad neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Mustafa Gisim (m) from Alsahafa neighborhood in Khartoum. Went missing on 17th April, 2023
• Mustafa Mohamed Alhassan (m) from Khartoum Sport town. He went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Muzamil Abdula Rahman Baba Allah (m) from Kafwrie neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 24th April, 2023
• Najm Eldeen Mohamed (m) from Alryad Alhuria neighborhood in Khartoum. He has been missing since 29th April, 2023
• Omer Abdul Raheed Hussen (m) went missing on 18th April, 2023 from Doctors Guest House in Khartoum
• Omer Abu Bakar Alsmani (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 15th April, 2023
• Omer Abu Bakar Alsmani (m) from East Nile neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 15th April, 2023
• Omer Alsafi Omer Nimir (m) from Alklakla neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 30th April, 2023
• Omer Youssef Ahmed Garad (m) from Omdurman. He has been missing since 29th April, 2023
• Qurashi Ahmed Quarshi (m) from Abu Hamah neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 17th April, 2023
• Rwaa (f) from Helat Hamad neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 18th April, 2023
• Saas Abdul Salam Mahmoud (m) from Khartoum ii neighborhood in Khartoum. He has been missing since 18th April, 2023
• Saif Eldien Idris Eldoma (m) from Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 19th April, 2023
• Sidiq Ismail Mohamed (m) from Omdurman. He has been missing since 23rd April, 2023
• Tariq Mohamed Allusion(m) from Althura neighborhood in Omdurman. Has been missing since 16th April 2023 around 04:00pm
• Wale Eldien Mohamed Ahmed (m) from Khartoum Bahari. Went missing on 18th April, 2023
• Wali Eduen Adam Hameed (m) from Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 17th April, 2023
• Yair Abdullah Ibarahim (m) from Al-Haj Youssef neighborhood in Khartoum Bahari. Has been missing since 28th April, 2023
• Yasir Mohamed Abdullah Bakar (m) from Alhuria neighborhood in Khartoum. Has been missing since 19th April, 2023
• Yassin Awad Hama Shuaib (m) Has been missing since 15th April, 2023 and was last seen at Arabic Market in Khartoum.

View original: http://www.acjps.org/urgent-call-to-sudanese-authorities-rsf-and-saf-to-account-for-thousands-of-citizens-who-have-gone-missing-since-the-armed-conflict-erupted/

[Ends]

UN: Sudan conflict displaced more than 2 million

Report at Radio Pakistan - https://www.radio.gov.pk/

Dated Thursday 15 June 2023 - full copy:

Sudan’s raging war forces over two million from their homes

In Sudan, fighting has again intensified in and around the capital Khartoum as the governor of West Darfur has been assassinated.

Governor Khamis Abakar was abducted by gunmen after a TV interview in which he accused the paramilitary fighters of genocide and called for international intervention.

The United Nations said the conflict has so far displaced more than 2 million people and escalating attacks in Darfur could amount to crimes against humanity.

View original: https://www.radio.gov.pk/15-06-2023/sudans-raging-war-forces-over-two-million-from-their-homes

[Ends]

___________________________________

Analysis at UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Last updated: Tuesday 13 June 2023 - excerpts:

Sudan Situation Report - Situation Overview

Conflict-related sexual violence is a major concern. Since the fighting began, civil society organizations have reported increasing cases of gender-based violence in particular sexual violence and kidnappings targeting women and girls. Due to sensitivities and fear of reprisals including against survivors and service providers, many cases have not been formally reported, with the priority focus being on the provision of emergency care, protection and support to victims/survivors. While OHCHR continued to receive reports, the numbers are expected to be much higher. 

Nearly 1.9 million people have been fled to safer locations inside and outside the country since the conflict began on 15 April. Over 1.4 million are internally displaced within Sudan, according to the International Organization for Migration’s Displacement Tracking Matrix as of 6 June. Most of the internally displaced people have taken refuge in West Darfur (19 per cent), White Nile (15 per cent), River Nile (13 per cent) and Northern states (13 per cent). They originally displaced from six states, including Khartoum (66 per cent), West Darfur (19 per cent), South Darfur (7 per cent), Central Darfur (6 per cent), North Darfur (2 per cent) and North Kordofan (0.2 per cent). Before the crisis, Sudan had already approximately 3.8 million displaced people, the majority of whom (an estimated 79 per cent) were based in Darfur and in severe need of humanitarian assistance. In addition, 460,000 people, including refugees, asylum seekers and returnees, have crossed into neighbouring countries, including Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia and South Sudan, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) as of 8 June.

View original: https://reports.unocha.org/en/country/sudan/

[Ends] 

UPDATE & POSTSCRIPT from Sudan Watch Editor: Each post at this site has tags. Instead of clicking on a tag, type a tag into the Search Sudan Watch box in top right sidebar of this site to see archived posts. For example, see water tag here below, go to the search box and type water.

Dr Alaaeldin Nugud, SG of Sudan Surgeons Assoc & member of FFCC abducted by gunmen in Khartoum

Dr Alaaeldin Nugud, the sec-gen of the #Sudan Association of Surgeons and member of the Forces of Freedom and Change-Central Council, was kidnapped by a group armed men in #Khartoum yesterday #SudanNews https://t.co/wqIGW9lfks

— Radio Dabanga (@RadioDabanga) May 28, 2023

Sudan crisis: Zalingei, Central Darfur no telecoms. Heavy fighting by SAF and RSF in El Fasher, N. Darfur

In depth report from #Zalingei, #Darfur. Main points: Zalingei is cut off from phone/internet. #RSF-backed militias attacked on 17 May, targeting SAF base, govt/NGO facilities, banks and homes, people fleeing from west to east Zalingei to escape conflict+ pic.twitter.com/DQQYacG3Gv

— Eddie Thomas (@eddiethomas88) May 24, 2023

Zalingei witnessed RSF/SAF battles on 15 April, 23 killed, 80 wounded, widespread looting, before local leaders organized a truce. But on 22 May, Zalingei Resistace Committee reported that RSF-backed militias attacked on 400 motorbikes and looted, burned hospital 

banks and govt offices. Motorbikes were banned before, because militias use them to loot and terrorize, but now they're back and people fear a collapse - like what's happening in #Geneina, W Darfur 

Central Darfur was at the heart of the 2003/04 Darfur war, has 400,000 #displaced in 36 camps. But civil politics go on - conflicts are controlled by political/security class, and local people don't engage in 'ethnic' conflict. Few have joined RSF or SAF 

giving cause for hope that the breakdown in Geneina - pitting RSF-backed militias against displaced people in bitter battles over land under threat from climate catastrophe - won't happen in Zalingei 

But #agriculture is at risk: rainy season begins in June, farmers get no harvest finance, they must sell crops or trade just now to finance harvest, but looting/slump means that they will struggle to bear harvest costs, threatening famine 

Zalingei people caught outside Khartoum are beside themselves with worry. 

View original: https://twitter.com/eddiethomas88/status/1661393236504485891

[Ends]

Thank you @eddiethomas88 for the translation. https://t.co/mj9zNlEMeH

— Béera (@beeradikko) May 24, 2023

_____________________________

Report at Radio Dabanga

Dated Wednesday 24 May 2023 - excerpt:

Humanitarian crisis in Darfur increases as attacks rattle Zalingei

Zalingei, capital of Central Darfur, witnessed various attacks in the past days, the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) reported. In the South Darfur capital Nyala, fighting left multiple dead. Several bodies were found in the market. Communication breakdowns limit access to detailed information.

The DBA said in a statement yesterday that Zalingei witnessed attacks during the past few days, and that no detailed information was available due to the weak communication services.

Sources from the area reported that “armed men” launched attacks on Zalingei on Tuesday, resulting in four deaths and the abduction of four others. The situation seems to have calmed for now, but the aftermath is dire.

Inside the city, families are facing a catastrophic situation, with severe shortages of food and medicine.

Homes, offices, and the University of Zalingei have been looted. The Zalingei Teaching Hospital is said to be out of service.

Yesterday, members of resistance committees in Zalingei reported that paramilitaries of the RSF surrounded the city, raising fears of imminent attacks.

Violence in Nyala

The DBA reported that in Nyala, South Darfur, multiple bodies were found in the market, presumably caught in the crossfire last week. Authorities are working to identify the deceased and inform their relatives.

Vandalism have ravaged vital infrastructure, including that of telecommunications provider Sudatel. This severed crucial connections between institutions and banks in Darfur and Chad.

Yesterday, Radio Dabanga reported heavy gunfire and shelling in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur, in battles between the army and the RSF.

Full story: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/humanitarian-crisis-in-darfur-increases-as-attacks-rattle-zalingei

[Ends]

URGENT MESSAGE TO PRESIDENTS BASHIR & KIIR - Shocking video of the LRA hunting children in Sudan

ONE of the world's most brutal terrorist groups, Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), is on the move from the Congo, terrorising civilians.

The below listed report from TIME.com, Tuesday, 07 September 2010, contains a shocking video entitled "The Lord's Resistance Army Hunts Children in Sudan".

Click here (and wait for end of short advert) to hear Ed Robbins reporting for TIME.com from Western Equatoria State, southern Sudan.

Please replay the video and listen carefully to a message for everyone. The message is from a deeply traumatised Sudanese boy. The boy's name is Moses. Moses was abducted, attacked, hurt all over and stabbed with a bayonet by LRA terrorists. The terrorists forced Moses to kill a young girl. The girl was aged 7 or 8. If he did not kill the girl, they would kill him. The heart wrenching message from Moses says:

"I'M ASKING EVERYONE PLEASE, PRAY TO MAKE IT END"

Replay the video again and imagine yourself as Moses. The flat deadened tone of his voice is haunting. After viewing the report for the first time yesterday and working on it today at Sudan Watch, Uganda Watch and Congo Watch, I can't get Moses out of my mind. His trauma seeped into my bones as I imagined how he must have felt, what his future holds, and how he will think and be haunted for the rest of his life. I find this report deeply distressing and disturbing. I cannot understand why so many people are powerless when it comes to stopping the LRA. How someone like Joseph Kony manages to stay alive is beyond my comprehension. The stresses and strains he has gone through in his lifetime are unimaginable. A living hell, I guess.

See further devastating reports and photos here below.
- - -

Balancing Counterterrorism and Democracy in Uganda
Time.com - Tuesday, 07 September 2010
By Ioannis Gatsiounis in Kampala, Uganda

Photo: Mourners bury Alice Kyalimpa, a victim of the July 11, 2010, terrorist attacks that tore through a restaurant and rugby club in Uganda's capital Ronald Kabuubi/Reuters. Source: TIME.com report September 07, 2010 "Balancing Counterterrorism and Democracy in Uganda". To view the full report, click on the link above or visit TIME.com. If the report has moved, view a copy filed on September 08, 2010 at Uganda Watch or Congo Watch (sister sites of Sudan Watch).

- - -

LRA KILL 8 IN YAMBIO, W. EQUATORIA, S. SUDAN -
More Ugandan PDF forces to be deployed



WES Yambio: LRA Raid And Kill 8 citizens
Report from South Sudan Analysis (SOSA) - Monday, 06 September 2010:

(YAMBIO) – Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels have killed 8 people during weekend raids in Southern Sudan’s Western Equatoria state, a local official said.

Around 6 LRA fighters attacked the market village of Rii-Bodo on Saturday, killing 8 civilians, said Lexon Amozai, State Director of Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Western Equatoria State.

The horrifying murders come in the wake of an LRA ambush at a near-by small stream of Nahua.

On Friday the rebels launched a similar assault on the village of Gangura.

“They killed 8 people there, among them two women. There were no soldiers deployed there, so they attacked the civilians,” Mr Amozai said.

A Uganda-led coalition including Congo and South Sudan launched a joint offensive against LRA strongholds in Congo’s isolated Garamba National Park on December 14 after LRA leader Joseph Kony again failed to sign a deal to end his rebellion. However, the operation has failed to arrest Joseph Kony.

In the same weekend related attacks were carried on Sunday at James Diko and Naakiri Bomas under Bangasu payam during a final funeral of one of the LRA Victims.

Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for war crimes.

Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro, state governor of Western Equatoria state with deeply sorrow and regrets expressed his dissatisfaction for the death of 8 WES citizens of Rii-Bodo on Saturday.

In a press statement, Col Bangasi said that, “it is painful to see such barbaric killings by the notorious LRA fighters on the innocent citizens of western Equatoria more especially as referendum gets around the corner.”

He called upon all the youth to stand up in order to provide security to the state from the marauding LRA and the state Government in collaboration with the UPDF and SPLA.

Security sources say soon the state government “will deploy forces around the payams and Bomas.”

Bakosoro assured the citizens that, “more forces of the Ugandan People Defense (UPDF) forces will be deployed around the most attacked areas of the Bomas.”

He cautioned the forestry department to ensure that “all timber cutters are removed from the forest of the state because it makes no sense for the LRA to be killing people leaving them (timber companies) unharmed hence some might be spices of the LRA.”

Meanwhile the Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement Agencies Colonel Wilson Sidigi said that he will ensure that support is given to the villagers’ security.

Sidigi promised that he will organize with the County Commissioners of Yambio and Nzara to encouraged the youth to stand firm as the security of the State is in the hands of every citizen of the state.

- - -

LRA Kill Eight In Yambio
Report from SRS (Sudan Radio Service) - Tuesday, 07 September 2010:

(YAMBIO) – About eight people were killed in attacks allegedly perpetrated by the Lord’s Resistance Army over the weekend in outskirts of Yambio town.

The Western Equatoria state Minister of Information and Communication, Gibson Bullen Wande, spoke to SRS from Yambio on Tuesday.

[Gibson Bullen Wande]: “The LRA appeared between Gangura and a place called Baite, attacked the village and killed three people, so now we are seeing how we are going to handle it. Then on Saturday in the evening, the LRA appeared about 7 kilometers away from Yambio town in a place called Riibodoo. They came into the house of a chief with his in-laws. All of them were beaten to death and one person was abducted. So the total number of people that we have established to have been killed during the two attacks of last week has now come to eight so far.”

Gibson Bullen Wande was speaking to SRS from Yambio on Tuesday.

- - -

LRA rebels kill eight in South Sudan raid, local official says
Report from Sudan Tribune online - Tuesday, 07 September 2010
By Richard Ruati - excerpt:

(YAMBIO - September 06, 2010) - The Ugandan rebels Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has killed eight people in raids over the weekend in South Sudan’s state of Western Equatoria, a local official has said.

The LRA, which is a sectarian religious and military group from northern Uganda, has a history of committing atrocities in the region.

It began as an Acholi tribe rebel movement seeking to overthrow the Ugandan Government. What it stands for now is a matter of debate but in 2005 the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued its first five arrest warrants for LRA leader, Joseph Kony, his deputy and three of his commanders.

Around six LRA fighters attacked the market village of Rii-Bodo at about 2:00 am (local time) on Saturday, 4 August, and killed civilians, said Lexon Amozai who is the state director of the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission in Western Equatoria State. The murders took place after an LRA ambush at the nearby Nahua stream.

On Friday, the rebels launched a similar assault on the village of Gangura. "They killed eight people there, among them two women. There were no soldiers deployed there, so they attacked the civilians," Amozai said.

A Uganda-led coalition including Congo and South Sudan launched a joint offensive against the LRA strongholds in Congo’s isolated Garamba National Park on December 14, after LRA leader Kony again failed to sign a peace deal. However, the operation has failed to arrest Kony.

On Sunday, August 5, related attacks were carried out in James Diko, Naakiri Bomas and during the funeral of one of the LRA victims in Bangasu. [...]

Security sources say that the state government’s deployment of "forces around the payams [villages] and Bomas,” is imminent.

- - -

"I'M ASKING EVERYONE PLEASE, PRAY TO MAKE IT END"



Photo: Gulu victim. The LRA use torture to instil fear. Uganda's rebel LRA has become synonymous with torture, abductions and killings. (BBC photo/Sudan Watch archives)



Photo: Two young boy's get treated for severe burn wounds in the Lira hospital in northern Uganda, 23 February 2004, after a massacre believed to be committed by the LRA in the Barlonyo camp 26 kilometers north of the town that killed at least 200 people. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo/Sudan Watch archive)



Photo: Ochola John was deformed by rebels from the LRA. (BBC) Click here to read the victim's heartbreaking testimony published at BBC News online on 29 June 2006. If the report has moved, click here to read a copy filed on 30 June 2006 at Uganda Watch, a sister site of this blog Sudan Watch.



Photo: Leader of the LRA peace delegation Martin Ojul, left, is welcomed back home at Koch Goma in Amuru. (AP Photo) Source: Report from Time.com - Saturday, 10 November 2007, by Alexis Okeowo in Gulu. Excerpt:

Sixteen years ago, Irene Abonyo was held down to the ground and her lips and ears viciously sliced off by rebels in northern Uganda. But 70-year old Abonyo is in a forgiving mood. She attended a steamy, overcrowded town-hall meeting to see, on better terms this time, one of the world's most terrifying rebel groups, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). After a dialogue, she went over to shake the hand of a former LRA fighter. He held her hand, but refused to have his picture taken with the disfigured woman. "I will still forgive," Abonyo explains. "They are embarrassed of what they have done." Full story by Alexis Okeowo (Gulu, N. Uganda) published at TIME.com on Saturday, 10 November 2007: "Forgiving the Lord's Resistance Army"

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"I'M ASKING EVERYONE PLEASE, PRAY TO MAKE IT END"

Last month, Human Rights Watch said the LRA had killed more than 250 people in the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo over the previous year and a half. It said nearly 700 others were kidnapped and forced to be either soldiers or sex slaves. Full story at Voice of America News (VOA) online, Tuesday, 07 September 2010: "LRA Kills 8 in Southern Sudan".



Photo: Southern Sudanese wait for food, shelter, security and medicine at the village of Nzara, along Sudan's border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, on 18 August 2010. Thousands have fled their nearby villages since a recent series of attacks by guerrilla fighters believed to be from the Lord's Resistance Army. (Peter Martell/AFP/Getty Images) Full story by Alan Boswell (Nzara, South Sudan) published at TIME.com on Tuesday, 31 August 2010: "The Ruthless Guerrilla Movement That Won't Die".

LRA targets children of Sudan: David Blair's report from Witto, Western Equatoria, S. Sudan

Here is a long awaited report from The Daily Telegraph's Africa correspondent David Blair. I have lost count of the number of times over the past year that I wondered about his lack of reporting on Africa and even worried that he might be ill. So, it was a wonderful surprise for me last night to find the following report filed from South Sudan's Western Equatoria! Fingers crossed that he remains in the region to report more on what is really going on. This morning (Monday, 10 August 2009) I published news here at Sudan Watch about southern Sudan where a humanitarian disaster more serious than that in Darfur, western Sudan is unfolding.

From The Daily Telegraph
Lord's Resistance Army targets children of Sudan
By David Blair in Witto, Western Equatoria province, South Sudan
Published: 7:00AM BST Monday 10 Aug 2009

The Lord's Resistance Army, which specialises in abducting and murdering the young, has turned on a new and pitifully vulnerable target: the children of southern Sudan, one of Africa's most isolated and troubled regions.



Local people call LRA fighters the "ton-tong", meaning "machete", because this is their chosen weapon for murdering victims Photo: GETTY

The LRA, which emerged in neighbouring Uganda and has kidnapped tens of thousands of children during two decades of guerrilla war, is now striking across a vast area of bush and plain along Sudan's south-western frontier.

These raids on defenceless villages, usually mounted by small groups of rebels searching for children to abduct and food to steal, have forced more than 55,000 people to flee their homes. Western Equatoria province has been worst hit, with scores of villages abandoned and new refugee camps springing up.

Local people call LRA fighters the "ton-tong", meaning "machete", because this is their chosen weapon for murdering victims.

Mary Anja, who does not know her age but looks about 30, lived in Diko district until the LRA attacked her village. Knowing that the rebels were hunting for children, local people tried to evacuate as many as possible, along with their mothers, on two tractors.

Mrs Anja gathered her three infant sons and climbed onto one vehicle's trailer. Meanwhile, her daughter, Phoebe, who is about 12, boarded the second tractor.

But this tiny convoy drove straight into an LRA ambush. "The ton-tong fired bullets in the air, then they shot out the tyres of the tractor," said Mrs Anja. "When people tried to jump out, they shot at the people." As the terrified women and children tried to flee, one baby boy, less than a year old, was shot dead in the arms of his mother. Another woman was wounded in the leg, while a Sudanese soldier, who had tried to protect the convoy, died in a hail of bullets.

Mrs Anja managed to flee with her three sons. As she ran, she knew nothing of the fate of Phoebe, travelling on the second tractor. "I was thinking 'Phoebe is not here'. I started crying while I ran," said Mrs Anja.

By this time, Phoebe was already in the hands of the LRA. The guerrillas surrounded her tractor, firing in the air and singling out Phoebe along with five other girls and one boy. "They surrounded us. We couldn't run and then they said 'sit down'. One of the rebels tied us up," said Phoebe.

The captives were led away into the bush. For the next three days, Phoebe was forced to march for 18 hours at a time. "If you don't walk fast enough, you are beaten with sticks," she remembered. "I was thinking, 'I may be killed like those who have been killed by the ton-tong before'. And I asked myself 'what has happened to my mother and my brothers'?"

Phoebe could not have known that her family was safe. They had managed to reach another village, from where Mrs Anja and her sons were brought to a refugee camp at Witto, some 50 miles away.

Shortly before dawn on the fourth day of the march, Phoebe and three other girls managed to slip away as their captors slept. For the next 12 days, they walked through the bush, surviving on river water and wild berries, until they reached the town of Tore Wandi.

Phoebe, emaciated and dehydrated, was taken to hospital, where her mother eventually found her. Today, she has recovered and the family lives in Witto camp, where Oxfam provides sanitation and basic essentials for about 500 refugees.

They cannot understand why they have become the LRA's latest targets. This nihilist movement, which emerged in Northern Uganda more than 20 years ago, has no coherent aim. Its psychotic leader, Joseph Kony, claims to be a prophet and says that he wants to rule Uganda according to the Ten Commandments.

But Kony's rebellion has no purpose save murder, so no-one joins him voluntarily. Hence the LRA must abduct children, who are then brainwashed into becoming soldiers and sent to kidnap more young recruits. In this brutal fashion, the LRA constantly replenishes its ranks.

Uganda has managed to expel the rebels from its territory with a series of offensives. But the LRA has scattered across a new killing ground, covering Sudan's borders with the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.

No-one can tell how many children have disappeared in this vast area. Joseph Ngere Paciko, the deputy governor of Western Equatoria, has recorded 250 abductions in his province alone.

"There have also been cases in far-away villages, where we have no access, so the real number is certainly higher," he said. "Our people don't understand why this is happening. Why should the LRA come and kill our people every day?"