Showing posts with label April 15. Show all posts
Showing posts with label April 15. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Statement on the Situation in Sudan by the SRSG for Sudan and Head of UNITAMS, Dr Volker Perthes

NOTE, the following statement makes it easy to see why Sudan's junta wants the SRSG and Head of UNITAMS, Dr Volker Perthes, to be replaced and expelled from Sudan for honestly assessing the situation in Sudan. Ethnic cleansing and the Arabisation of Sudan for its riches continues.


Report at UNITAMS - unitams.unmissions.org

Dated Tuesday 13 June 2023 - full copy:

STATEMENT BY THE SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SECRETARY-GENERAL FOR SUDAN AND HEAD OF THE UNITED NATIONS INTEGRATED TRANSITION ASSISTANCE MISSION IN SUDAN (UNITAMS), MR. VOLKER PERTHES, ON THE SITUATION IN SUDAN


Since the eruption of conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and Rapid Support Forces on 15 April 2023, the security, human rights and humanitarian situation continue to rapidly deteriorate across the country, particularly in the greater Khartoum, Darfur and Kordofan areas. 

 

While the United Nations is at this stage unable to verify all alleged violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, information received from multiple civil society entities and human rights defenders’ networks, paint a clear picture of the devastating scale of impact on the civilian population.

 

In addition to the killing and injury of thousands of civilians, communities continue to grapple with severe shortages of food, access to medical supplies and restricted movement out of conflict areas. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced, including populations that had already been displaced following decades of conflict. Allegations of sexual violence against women and girls are deeply alarming.

 

As the situation in Darfur continues to deteriorate, I am particularly alarmed by the situation in El Geneina (West Darfur) following various waves of violence since late April which took on ethnic dimensions. While the United Nations continues to gather additional details regarding these reports, there is an emerging pattern of large-scale targeted attacks against civilians based on their ethnic identities, allegedly committed by Arab militias and some armed men in Rapid Support Force (RSF)’s uniform. These reports are deeply worrying and, if verified, could amount to crimes against humanity.

 

The United Nations condemns in the strongest terms all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, whatever the form and whoever the alleged perpetrators are. It is imperative that security forces and non-state armed actors uphold their duty under international humanitarian law to respect the right to life and refrain from attacks against civilians.

 

While I am encouraged that in some areas, local communities and state authorities have taken proactive measures to help de-escalate and mediate, it is important to ensure that all violations are documented and protected for accountability purposes. UNITAMS will continue its efforts to monitor the situation and avail its resources to engage with all parties to reach a peaceful resolution to the conflict, in coordination with regional and international partners.


View original: 

https://unitams.unmissions.org/en/statement-special-representative-secretary-general-sudan-and-head-united-nations-integrated


[Ends] 

Saturday, May 27, 2023

NEW COLD WAR? Africa must not become ‘geostrategic battleground’ warns AU leaders

Report at TheAfricaReport.com

By AFP (Agence France-Presse)

Dated Friday 26 May 2023; 09:24 - full copy:


NEW COLD WAR?

Africa must not become ‘geostrategic battleground’ warns AU

Moussa Faki Mahamat (1st L), Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC) looks at a photo exhibition during the 60th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU), at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa on May 25, 2023. (Photo by Amanuel Sileshi / AFP)


Africa must not become a “geostrategic battleground” for global powers, as it grapples with several threats to its own peace and security, African Union leaders warn.


The continent of 1.3 billion people has found itself at the centre of a tussle for influence among the major powers, which has redoubled since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 15 months ago.


And just as the AU marked the anniversary of the creation of its forerunner, the Organisation of African Unity, on this day in 1963, Ukraine itself announced it wanted to boost ties with Africa.


“In this international context of confrontation of divergent political interests, the will of each side threatens to transform Africa into a geostrategic battleground, thereby creating a new Cold War,” AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat said.


“In this zero-sum game, where the gains of others would translate into losses for Africa, we must resist all forms of instrumentalisation of our member states,” he added in an address at AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.


Moscow is seeking deeper political, economic and military ties in Africa as well as Asia as Russia becomes increasingly isolated on the international stage over the conflict in Ukraine.


‘Capacity for resilience’


Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who is currently on a tour of Africa, on Wednesday urged certain African nations to end their “neutrality” over the war.


In February, 22 AU member states abstained or did not vote on a UN General Assembly resolution that called for Russia withdraw from Ukraine.


Two of them – Eritrea and Mali – voted against the resolution.


And in a statement to mark the pan-African body’s anniversary, Kuleba also announced a Ukrainian diplomatic push on the continent.


“We want to develop a new quality of partnership based on three mutual principles: mutual respect, mutual interests, and mutual benefits,” he said, announcing plans to establish new embassies in Africa and hold a Ukraine-Africa summit.


In this zero-sum game, where the gains of others would translate into losses for Africa, we must resist all forms of instrumentalisation of our member states.


Moscow itself has scheduled a Russia-Africa summit in July, following a trip to several African countries at the start of the year by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.


China and the US have also despatched their foreign ministers to the continent in rival diplomatic offensives this year.


Beijing has funded major infrastructure development in Africa but denies Western charges it is practising “debt-trap diplomacy”, while Russia is a key arms exporter and is making forays through mining projects, analysts say.


‘Conflicts and terrorism persist’


Faki meanwhile also hailed the successes of the 54-nation AU which succeeded the OAU in 2002: “Independence and victory against apartheid, that of significant economic and scientific progress, sports, arts, the growing international role of Africa and so on.”


However, he also acknowledged “negative factors such as democratic decline through unconstitutional changes of government, with their litany of oppression and gagging of freedoms, insecurity, the spread of terrorism, violent extremism, the uncontrolled circulation of arms, the harmful effects of climate change”.


Despite the difficulties, Faki said, Africa remains “characterised by its greater capacity for resilience”, pointing for example to its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.


The current head of the African Union, Comoros President Azali Assoumani also denounced “the unconstitutional changes of power” which have multiplied in Africa in recent years.


“Inter and intra-African conflicts but also terrorism persists and consequently the peace, security, democracy and development of our continent are threatened in several of our countries,” he said.


Assoumani spoke of the conflict between rival generals in Sudan which erupted in mid-April and has persisted despite several truce agreements.


“We must convince our brothers in Sudan to favour dialogue so that the fratricidal war raging in this country ends,” he added.


View original: https://www.theafricareport.com/310874/africa-must-not-become-geostrategic-battleground-warns-au/


[Ends]

Friday, May 26, 2023

MSF says Sudan healthcare situation is dire. BBC says attacks on hospitals and staff are potential war crimes

ONLY A HANDFUL of the 88 hospitals in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, remain open after weeks of fighting, according to Sudan's Doctors Union. Both sides in Sudan's conflict could be carrying out war crimes on medical facilities and staff, according to evidence seen by BBC News Arabic. Read more. Report at BBC News
Dated Friday 26 May 2023 - excerpt:
Sudan conflict: Hospital attacks potential war crimes, BBC told

Both sides in Sudan's conflict could be carrying out war crimes on medical facilities and staff, according to evidence seen by BBC News Arabic.

Hospitals have been hit by airstrikes and artillery fire while patients were still in the building and doctors have also been singled out for attack - all of which are potential war crimes. 

Only a handful of the 88 hospitals in the capital, Khartoum, remain open after weeks of fighting, according to Sudan's Doctors Union.

[Ends]

Monday, May 22, 2023

Sudan Journalists Syndicate demands RSF leaves broadcasting HQ. RSF shot photojournalist in back

NOTE that this photo was taken on April 14It shows a Sudan Journalists Syndicate meeting held to discuss the security situation in Sudan. The meeting was held one day before 'surprise' fighting erupted in Khartoum.


Earlier this month a group of RSF rebels raided the office of El Hirak El Siyasi newspaper in Khartoum and award-winning Sudanese photojournalist Faiz Abubakr Mohamed was shot in the back. Read more.


Report at Radio Dabanga - dabangasudan.org

Dated Sunday 21 May 2023

Sudan Journalists Syndicate demand RSF leaves broadcasting HQ


Sudan Journalists Syndicate meet to discuss the security situation in the country on April 14, one day before the outbreak of war (Source: SJS)


(KHARTOUM / OMDURMAN - May 21, 2023) - As Sudan entered its 34th day of war on Friday, the Sudanese Journalists Syndicate (SJS) released a statement condemning the Rapid Support Forces’ (RSF) use of “media and press institutions as a field of military battles.”


“The Radio and Television Corporation has been suspended from working and broadcasting since April 15,” when clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the RSF, a powerful paramilitary group, spiralled into war.


On April 17, the organisation reported that 17 employees of the Sudan News Agency (SUNA) were “stranded” inside buildings on Republic Street in Omdurman, Khartoum state. A number of them were reported to have been evacuated on April 19.


In its latest statement, the SJS called on the RSF to immediately leave radio and television headquarters so that journalists can continue to do their work. “Their adoption of military bases puts the historical national legacy inside the two organs at risk of destruction and sabotage.”


The SJS also appealed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) “to intervene with the warring parties in Sudan” in order to save radio and television libraries. 


“We call on the organisation, out of its responsibility to preserve human heritage… to save this legacy from being lost.”


Since fighting erupted in Sudan last month, supporters from both sides have threatened journalists for criticising human rights violations by both sides, according to the SJS.


On May 16, Al Jazeera reported that six people have been told that they will be hurt or killed if they continue reporting abuses in Sudan.


The SJS expressed its concerns about “new threats against men and women journalists” in a statement on May 11, after lists began circulating on social media calling out journalists for betraying the SAF and inciting violence against them. According to journalists who spoke to Al Jazeera, members of the National Congress Party claim anyone who appears neutral is against the army and with the RSF.”


Earlier this month, a group of paramilitaries of the RSF raided the office of El Hirak El Siyasi newspaper in Khartoum and a Sudanese photojournalist was shot in the back.


Following its reformation last year, the SJS said that the press and media in Sudan have faced unprecedented targeting since the October 2021 coup.


Before April 15, Sudan was already ranked 151 out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index, and 29 out of 100 (i.e. ‘Not Free’) in Freedom House’s Internet Freedom Index. “Anti-journalist predators enjoy total impunity and are protected by the authorities” in Sudan, states Reporters Without Borders on its website.


Further reading


El Burhan sacks Hemedti as Sudan TSC V-P, appoints Malik Agar

https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/el-burhan-sacks-hemedti-as-sudan-tsc-v-p-appoints-malik-agar.


View original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/sudan-journalists-demand-rsf-leaves-broadcasting-hq
____________________________________

Winner in the 'singles' category for Africa at regional stage of the prestigious 2022 World Press Photo Contest: 

A woman protestor hurls a teargas cannister back at riot police during pro-democracy protests in Sudan in 2021 

(Picture: Faiz Abubakr Mohamed / World Press Photo)


World Press Photo of the Year 2020

Straight Voice – A young man, illuminated by mobile phones, 

recites protest poetry 

while demonstrators chant slogans calling for civilian rule, 

during a blackout in Khartoum, Sudan, on 19 June 2019

(Yasuyoshi Chiba, Japan, AFP)



SW Ed Updated 23 May 2023 11:03 BST: Add Faiz to photojournalist's name; highlight Faiz in photo caption; hyphenate award-winning.

Sunday, May 21, 2023

Fleeing Sudan, diplomats shredded locals' passports

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: One would hope passports are treated as respectfully as a nation's flag. You don't shred a nation's flag without it being interpreted as a terrible insult. This article doesn't make clear whether the passports destroyed by the US were in fact US passports. If not, it seems to me the passports were not their property to destroy. They should have left them behind safely. A country's border is man made. In today's age of digital technology losing a passport should not be a matter of life or death.

As rightly stated in the articleA passport is a “precious and lifesaving piece of property,” said Tom Malinowski, a former congressman from New Jersey who helped stranded Afghans in 2021. “It’s a big deal to destroy something like that, and when we do we have an obligation to make that person whole.” 

Let's hope priority is given to replacing all passports wrongfully destroyed.
____________________________

Report at The New York Times
By Declan Walsh
Reporting from Nairobi, Kenya
Edward Wong contributed reporting.
Dated Friday 19 May 2023 - full copy:

Fleeing Sudan, U.S. Diplomats Shredded Passports and Stranded Locals


Officials destroyed Sudanese passports on security grounds as they evacuated the Khartoum embassy. Now the passport owners are trapped in a war zone.

Image Sudanese army soldiers guard a checkpoint in Khartoum on Thursday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


In the frantic days before American diplomats evacuated their Khartoum embassy under darkness by helicopter last month, one crucial task remained.


Armed with shredders, sledgehammers and gasoline, American officials, following  government protocols, destroyed classified documents and sensitive equipment, officials and eyewitnesses said. By the time Chinook helicopters carrying commandos landed beside the embassy just after midnight on April 23, sacks of shredded paper lined the embassy’s four floors.


But the piles also contained paperwork precious to Sudanese citizens — their passports. Many had left them at the embassy days earlier, to apply for American visas. Some belonged to local staff members. As the embassy evacuated, officials who feared the passports, along with other important papers, might fall into the wrong hands reduced them to confetti.


A month later, many of those Sudanese are stranded in the war zone, unable to get out.


“I can hear the warplanes and the bombing from my window,” Selma Ali, an engineer who submitted her passport to the U.S. Embassy three days before the war erupted, said over a crackling line from her home in Khartoum. “I’m trapped here with no way out.” 


It wasn’t only the Americans: Many other countries also stranded Sudanese visa applicants when their diplomats evacuated, a source of furious recriminations from Sudanese on social media. But most of those countries did not destroy the passports, instead leaving them locked inside shuttered embassies  — inaccessible, but not gone forever.


Of eight other countries that answered questions about the evacuation, only France said it had also destroyed the passports of visa applicants on security grounds.

Image The US Embassy in Khartoum in 2017. Credit Ashraf Shazly/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images


The U.S. State Department confirmed it had destroyed passports but declined to say how many. “It is standard operating procedure during these types of situations to take precautions to not leave behind any documents, materials, or information that could fall into the wrong hands and be misused,” said a spokeswoman who asked not to be named under State Department policy.


“Because the security environment did not allow us to safely return those passports,” she added, “we followed our procedure to destroy them rather than leave them behind unsecured.”


Ms. Ali, 39, had hoped to fly to Chicago this month to attend a training course, and from there to Vienna to start work with a U.N. organization. “My dream job,” she said. Instead, she is confined with her parents to a house on the outskirts of the capital, praying the fighting will not reach them.


Violence in Sudan


Fighting between two military factions has thrown Sudan into chaos, with plans for a transition to a civilian-led democracy now in shambles.


“I’m so frustrated,” she said, her voice quivering. “The U.S. diplomats evacuated their own citizens but they didn’t think of the Sudanese. We are human, too.”


Alhaj Sharafeldin, 26, said he had been accepted for a master’s in computer science at Iowa State University, and supposed to collect his passport and visa on April 16. A day earlier, the fighting broke out.


Five days ago the U.S. embassy notified him by email that his passport had been destroyed. “This is tough,” he said, speaking from the house where he has sheltered since violence engulfed his own neighborhood. “The situation is so dangerous here.”

Image Alhaj Sharafeldin


The decision to destroy passports was gut-wrenching for American officials who realized it would hinder Sudanese citizens from fleeing, said several witnesses and officials familiar with the evacuation.


Particularly distressing was the fact that the passports of Sudanese staff members were also destroyed. Some had applied for United States  government training courses; others had left their passports in the embassy for safekeeping.


“There was a lot of very upset people about this,” said one U.S. official who, like several others, spoke on the basis of anonymity to discuss a sensitive episode. “We left behind a lot of people who were loyal to us, and we were not loyal to them.”


But the officials were following the same protocol that led to the destruction of many Afghan passports during the hasty evacuation from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, in August 2021, which was also a source of controversy.


Then, Afghans deprived of their passports could at least apply to the Taliban for a new one. But that option is impossible in Sudan because the country’s main  passport  office is in a neighborhood experiencing some of the fiercest battles.

Image American nationals arriving last month for evacuation in Port Sudan. Credit Reuters


Given those circumstances, angry Sudanese question why evacuating U.S. officials could not  have carried their passports with them. “Couldn’t they have just put the passports in a bag?” Ms. Ali said.


A passport is a “precious and lifesaving piece of property,” said Tom Malinowski, a former congressman from New Jersey who helped stranded Afghans in 2021. “It’s a big deal to destroy something like that, and when we do we have an obligation to make that person whole.”


In interviews, foreign diplomats said it was practically impossible to operate in Khartoum after the first shots were fired on April 15, when clashes between Sudan’s military and the Rapid Support Forces, a powerful paramilitary group, quickly spiraled into a full-blown war.


Warplanes zoomed over the Khartoum district including most foreign embassies, dropping bombs. R.S.F. fighters rushed into the streets, firing back. Stray bombs and bullets hit embassies and residences, making it too dangerous to even reach an office, much less hand out passports, officials said.


Still, Sudanese critics said the embassies could have tried harder — especially as they poured so much effort into evacuating their own citizens. Military planes from Britain, France, Germany and Turkey flew out thousands of people from Khartoum. Armed U.S. drones watched over buses carrying Americans as they traveled to Port Sudan, a journey of 525 miles.


Sudanese visa applicants who asked for help at foreign embassies holding their passports say they were met with obfuscation, silence or unhelpful advice like being told to get a new passport.


“There are no authorities in Sudan now,” said Mohamed Salah, whose passport is at the Indian Embassy. “Just war.” 

Image Mohamed Salah


One country did, however, provide some relief. Two weeks into the war, the Chinese Embassy posted a phone number online for visa applicants to retrieve passports.


The American Embassy, a sprawling compound by the Nile in southern Khartoum, was miles from the most intense fighting. Even so, officials worried that it would get cut off from critical supplies. So they began destroying sensitive material five days before President Biden formally ordered an evacuation on April 21, in scenes that one witness compared to the beginning of the movie “Argo.”


Classified and sensitive documents were fed into shredders that chomped them up and spat out tiny pieces. Officials wielding sledgehammers crushed electronics and an emergency passport machine. Burn pits glowed at the rear of the embassy.


The destruction grew more frenetic as the evacuation neared. Officials appealed over the embassy loudspeaker for help with shredding. Finally, a few hours before Chinooks landed in a field between the embassy and the Nile, throwing up clouds of blinding dust, U.S. Marines lowered the flag outside the embassy.


At the same time, other embassies were also in “full shred mode,” as one diplomat put it. A European ambassador said he personally smashed his official seal.


It is not clear if embassies that didn’t destroy passports made that choice or simply didn’t have enough time.


No government has said how many Sudanese passports it destroyed or left in shuttered embassies.


No One Left Behind, a nonprofit that helps Afghan military interpreters, estimated that several thousand passports were burned during the U.S. evacuation from Kabul in 2021, said Catalina Gasper, the group’s chief operating officer.

IMAGE A man waves folders with documents at U.S. Marines as they secure the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan on August 2021. Credit Jim Huylebroek for The New York Times


Fighting has surged in recent days, despite American- and Saudi-led efforts to broker a cease-fire. With little prospect of an immediate return to Khartoum, foreign diplomats say they are offering to help visa applicants left behind.


The Dutch Foreign Ministry said in response to questions that it was in “active contact” with affected people. The Spanish advised them to “obtain another travel document.” The Indians said they were unable to access their premises.


“The embassy area is still an intense fighting zone,” an Indian diplomat wrote.


Some people did manage to flee without passports. An official from France, which evacuated about 1,000 people from 41 countries, said people without papers were allowed to fly because officials knew that “their administrative situation would be resolved later.”


That option was not available to most Sudanese.


Mahir Elfiel, a development worker marooned in Wadi Halfa, 20 miles from the border with Egypt, said the Spanish Embassy hadn’t even responded to emails about his passport. “They just ignored me,” he said. (Others made similar complaints.)

Image Mahir Elfiel


There was at least one solution: Local officials were helping stranded people cross the border by extending their old, expired passports with handwritten notes. But Mr. Elfiel’s previous passport was stowed at his office back in Khartoum.


It presented a dilemma: return to the war zone and risk his life, or linger in Wadi Halfa until the fighting eases.


“I don’t have any options, really,” he said. “I’m just waiting.” 

Image Smoke billowing in Khartoum on Wednesday. Credit Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.


Declan Walsh is the chief Africa correspondent for The Times. He was previously based in Egypt, covering the Middle East, and in Pakistan. He previously worked at The Guardian and is the author of “The Nine Lives of Pakistan.” @declanwalsh


A version of this article appears in print on May 20, 2023, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Fleeing Envoys Trap Sudanese In a War Zone.


- A Rescue Operation: As feuding generals turned Karthoum into a war zone, two university students navigated a battered Toyota through the chaos and saved at least 60 desperate people.


- Fleeing Sudan: The violence has driven thousands of Sudanese into neighboring countries and caused an exodus of diplomats and other foreigners who were in Sudan when violence erupted.


- A Safe Haven, for Now: Egypt has relaxed border controls for Sudanese arrivals since the outbreak of the fighting. But officials, expecting busloads of poorer refugees to follow, worry about what comes next.


- A Failed Test: As the crisis in Sudan creates the kind of power vacuum that the United States had hoped to avoid, critics of the Biden administration are blaming a naïve approach to foreign policy for the violence.


View original: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/19/world/africa/sudan-us-embassy-passports.html


COMMENTS POSTED AT ARTICLE ABOVE

Sort by: Newest

San Diego

May 20

So the Chinese Embassy retained and protected the passports they held for Sudanese.  We did not.  Two thumbs up for the Chinese.  One down for us.  Reflects our cavalier attitude.

123 Recommend

Rhode Island

May 20

Horrifying, and should be prosecuted, but of course never will. It was not U.S. property to destroy.

76 Recommend

NJ

May 20

It was my understanding, from NYT reporting, that American dual citizens were given quite ample notice to leave ASAP and that some, having various family and financial connections to the country decided to stay:  if that truly is the case, then sadly, this is on them, not the embassy staff.

35 Recommend

USA

May 20

Frankly, I don’t know why these people waited so long to leave the country

21 Recommend

SFNM

May 20

Gut wrenching. Have we learned nothing?

20 Recommend

New Delhi

May 20

The State Department abandoned U.S. citizens in Sudan while crowing about getting their own folks out. No surprise that they shredded the safety of so many Sudanese who put their faith in the power and fairness of the United States. We have lost the trust of the world in so many ways large and small. We could have made better choices.

72 Recommend

Living In Mexico

May 19

Sounds like there need to be changes to these protocols so that certain items, including the passports of non-US citizens, get taken with evacuated diplomats. I get that there’s only so much room on a Chinook. But it should be possible to calculate what is practical and design suitable emergency protocols. This has already happened at least twice and it will happen again.


On a more practical note, does Sudan still have embassies in the US, in DC and at the UN in NY? If so they could reissue passports and people approved for travel to the US could pick them up when they get here. It sounds like the numbers involved are small enough for this to be a real solution to this specific problem.

135 Recommend

North America

May 19

With the technology available, it should not be necessary to take people’s actual passports away from them.  These people came to us for help and we made things more difficult for them.

140 Recommend

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james commented

May 20

@Bwspmn 

Set a blame in the US why don’t you blame the warlords that are tearing the country apart?

30 Recommend

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Philadelphia, PA

May 19

It seems highly unlikely that the details of visa applicants were not routinely sent to the home country for review, so each country should at least have been able to generate a list of people it had a moral responsibility to rescue.

49 Recommend

Boston

May 19

Having the passports fall into the wrong hands, to be misused by the wrong persons for travel to the US or other countries, would be an ongoing security risk. There could also be danger or persecution of persons who were identified as having relations with the US, so destroying the passports does make some sense. How much better to have scanned them and then taken the physical documents when evacuating. What more important items could there be when getting people to safety?

75 Recommend

Friday, May 19, 2023

Impunity enabled generals to recklessly destroy Sudan (Hala al-Karib)

HOW YEARS OF IMPUNITY gave Sudan’s generals licence to destroy Sudan. This powerful op-ed was published in May at SudanTribune.com

Written by HALA AL-KARIB 

@Halayalkarib https://twitter.com/Halayalkarib

Regional Director, Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)


Impunity enabled generals to recklessly destroy Sudan


I haven’t looked at my face in the mirror since the morning of 15 April when Sudan got turned upside down by two generals battling for power, the culmination of decades of state failure, impunity, and the negligence of the international community.


I don’t know what I look like now. I don’t want to see myself. I don’t want to cry.


That Saturday morning was the turning point. Before then, life was about that next medical appointment, school exam, or job interview: the upcoming wedding, or baby’s naming ceremony, or funeral to attend; the savings plan, the friend to visit, the house or small room to build; the tuk tuk, motorbike, or car to buy.


But all that has vanished.


We woke up that Saturday to a new reality of killings, of bodies strewn on the streets, of artillery bombardment and burning buildings. We are now in a desperate period of fear, trauma, and – for those who can – exodus.


Khartoum is the capital of 45 million Sudanese. It’s also the home of at least 10 million of us – including more than two million refugees who came here for sanctuary. For Khartoum to be destroyed like this, by thugs and monsters, is shocking, and perplexing.


That Saturday it took me the whole day, scanning the news channels and communicating with friends and colleagues before my brain was able to recognise what was actually happening.


We had fallen into the hands of those with no mercy, without humanity.


The city was being torn apart by rival militaries: Those loyal to General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the armed forces chief, versus his deputy, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).


It is behaviour that the people of Darfur have witnessed for years – where the RSF and other militias have protected their power by subjecting the people to intimidation and oppression, and where al-Burhan and the Sudanese army have also been accused of coordinating attacks against civilians.


The collapse


I came to Khartoum in early April to see my mother, and to check on an unwell brother and visually impaired aunt. I wanted to give my siblings – who had been looking after them – a break.


I planned to work out of the Khartoum office of my organisation, the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), an African feminist women’s rights network.


I had so much to do. I was planning a trip to Blue Nile and North Darfur to launch one of our new projects. We were pushing on with our work, almost oblivious to the abnormalities all around us.


As Sudanese, we were witnessing the collapse of the country, its decay, following the military’s seizure of power in October 2021 – bitterly protested by street-based pro-democracy groups.


There was the economic pain of an ever-accelerating cost of living, which means most people dependent on a daily income cannot afford the basics. Even the salaries of teachers, nurses, doctors, and government public servants have only been paid a few times since the coup – stranding them for months without an income.


The international community saw the way out of the crisis as a power-sharing deal between civilian politicians and the military.


The intention was to repeat the coalition formula agreed upon after the collapse of the Omar al-Bashir regime in 2019, an arrangement the military subsequently tore up two years later.


The UN, the African Union, and the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) were supposed to coordinate the political process leading to a new coalition government – but it was naïvely and ineptly managed.


Fundamentally, power-sharing doesn’t solve Sudan’s deep-rooted structural problems, when seats at the political table are reserved for the men in uniform responsible for the violence and injustice we’ve long been forced to live with.


Power-sharing covers up war crimes and crimes against humanity. It entrenches the military elite based on the assumption that – for the sake of peace – they can’t be touched. The result is the weakening of human rights and justice frameworks, and the legitimisation of the warlords, who are rewarded with access to resources and positions.


The 2020 Juba power-sharing agreement that followed the fall of al-Bashir was supposed to lead to free and fair elections. Instead, the generals have since been competing among themselves, mobilising their forces to achieve their corrupt ends.


That is the root of the violence we are confronted with today on the streets of Khartoum – and just as bloodily in Darfur and Kordofan – as the army and the RSF battle it out for supremacy.


Civilian politicians have also played a role. Sudanese people have been exhausted by the divisions and lack of leadership among the parties. As a result, politicians lost their connection to the people and failed to cultivate popular support.

 

Solidarity and courage


Even on the eve of the collapse, Sudanese were still trying to manage life as best as possible. I drove to a relative’s funeral around the Reyad area on Friday night and could still see people taking their kids out to purchase their Eid clothes for the end of Ramadan.


The main roads were dark, and street lights and traffic lights hardly working.


I remember thinking Khartoum reflected the impoverished soul of Sudan’s military clique. After seizing power, they had no idea how to run the country beyond plundering, and killing and violating its citizens.


That weekend, we had 14 guests staying with us: two project auditors from SIHA’s Uganda office, two Ugandan consultants, and 10 colleagues from Darfur taking part in a training programme.


On Saturday 16 April, three of our guests were at the airport, checked in and preparing to board their flight home, when the RSF began shelling. No one was allowed in or out of the airport for hours.


As we tried to figure out what to do, one by one their phone batteries died. They had to use the phones of other passengers, who pleaded for us to take them too if we came to collect our colleagues.


Then, in the afternoon, the RSF began ordering everyone to leave the airport, and hundreds of passengers were ushered out onto the main road.


I cannot be grateful enough to Adla from our Khartoum office, and her husband. They jumped into their old car and drove through the back streets to the airport. They picked up, thank God, our friends and managed to find lodgings for them.


When the hotel they stayed in ran out of food and water, Neimat – another SIHA colleague – and her husband managed to keep them fed. After four days, we were finally able to evacuate them home to Uganda via South Sudan.


Meanwhile, our friends from Darfur were struck at a hotel on Africa Road. It was among the first targeted by the RSF, who broke in and took the safe and then robbed the residents of their money and phones.


Coming from Darfur, our colleagues understand how the RSF operates – what triggers them, and how to negotiate. It took days, but they finally managed to leave the hotel on foot, although without their belongings.


When we spoke later, they told me how the RSF soldiers had made daily demands for money, terrifying the hotel guests by firing into the air.


It was the same story at the Acropole Hotel, where the last of our consultants from Uganda was staying. There was no power and water for the first three days, while the RSF ransacked every corner of the landmark hotel, again robbing guests and workers at will.


After days of being held, the hotel’s guests were dropped off at the grand mosque in the middle of Khartoum. Our colleague told a horrific story of picking his way through the dead bodies scattered on the streets.


Finally, he reached Omdurman, where he was picked up by Mayada, a SIHA staff member, and her husband. He stayed for two nights with Mayada before she managed to put him on a truck to South Sudan.


The courage, thoughtfulness, and endurance of our guests contributed to their safety in a situation where we couldn’t do much for them if it all had gone wrong.

 

Staying behind


SIHA has 32 staff in Sudan, the majority of us are scattered throughout rural Sudan, but many of us are also in Khartoum. Sudan is our home, and we are committed to staying, to care for our loved ones – we cannot abandon them.


So when the shelling and shooting started, I barricaded my family inside our house. The main gate was blocked with cars and piles of bricks. We closed up the windows and doors. Our bright open home became like a cave.


I was, however, obsessed with making sure that my girls – my daughter and two nieces – got out. Over the next few days, I sat with my sister and we thrashed out a plan. The girls are now safe outside the country.


As I write this article, three weeks after the violence began, I’m sitting beside my mother and aunt, somewhere safe and quiet near Khartoum.


My brother has just come in and said I look tired. Yes, I am. All I want to do is sleep and find space to think.


Looking at what has happened to my country, I can tell you that this violence is not random or a reaction to political tension. I believe this is a well-planned and well-funded vile act in support of the RSF.


The question is, how come all those high-powered bodies that were supposed to be coordinating the political process – the UN, the regional groupings, the international financial institutions, the donor governments – utterly failed to see it coming? What a shame!


In the meantime, I still don’t dare to look at myself in the mirror, and I don’t want to cry.


View original: https://sudantribune.com/article273883/

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SW Ed: The above op-ed by Hala al-Karib was published at The New Humanitarian 3 May 2023 entitled ‘How years of impunity gave Sudan’s generals licence to destroy my country’ - see copy here: https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/opinion/first-person/2023/05/03/impunity-sudan-licence-to-destroy-my-country

Hala al-Karib

Regional Director, Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)

Stringer/Reuters. People fleeing the fighting in Khartoum between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army on 28 April 2023.


Read more by Hala al-Karib

‘Sudan should not settle for anything other than true democracy’

https://sudantribune.com/article269336/


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