Showing posts with label HRW. Show all posts

Saturday, July 01, 2023

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/

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Friday, May 05, 2023

UAE’s long alleged link to the RSF. Emails sent by RSF to UK MPs by one of Sudan’s leading mining players

Report from the i

By Molly Blackall, Richard Holmes

Friday 05 May 2023 1:59 pm (Updated 2:01 pm) - full copy:

Self-styled ‘ethical’ private equity firm in Dubai helped notorious Sudan militia to lobby UK MPs

EXCLUSIVE

Revealed: The Rapid Support Forces have sent a string of “special bulletins” to UK politicians in recent days – but meta data exposing its Dubai links disappeared after i inquiries

A ‘special bulletin’ sent by the RSF to UK MPs this week. (Photo: i)

A self-styled ‘ethical’ investment firm based in the UAE supported the notorious paramilitary group the RSF in its bid to influence UK politicians about the conflict in Sudan, i can reveal.

The Rapid Support Forces group (RSF), which has previously been accused of human rights atrocities in Sudan including rape and murder, has sent a string of “special bulletins” to UK politicians that it said was to combat “the disproportionate amount of disinformation” surrounding the conflict.

The memos contained allegations about barbarity by its opponents, the Sudanese Armed Forces, and claimed that the RSF was making dramatic progress in the fighting.

i has analysed metadata from a briefing email that was sent from the RSF’s official media account to Westminster MPs on Tuesday, which shows it was put together by a designer at Dubai-based investment firm called Capital Tap Holdings.

When approached by i, the RSF initially confirmed that Capital Tap Holdings had produced parts of the briefing for them including the logo.

Capital Tap Holdings, which describes itself as “ethical” and a “responsible investor” has significant mining interests in Sudan and the wider continent. The RSF is reported to have control of some of Sudan’s gold mines.

Foreign Affairs Select Committee chair Alicia Kearns, who received the briefing, raised questions about the international support being given to the warring parties in Sudan. She told the House of Commons that it was “not some shoddily pulled together briefing” but a “clearly well-financed operation”.

Ms Kearns told i that any organisation providing PR to the RSF was stoking the current conflict and hinted that sanctions could be necessary to deter international support for the warring groups.

“Any organisation providing PR support to the RSF is seeking to legitimise them and reject peaceful transition away from military rule in Sudan,” she told i. “I urge them to stop, before international sanctions are required.”

A spokesperson for the RSF – which has been accused of group atrocities including rape and murder in Sudan in 2014 and 2015 – confirmed it had emailed MPs, journalists and “experts focused on the Middle East Africa” in order to “take measures to better inform the international community about what is happening on the ground in Sudan”. It said it had specifically targeted MPs who are sitting on committees related to security and Africa.

Metadata shows that the author of the briefing was a designer at Capital Tap. However, the RSF insisted there was “no working relationship” between the two and claimed the firm helped with the briefing free of charge.

“A relative of the RSF management reached out to a close friend, who [works] at Capital Tap, asking for design support to create a new letterhead and logo. The services were rendered at no cost. There is no working relationship between Capital Tap and the RSF,” an RSF spokesperson initially told i.

After further briefings in the same format were sent out to MPs on Thursday and Friday, the RSF then claimed Capital Tap “played no role in the creation of any of the press briefings, including the first press briefing, or any other press releases” and said they had “no relation” with them. Capital Tap Holdings did not respond to repeated requests for comment. The subsequent briefings had been stripped of metadata.

The discoveries raise further questions about foreign influence in the conflict in Sudan, after an i investigation revealed that Russian private mercenary group Wagner are on the ground and actively involved in the clashes.

Investment firm ‘one of Sudan’s leading mining players’

Capital Tap Holdings claims on its website to have a focus on “integrity” and green credentials, saying that “environmental responsibility is high on the agenda” and that it aims “to build a better and sustainable way of life for the weaker sections of society.”

The firm also describes itself as one of Sudan’s “leading metals and mining players” but the specific role it plays in the mining industry is unclear. Sudan is Africa’s third largest producer of gold, with an industry worth billions of pounds each year, and the RSF have long been reported to be involved in Sudan’s lucrative gold industry.

On its website, Capital Tap Holdings claims to “oversee operations” for more than 50 companies in 10 countries across Europe, the Middle East and Africa and Asia, providing “strategic direction and corporate support”. Their subsidiary company, Terra Metallis, claims to manage five mines in Africa. However, Capital Tap Holdings has little online footprint and is only mentioned in one 2021 news report online.

The RSF bulletin which received assistance from Capital Tap, issued on 1 May 2023, promised to provide “a breakdown of the most significant daily events from the field of battle in Sudan” and said it was founded by the RSF “due to the disproportionate amount of disinformation shared in the media about the conflict.”

It included criticism of its opponents, the Sudanese armed forces, saying that they have violated the ceasefire with “indiscriminate bombing campaigns” on civilians and claims that the RSF now controls 90 per cent of the Sudanese capital. It also provided a list of 20 “achievements” made since the start of the conflict, including claiming control of the airport, radio and TV service, Republican Palace and Defence Ministry.

Another 12-page briefing sent from the RSF to MPs two days later, after the RSF had been approached by i, had been stripped of metadata to indicate its origins.

It contained a series of pictures and videos depicting alleged atrocities against civilians made by the Sudanese Armed Forces, and also contained analysis of “popular memes circulating today on social media in Sudan” regarding the conflict. It included QR codes which could be scanned to take the reader to the RSF website.

Human Rights Watch has claimed that both sides of the current conflict – the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces – have killed civilians in bombing attacks on urban areas and left millions without access to basic necessities.

One page of a briefing sent out to UK Parliamentarians. (Photo: i)

A further briefing was sent out on 4 May, also with no metadata, containing more allegations against the Sudanese army, meme analysis and QR codes.

Sources working in research on Sudan noted that the RSF has previously worked with several high-end PR firms to improve the image of their leader Hemedti and said the press briefings “sound like a similar trend.”

“A significant portion of the RSF’s media arm appears to be based in the UAE, which is unsurprising given their extensive commercial networks across the Emirates,” they added.

Steve Double, a partner at crisis communications specialists Alder, said the briefings were a “remarkably slick communications programme, clearly designed at winning the propaganda war.”

UAE’s long alleged link to the RSF

While there is no evidence to suggest Capital Tap is linked to the UAE state, the state has long been reported to have links to the RSF.

Last month, a video appeared to show the RSF with bombs linked to the UAE. The thermobaric shells contained markings suggesting they were manufactured in Serbia in 2020 and later supplied to the UAE, according to The Telegraph.

Local reports citing RSF sources said that the UAE was considering transporting RSF fighters currently in Yemen back to Sudan to join the conflict. The reports said that the RSF’s leader Hemedti has appealed for help from the UAE, which has agreed to “support us in this war of liberation” and provide logistic and financial assistance to transport the RSF fighters to Sudan.

The paramilitary group are also reported to have sent fighters to support the UAE in Libya in recent years. The UAE Government did not respond to a request for comment.

One source assisting civilians in Sudan said that the UAE was presumed to have involvement in the current conflict, saying: “They support RSF and RSF have provided forces to the Yemen crisis. It is presumed that the RSF will be able to provide forces in future if need be in places like Bahrain should there be conflict there.”

The RSF’s social media accounts also appear to be based overseas, providing further indication that the group’s public relations are being outsourced to Gulf states.

The RSF’s Facebook page is being run jointly from the UAE and Sudan, according to information on the account, while its Instagram account appears to be based in Saudi Arabia. Both accounts are being shared by the RSF’s media operation as its legitimate online presence.

But the paramilitary group told i its media team was based in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum.

Conflict information ‘increasingly hard to trust’

The findings also raise questions about the impact of internet warfare, and the growing importance of technology in conflict zones.

Kyle Walter, Head of Research and Insights at Logically, an AI analysis firm, said: “What’s most concerning from this latest example of potential foreign interference is that it provides a look into how the nature of these threats are evolving, particularly in the context of the rapid onset of generative AI being used to create fake images and text.

“Although we don’t know if this so-called sophisticated ‘special bulletin’ was created by this technology, it is symbolic of the wider issue at hand: an inability to trust what you’re seeing, reading, and the undermining of the entire information landscape. If foreign influence campaigns continue to evolve and harness new technologies to produce mis- and disinformation at scale, we can expect to see more fabricated statements, or images of potential humanitarian crises to alter the wider discourse.”

Mr Walter said that the “attempt to manipulate the information environment is not surprising” and “nothing new in the context of foreign influence operations in Africa.”

“Recent years have witnessed foreign actors continuing to ramp up the use of different tactics to manipulate public discourse, whether it’s through propaganda, deception, and other non-military means. What we are seeing now in Sudan is another example of how the Wagner Group and other actors tied to foreign states seek to use the manipulation of information to have more control over public discourse and unsettle Western interests in the region,” he said.

View original: https://inews.co.uk/news/ethical-private-equity-firm-dubai-sudan-militia-lobby-uk-mps-2319805?ico=most_popular

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Thursday, May 04, 2023

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

Thursday, April 27, 2023

Wagner was requested by Sudan's Bashir. Counter-terrorism is Wagner’s primary African focus

Report from defenceWeb.co.za

Dated Tuesday 25 April 2023

Exclusive: Wagner founder Prigozhin says counter-terrorism is company’s primary African focus

Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Founder of Russian private military company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has defended his company’s activities in Africa, saying that his involvement on the continent is mainly to defeat terrorism and help countries liberate their territories from insurgents.

defenceWeb was granted an exclusive interview with Prigozhin in Moscow, where he elaborated on a number of topics. Prigozhin emphasised that Wagner is not funded by the Russian government and that all funds for its operations come solely from Prigozhin’s business dealings. He went on to add that Wagner only works for legitimate governments and isn’t involved in any coup plots, nor in assisting terrorists gaining a foothold in any country. The only conflict that Wagner has engaged in which wasn’t on the side of a sitting government has been in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass where Wagner assisted militias in Donetsk and Luhansk between 2014 and 2015. Wagner is also currently spearheading attempts to capture the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. According to Prigozhin, Wagner is “always on the right side of justice” when deciding which contracts to accept and which to decline.

Elaborating on Wagner’s role in Africa, Prigozhin told defenceWeb that at first there was no focus on the continent, but Africa first came onto the radar when Wagner was fighting in Syria (Russia began supporting Syria’s Bashar al Assad in 2015) and demonstrating ‘extreme efficiency’ in destroying ISIS. With between 1 500 and 3 000 men, Wagner carried out tasks which were beyond the strength of the 200 000 Syrian Army troops plus thousands of allied troops, he said. After this put Wagner on the map, Prigozhin started receiving requests from the heads of several countries to help deal with terrorism.

These included President Faustin-Archange Touadera of the Central African Republic (CAR), President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, President Filipe Nyusi of Mozambique, and many others. Prigozhin explained that as these countries did not have the financial resources to mount effective counter-insurgency campaigns, they offered to pay in minerals. However, Prigozhin said that in many cases these resources were exaggerated – for example, Central African Republic diamonds are not very lucrative due to high input costs, but “if you pledge don’t hedge; and if you give your word, you must keep it!” He explained that between 2016 and 2019, for example, profits from some business operations in the Central African Republic were absolutely zero.

Wagner activity in the CAR picked up in December 2020 when rebels attacked and captured the CAR’s fourth-largest city, Bambari. Touadera asked Russia and Rwanda to help protect the country as rebels were trying to march towards the capital Bangui and if they were not stopped, they would have slaughtered a thousand men and literally cut off their heads and ripped out beating hearts, ‘to feast on’. Instead, Prigozhin explains, 200 Wagner instructors managed to hold back the onslaught on Berengo near the capital. After Touadera called for help, Wagner sent an aircraft to Bangui every two hours with armed men who’d land and go straight into the jungle. All these costs were borne by Prigozhin, he said, as no one helped him and he funded the whole operation himself.

Prigozhin believes that if he didn’t assist Touadera, he would have been rounded up with a couple of hundreds of supporters and died with them. “I could not be idle when asked for help. He [Touadera] is just a good man who didn’t run away to a neighbouring state but was prepared to die, rather than let the bandits enter the capital,” Prigozhin told defenceWeb through a translator.

He related how, when the first Wagner aircraft landed and rebels were halted a few kilometres from Bangui, Touadera – “unlike many clowns who do nothing but wear leopard robes” – put on his flak jacket and went straight into the jungle to show government soldiers that he’s no coward. “That is what I believe every president of every country at war should do – he must wear a bullet-proof vest and get into the thick of it – because it is better to die a hero, than to live as a coward! I ended up in Africa because I could not, in times of conflict, abandon the people I had promised to help,” Prigozhin said.

Although Wagner does not need to be involved in Africa, “I am certainly involved on the continent,” Prigozhin stated. “We are in Africa to protect those who ask us for help. To protect African civilians, to protect their national interests from terrorists and bandits, some of whom are not even of African origin at all. This is done solely from the funds that I earn as a businessman.”

Wagner has been accused of causing civilian deaths, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) saying Russian mercenaries committed serious abuses, both in the CAR and Mali, including torture and killings, but according to Prigozhin the stories about the genocide of civilians are “one hundred percent fake. This is being done by the French and the Americans, who are failing to destroy militants and terrorists globally, because they are lazy and quite frankly, useless. They’re used to sitting in their bases, just guarding themselves while we are actually patrolling the jungle destroying terrorists. Local authorities have carried out investigations which have debunked the hoaxes that have been made about alleged violence against civilians.” Prigozhin was adamant that not a single unarmed person has ever been killed by Wagner in the company’s entire history.

Not an arm of the Kremlin

Wagner has often been said to be a de facto unit of the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) or Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. Prigozhin refuted these allegations, saying he has nothing to do with the GRU, the Russian Ministry of Defence, nor the Kremlin. “Moreover, I will tell you that the stories about my acquaintance with President Putin are very, very exaggerated. Certainly, I have communicated with him, but the rumours of our acquaintance are only that – rumours.”

Prigozhin said he first met Putin only when he was President, although he most likely visited Prigozhin’s restaurants in St Petersburg when Putin was the deputy mayor and at the time “I had no interest in talking to him.” Prigozhin is not in Putin’s inner circle, he said, and “I do not have the opportunity to visit him whenever I want to, or call him.”

As far as the Russian Ministry of Defence is concerned, Prigozhin said Wagner in fact has a stormy relationship with this government department, as “I have always criticised them and I will continue to criticise them. I am in favour of the Russian army being super-efficient. While there are certainly times when you have to put someone on the spot or use someone else’s help, these are extremely rare cases. I can tell you with certainty that when I was training the army in Sudan, fighting in Mozambique or in Central Africa, I did not inform anyone.”

“It’s no secret that a huge number of countries turn to us, as our high efficiency is visible to all. Indeed, Wagner is not engaged in protection, it is engaged in the liberation of states, combating terrorists and invaders. That is why there are so many requests, including from leading countries. Wagner is however an effective, potent weapon.

“Of course, we must consider the interests of Russia in our cooperation with other countries. We are, after all, patriots of our country. Unfortunately, within Russia itself many decision-makers don’t give a damn about patriotism and guarding our national interests, but that is a whole different story,” Prigozhin concluded.