TRANSCRIPT: Plea by West Darfur Governor Abaker

Hat tip to Cameron Hudson @_hudsonc. I made the transcript here below.

The last interview conducted by Khamis Abbaker before he was abducted & killed, reportedly by RSF
He is one of the few officials that held his position, staying with his constituents, calling for aid during this conflict/war#Sudan #WestDarfur #DarfurBaladna #Darfur https://t.co/fDaXxwZoEZ

— Tagreed Abdin (@taggy_) June 17, 2023

Near-Verbatim Transcript

Taken from English sub-titles superimposed on the video of Al-Hadath TV interview with West Darfur Governor Mr Khamis Abdalla Abaker

Filmed and aired on Wednesday 14 June 2023

TEXT, AL-HADATH TV:

The violence in El Geneina City continues, leaving people in a dire condition.

Thousands fled to neighbouring Chad, and other states. More than 3000 were killed.

One of those victims is the Governor of West Darfur Sate, who was murdered just hours after asking for help. 

Not knowing that his cry for help in the interview would be his last public statement...

VOICE, WEST DARFUR GOVERNOR MR KHAMIS ABDALLA ABAKAR:

“Now you can hear bombing and shelling sounds, those are directly falling on citizens.

Citizens are killed randomly, and in great numbers.

We have lots of wounded people that cannot receive medical care, there are no open hospitals or pharmacies.

All hospitals and medical centres have been bombed completely, and citizens lack medical care.

The number of injuries has surpassed 3000, and it is increasing, and there is no place for them to receive first aid.

Doctors are trying to help within the neighborhoods, yet many wounded people need operations. 

So, the aid is limited, and doctors themselves are now targeted. Three weeks ago, 6 doctors were targeted. 

The issue began between the two parties in a joint force area.

Then it escalated to the area of Masaleet tribe, however, today all the city is violated.

All the city and all the tribes have been violated and targeted by the RSF and their supporting militias.

We spoke with both the central and regional government about the need for deploying a force, yet there is no response. 

All the fight has shifted to West Darfur, and they are directly targeting civilians.

The army base of Division 15 Infantry is about 7 km from my location. 

Yet the army did not come out of their base, not even to secure the city.

This has been going on for 57 days at least, and we have yet to see the armed forces leaving their barracks, not even to protect civilians.

[My message] to the global community: this city suffered a great deal, and these people have been murdered by the thousands.

A genocide was committed in this area, and we ask the global community to intervene urgently to save the remaining lives!

These people have no place to sleep, no food or water and are under shelling.  

Therefore, I plead with the international and regional community to save the remaining lives in this state!"  

[Ends] + + +

UPDATED 5 hours later to add: near-verbatim; closing quotation mark; Masalit tag.

Sudan: West Darfur Governor Khamis Abakar killed

Report at BBC News - bbc.co.uk/news/world/africa
By Mercy Juma, BBC News
Dated Thursday 15 June 2023 - full copy:

Sudan conflict: West Darfur governor killed after genocide claim

West Darfur Governor Khamis Abakar said people from his 

Massalit ethnic group were being targeted in El Geneina

A governor from Sudan's Darfur region has been killed hours after accusing the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing genocide.

In a TV interview, Khamis Abakar had asked for international intervention to stop violence in West Darfur he blamed on the RSF and its Arab militia allies.

The conflict that erupted two months ago between the RSF and army has inflamed ethnic tensions in Darfur.

The army said the RSF abducted Abakar and executed him, which it denies.

He is the most senior official known to have been killed since the conflict began in April.

Video footage circulating on social media appears to show a group of armed men, some wearing RSF uniforms, detaining the governor of West Darfur state on Wednesday. 

But the RSF blamed "outlaws" for his death, saying its fighters had tried to protect Abakar by taking him to their headquarters in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur.

It was then overrun and the governor kidnapped and "assassinated in cold blood", the RSF said.

• BBC Africa Live: Updates from the continent
• The accountant fighting for his people in Darfur
• What is going on in Sudan? A simple guide

Black African and Arab communities in Darfur have long been at loggerheads - with the worst violence erupting two decades ago when non-Arabs took up arms accusing the government of discrimination.

In response the government armed Arab militias, known as the Janjaweed. They were accused of widespread atrocities and ethnic killings, described as the first genocide of the 21st Century. 

The RSF was born out of these Janjaweed fighters - and now they and other Arab militias have again been accused of targeting African communities, going on the rampage in El Geneina.

The city is a symbol of black African power in Darfur and many people from the Massalit ethnic group live there.

"Civilians are being killed randomly and in large numbers," Governor Abakar told Saudi-owned Al-Hadath TV on Wednesday, saying the army was doing nothing to help those under attack.

Last week he told BBC Arabic's emergency pop-up Sudan radio service that the killings were especially targeting his Massalit group: "El Geneina city has been attacked from three directions: east, south and west.

"These people have been attacked in their homes and displacement camps. People are targeted… on a daily basis, based on their ethnicity."

In a statement condemning his killing, the army said Governor Abakar had been one of the leaders of former rebel groups that signed the historic peace agreement in 2020 that brought rebels into the then-transitional government. 

In his BBC Sudan Lifeline interview, the governor said that the whole of West Darfur - one of five states in the gold-rich Darfur region - faced a "tragic" situation.

"All the vital facilities in the state have been totally destroyed. Hospitals are not operating. Water sources have been utterly destroyed.

"I am calling on the international and regional community to interfere immediately in West Darfur to save those who are remaining alive in the state," he said - a plea he repeated in his last interview.

On Tuesday, the UN's envoy to Sudan, Volker Perthes, said most of these attacks did appear to have been committed by Arab militias and the RSF which "could amount to crimes against humanity".

Last week, medical aid charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) said estimates suggested that at least 500 people had been killed in El Geneina alone. 

Abakar told the BBC more than 2,000 people had also been wounded, trapped in the city and unable to get treatment.

According to the UN, more than 100,000 people have now fled the fighting in Darfur across the border into neighbouring Chad.

View original: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-65914569

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______________________________

Could an old tribal foe undercut Sudan’s Hemedti?

See Aljazeera report 03 May 2023 - excerpt:

“If [Hemedti and Hilal] get along, there will be consequences for the African tribes and the internally displaced people. [Hilal and Hemedti] remember the displaced people as being in opposition to them [in previous wars],” warned Zakaria.

“The consequence would make the [Arab] forces much bigger than the [armed non-Arab groups] in [West Darfur].”

View original: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/3/could-an-old-tribal-foe-undercut-sudans-hemedti

[Ends]