URGENT MESSAGE TO ICC: Sudan’s Dagalo, Burhan, Bashir must be tried for alleged war crimes - Ethiopia’s war triggers fears in Kenya, South Sudan

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: After 18 years of gathering news on Sudan and South Sudan for documenting at this site, the below copied report by Al Jazeera.com is, to me, the last straw. I'm shocked that on Fri, 26 Nov. 2021 Al Jazeera decided to publish the report containing its exclusive interview with Gen Dagalo aka Hemeti, deputy of military coup leader Gen Burhan.

Something seems to have changed at Al Jazeera. A recent news report at its website showed a video of a man talking (probably Sudanese Prime Minister Hamdok, I can't recall). The video's audio consisted of a male narrator seemingly providing, in English, an interpretation of what was being said by the man on film. There were no subtitles showing what the man on film was saying. Also, in that report (or another video report on Sudan) Al Jazeera used sinister, anxiety provoking music in the background, like the beating of an electronic war drum. To my ears the music and beat sounded Arabic.

My point is, after 18 years - and after seeing Aljazeera's interview with Hemeti (see link below) and noting its date - I believe the time has now come for Messrs Dagalo, Burhan and Bashir to be put on trial by the International Criminal Court (ICC) as soon as humanly possible. There is no time to waste.

In the interview, Hemeti shows his true colours for all to see by wearing civilian clothing: a dark navy blue suit and tie, white shirt, black footwear, a small enamel Sudanese flag on his lapel in an effort to appear worldly and presidential. Surely, the interview is evidence of Hemeti's intention to preside over Sudan even if it's not what the people want or in the best interest of the country. The people of Sudan want civilian, not military rule. If memory serves, former Sudanese President Bashir fondly nicknamed Dagalo "Hemeti" his little boy, the son he never had. Hemeti is Bashir's heir. 

Reportedly, an editor at Al Jazeera was recently arrested by the junta and released soon after. Who knows whether Al Jazeera was forced into doing the interview to include in a news report at its website as a condition of the editors’s safety and release. I wonder how the interview came about and when and where it took place. I have not seen much publicity about the film.

I have no doubt that Al Jazeera accurately quoted Hemeti in its report and that the timing of its publication and interview is an attempt by Hemeti to reduce the power, support and popularity of PM Hamdok in order to justify the coup and frame Hamdok as a complicit participant in it for personal gain.

Here at Sudan Watch there is a copy of a recent news report by AP featuring one of PM Hamdok's former colleagues recently released from detention who said they felt a coup could happen but didn't know when. 

This is the exact quote: "Faisal Saleh, an advisor to Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, told The Associated Press that security forces took him blindfolded from his home in the early hours of Oct. 25. “We were expecting that there was a military coup coming," said Saleh, who also served as minister of information from 2019 until earlier this year. ”We just didn't know how or when it would take place." 

Aljazeera's interview with Hemeti catches him red handed on film working against Sudan blatantly risking its destabilisation and causing suffering to its people again. He's poorly educated, dim witted and doesn't understand English. He's so ruthless and cruel he could be a psychopath. For him to be in charge of Sudan would be a disaster. It'd plunge the country back into the dark ages upending millions of Sudanese lives.

Nowadays, wars like the current one between the US and China need not be conducted in the old ways of the past. They can be a war of words and cyber attacks. The pen is mightier than the sword. Note the tags at the end of this post and the one labelled '51 names for ICC’. 

Right now, the world is in a precarious state. Russia is agitating to undermine the west. Ethiopia is suffering war (see maps below). France and others and the UN have advised their people in Ethiopia to leave. 

I've waited 18 years for the time to be right for Messrs Bashir, Burhan, Dagalo to be tried by the ICC. The people of Sudan deserve to see justice served and to know that anyone suspected of a crime can be apprehended and tried fairly in a court and treated as innocent until proven guilty.

If a suspected criminal is innocent, they’d have nothing to fear. They'd be fairly treated and released if found innocent. The people of Sudan need to know that criminals and war criminals cannot walk freely with impunity. 

Only by holding Messrs Dagalo, Burhan, Bashir to account will young Sudanese people understand that what is happening now, and why, is the culmination of a 30+ year story filled with death, destruction and unspeakable horrors inflicted on millions of Sudanese civilians, forcing survivors to flee for their lives with just the clothes they were wearing.

I'm writing this in haste. Time is of the essence. If there are any errors in this urgent open message to the ICC, it doesn't matter. What matters is that Dagalo, Burhan and Bashir are questioned under oath, asap.

I’ll leave this note with a link to Aljazeera's report and its must-see video interview at the top of this page before I go on strike in protest of the wicked claims made by Hemeti in his power-grab for the presidency.

I shan't return until the ICC issues a statement explaining its findings and intentions regarding Messrs Bashir, Burhan, Dagalo. Sad to say, Darfur is under attack again. God help the Sudanese people. Peace and love, Ingrid x

Here is a copy of an exclusive report at Al Jazeera.com

Written by Al Jazeera.com English - reprinted online by MSN.com

Published at Al Jazeera.com dated Friday 26 November 2021 c.11am GMT

Title: Sudan’s PM Hamdok backed military takeover, says general

Deputy head of Sudan’s sovereign council, General Dagalo, tells Al Jazeera that reinstated Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was part of discussions leading to the military takeover in October.

Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was deposed by the military on October 25 but reinstated as interim premier November 21 [File: Ashraf Shazly/AFP]

The deputy head of Sudan’s governing sovereign council, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, has said that Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok was aware of last month’s military takeover before it happened and was “completely agreeable” to it.

Hamdok was deposed by the military on October 25 but reinstated as interim premier after signing a deal on Sunday with Sudan’s top general to restore the transition to civilian rule.

“What happened on October 25 was the ultimate outcome of a long process. Many discussions were made, and many initiatives proposed,” Dagalo, also known as Hemeti, told Al Jazeera in an exclusive interview released on Friday.

“The prime minister himself proposed two initiatives during the meetings. We were left with three options, the best of which was the move we took, and it was completely agreeable to the prime minister himself,” said Dagalo. “We did not make such a move on our own.”

Reporting from Khartoum, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said that the claims were a “bold allegation” since many Sudanese people have been asking whether Hamdok was part of the military takeover or had been aware it would happen.

“When I asked him, he said he didn’t know that the military coup was coming,” said Atas, referring to a recent interview with the prime minister after he was reinstated this week.

“Now the deputy chairman says they had actually discussed it with Hamdok and he knew of the military takeover before it took place,” said Atas.

“People were already questioning his independence. After this allegation, people will question his legitimacy even more,” he added.

On October 25, top General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan dissolved the government, arrested the civilian leadership, and declared a state of emergency – drawing widespread international condemnation and triggering widespread anti-coup protests.

Hamdok was placed under house arrest after the military seized power.

On November 11, al-Burhan issued a decree creating a new 14-member ruling sovereign council, with himself at the head.

The coup, more than two years after a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime strongman Omar al-Bashir, derailed a transition towards democratic elections and drew international criticism.

The 14-point deal between Hamdok and the military, signed in the presidential palace in Khartoum on Sunday, provided for the release of all political prisoners detained during the coup and stipulated that a 2019 constitutional declaration be the basis for a political transition, according to details read out on state television.

Following the deal, the reinstated premier told Al Jazeera that he would form a “technocratic government” made up of qualified professionals to lead the country to elections by June 2023.

The deal was largely welcomed by the international community, but Sudanese pro-democracy activists have rejected it as an “attempt to legitimise the coup”.

They demand that the military should not be part of any future Sudanese government and Sudanese people have continued to protest against the military’s involvement in politics since the agreement was signed.

“Tens of thousands of people have been back to the streets, insisting on their demands,” said Serdar, who added that the formation of a new cabinet and the release of political prisoners are the two main issues yet to be resolved.

Twelve cabinet ministers also submitted their resignation to Hamdok in protest against the deal between the prime minister and the military.

At least 41 people have been killed during confrontations with security forces since the coup, as security forces have at times used live rounds to disperse anti-coup demonstrators.

View reprint at MSN: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/sudan-e2-80-99s-pm-hamdok-backed-military-takeover-says-general/ar-AAR9JCg

View original report and Aljazeera's 26-minute video interview with Hemeti entitled Sudan's General Dagalo: Military takeover was the 'best option': https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/26/sudan-pm-hamdok-backed-military-takeover-general-dagalo

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Ethiopia’s war triggers fears in Kenya, South Sudan

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Here are two maps showing Ethiopia's proximity to Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Eritrea, Somalia.

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From the website of The International Criminal Court (ICC) 

Trying individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression

The Court is participating in a global fight to end impunity, and through international criminal justice, the Court aims to hold those responsible accountable for their crimes and to help prevent these crimes from happening again. 

​​The Court cannot reach these goals alone. As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national Courts. Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court. 

Towards stability and lastin​g peace

Justice is a key prerequisite for lasting peace. International justice can contribute to long‐term peace, stability and equitable development in post‐conflict societies. These elements are foundational for building a future free ​of violence. ​​

Read more: https://www.icc-cpi.int/about

Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir

President of the Republic of Sudan since 16 October 1993 at time of warrants. Arrest warrants: 4 March 2009 and 12 July 2010

Charges: five counts of crimes against humanity: murder, extermination, forcible transfer, torture, and rape; two counts of war crimes: intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population as such or against individual civilians not taking part in hostilities, and pillaging; three counts of genocide: by killing, by causing serious bodily or mental harm, and by deliberately inflicting on each target group conditions of life calculated to bring about the group's physical destruction, allegedly committed at least between 2003 and 2008 in Darfur, Sudan

Read more: https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir

See the other defendants at large including Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein, Ahmad Muhammad Harun ("Ahmad Harun"), Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain here: 

https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendants?k=At%20large

RSF's Hemeti Dagalo is blackmailing the international community into recognising his control of Sudan

The man who did so much to contribute to the flight of more than 350,000 Darfuri refugees to Chad is now attempting to blackmail the international community into recognizing his illegitimate, coup-born military control of Sudan. He cares nothing for the people he threatens to use pic.twitter.com/G3xhOFDhJp

— Eric Reeves (@sudanreeves) December 1, 2021

Sudan: Chairman Burhan commends Dagalo's efforts in political agreement and praises efforts of the Sufis

Here is a full copy of a news report at Sudan News Agency (SUNA)

Dated Sunday 21 November 2021

Al-Burhan commends Abdel Rahim Dagalo's efforts in political agreement

© Provided by Sudan News Agency (SUNA)

Khartoum, Nov. 21 (SUNA) - The Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant-General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, has commended the efforts and stances of the second commander of the Rapid Support Forces Lieutenant-General Abdel Rahim Daglao.

During his address to the signing ceremony of the political agreement with Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdouk, Al- Burhan noted that Abdul Rahim Dagalo has been playing a pivotal national role in the past period and exerted great efforts in maintaining security and stability, extending thanks all the national efforts that played roles in making the situations calm.

He also praised the efforts of the Sufis to bring the ranks and unity of the word to preserve stability. (ta)

View original: https://www.msn.com/en-xl/africa/other/al-burhan-commends-abdel-rahim-dagalos-efforts-in-political-agreement/ar-AAQZGEr

UK: Two years ago, Sudanese put their lives on the line for freedom. They should not have to do so again

British Ambassador to Sudan @GilesLeverUK: 'Two years ago, Sudanese men and women like Abdelsalam Kesha put their lives on the line for freedom. They should not have to do so again.' pic.twitter.com/F4zJCxtulO

— UK in Sudan 🇬🇧 (@UKinSudan) October 29, 2021

Sudan: In Darfur Hemeti has victims by the millions

In Darfur Sudan Hemeti has victims by the millions - He's positioning to be paramilitary ruler of Darfur 

Note from Sudan Watch Editor: Who knows what the Canadian lobbying firm Dickens and Madson is doing to earn the $6 million it is being paid by Messrs Hemeti and al-Burhan? When I see news about Hemeti I read it carefully to check that he is not being turned into a hero after the atrocities he was responsible for in Darfur and for the 03 June 2019 massacre of innocent civilian protestors in Khartoum. So much grief.

The following article by AP has an interesting title.  People who've paid close attention to Sudan and South Sudan over the past 16+ years know Hemeti is a wicked monster.  He dropped out of primary school to become a camel herder.  Can he read and write?  After he initialled the constitutional declaration, he was photographed showing off its gold emblazoned folder.  In this photo he is holding it upside down.  Idiot.

Article by Associated Press

Written by JOSEPH KRAUSS and SAMY MAGDY 

Dated Tuesday, 06 August 2019 6:59 am

A new strongman in Sudan? Experts aren't so sure

CAIRO — When Sudan's protest leaders signed a preliminary power-sharing agreement with the ruling military council in early July, they had no choice but to shake hands with the man many of them accuse of ordering a massacre just a month earlier.

Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, a paramilitary commander from Darfur who is widely known as Hemedti, has emerged as Sudan's main power broker in the months since the military overthrew President Omar al-Bashir.

He boasts tens of thousands of paramilitary forces who have spent years battling insurgents across Sudan as well as rebels in Yemen on behalf of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Experts say he can draw on his family's vast livestock and gold mining operations in Darfur, as well as funding from Gulf Arab countries, to buy the support of tribal leaders and other local elites. That could be the recipe for a new patronage system like the one that kept al-Bashir in power for three decades.

But he also faces considerable headwinds: from the pro-democracy movement that has brought tens of thousands into the streets; from rival tribes and rebel groups that have battled his forces; and from elites in Khartoum, who view the onetime camel trader from distant Darfur as an outsider.

This week the protesters and the military announced a new breakthrough in their efforts to form a joint government that would pave the way to civilian rule. But the democratic transition remains fragile, and Hemedti's rise — along with the growing resistance to it — could plunge the country into further chaos.

A NEW PATRON

Hemedti leads the Rapid Support Forces, which grew out of the feared Janjaweed militias mobilized to put down a rebellion in Darfur in the early 2000s. The International Criminal Court, which charged al-Bashir and other top officials with genocide and crimes against humanity, has not brought charges against Hemedti. But rights groups say his forces burned villages and raped and killed civilians during a series of counterinsurgency campaigns over the last decade.

Spokesmen for the military and the RSF did not respond to multiple requests for comment on Hemedti's past actions or present ambitions.

His forces have won a number of military victories against both rebels and rival Arab tribes, allowing his family to expand its livestock business and branch into the mining of gold, which emerged as Sudan's biggest export after the secession of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011. He can also count on financial aid from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have contracted his forces to battle Iran-aligned rebels in Yemen.

There are few if any publicly available figures for the wealth at the disposal of Hemedti and the RSF. But in recent months he has boasted of depositing $1 billion in the Central Bank and paying the salaries of teachers and police.

"There are all the signs of someone who is trying to be the next military dictator of Sudan," said Suliman Baldo, a senior researcher with the Enough Project. But he doubts Hemedti can sustain a patronage system like the one that kept al-Bashir in power.

"Sudan is totally exhausted, the national economy is in total collapse because of all of this, and there is no way Hemedti can sustain a national economy," Baldo said.

DISTRUST IN KHARTOUM

In the months since al-Bashir's ouster, Hemedti has worked out of an office in the presidential residence, receiving foreign envoys and other officials. But in the capital he is still seen as an outsider.

"The Khartoum elites are unanimous that Hemedti cannot be the ruler of Sudan, because as an uneducated Darfurian he is from the wrong class and the wrong place, and lacks the formal qualifications of education or staff college," said Alex de Waal, a Sudan expert at Tufts University.

The protesters blame the RSF for the clearing of their main sit-in outside the military headquarters in Khartoum on June 3, when security forces killed scores of people. Sudanese prosecutors have charged eight RSF officers, including a major general, with crimes against humanity but say the ruling generals did not order the crackdown.

Some protest leaders have called for the RSF to be disbanded, and both the Sudanese Professionals' Association, which spearheaded the protests against al-Bashir, and the Communist Party have said Hemedti should be tried for alleged crimes in Darfur.

In the end, however, under international pressure , the protesters returned to talks with the military over a power-sharing deal. The two sides signed a preliminary document last month. While Hemedti is technically the deputy head of the military council, it was he who attended the signing ceremony.

The follow-up constitutional document signed Sunday would place the RSF under the command of the military. The protesters said it would also allow for the prosecution of military or civilian leaders if there is evidence of involvement in violence against protesters. Hemedti hailed the deal as a "win-win."

RESISTANCE IN THE PROVINCES

Another route to power for Hemedti could run through the provinces, where neglect and marginalization by the central government have spawned rebellions going back decades.

"The most intriguing possibility today is that Hemedti will cash in on his credentials as a man of the far periphery, and build a support base that includes making agreements with the armed groups," de Waal said. He says Hemedti knows the price of loyalty from personal experience, and that the RSF can more readily integrate the armed groups.

An activist from Hemedti's Rizeigat tribe confirmed that he has paid "lots of money to tribal leaders" and provided jobs and other services to buy their loyalty.

"The opposition against him is silent because they fear the crackdown," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

Hemedti has also met with the leaders of various rebel groups — including those he has fought against — in Chad, South Sudan and the United Arab Emirates. But experts say he may still have too many enemies from his past campaigns.

Jerome Tubiana, another Sudan researcher, said Hemedti has "already failed to secure a strong base in the center, and his bet to represent all the peripheries, or even the whole Darfur, will be uneasy given his violent past."

Baldo is also skeptical.

"In Darfur, he has victims by the millions and I don't think they will rally behind him," he said.

SOURCE: https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900082821/a-new-strongman-in-sudan-experts-arent-so-sure.html

Related News

Eid in Sudan: 9 killed, several injured after RSF launched assault on Shangal Toubaya, North Darfur

Sudan Watch - Sunday, 11 August 2019

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/08/eid-in-sudan-9-killed-several-injured.html

Film: MEET THE JANJAWEED - Hemedti is positioning himself as paramilitary ruler of Darfur (Alex de Waal)

Sudan Watch - Tuesday, 13 August 2019

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/08/film-meet-janjaweed-hemedti-is.html

More RSF than ever in Darfur Sudan - To live in any area controlled by the RSF is to live in constant fear

Article from 3Ayin.com

Dated Wednesday, 07 August 2019

Silence and fear: Life under the RSF in a Darfur town

Amna Daoud Morsal has worked in Nyala’s main market for decades. At 55, she has developed a well-established market stall in Sudan’s third largest city – a city whose name means the “place of chatting” in the local Daju language. But few have time to chat when the sun starts to set, despite a challenging economy [ https://3ayin.com/sudanese-pay-a-price-for-revolution-as-cost-of-living-soars/ ] where Amna struggles with less and less customers, she must pack her wares hurriedly and rush home. “Ten years ago, you could walk around Nyala till morning time and nobody would ask you anything, there was no danger, no one to steal your things –the situation was safe but now, when the sun is setting, you cannot set foot inside Nyala,” Amna Daoud told Ayin. 

Nyala, like most of the towns and villages in Darfur, have struggled with the presence of pro-government militias for decades, but the heaviest presence to date has been the Rapid Support Force. “To live in any area controlled by the RSF (Rapid Support Forces), Nyala included, is to live in a constant state of fear,” says Nyala resident Abu Al-Bashir Adam. Anything could happen while working in the market, Daoud says, “Even daytime is dangerous, they [RSF] start fights with people, steal money and mobile phones, and if you try to say this is wrong they can shoot you.”

More RSF than ever

Nyala residents have grown accustomed to the heavy presence of the RSF militia –but now even more have trickled in since the revolution started last December calling for civilian rule. Nyala residents believe the additional RSF forces came in an effort to consolidate power and ensure authority during this political transition period. 

The deputy head of the military council, Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (aka “Himmedti”) leads the RSF which until recently took direct orders from former president Omar al-Bashir, terrorizing citizenry and rebels alike in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile States. 

“Himmedti and his gang [the RSF] have always had a presence in Nyala,” said Ahmed Abdallah* a recent university graduate living in Nyala. “But once the revolution started and people called for civilian rule –they started to be deployed in all public areas across the state.” As one of the main recruiting areas, Nyala hosts ten RSF training camps alone. But it’s not only Nyala. “It’s true that the RSF increased dramatically recently, with the idea to show power and control,” a UN worker based in West Darfur State’s capital city, El Geneina, told Ayin. “Now they drive around here at high speeds, if you don’t get out of their way, you’ll be beaten. As a woman, after 7 pm, there is no way I can walk the streets.”

The RSF have always had a heavy, deadly presence in Darfur to date. According to the 2017 UN Panel of Experts report [ https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/N1740048.pdf ] the RSF militia are the main perpetrators of abuses against civilians in Darfur including looting, rapes and torching of homes. An Amnesty International June report [ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/06/sudan-fresh-evidence-of-government-sponsored-crimes-in-darfur-shows-drawdown-of-peacekeepers-premature-and-reckless/ ] says they have satellite imagery and testimonials that show the RSF and other government forces continue to commit war crimes and human rights violations in Darfur –including the partial or complete destruction of 45 villages, unlawful killings, and sexual violence. “In Darfur, as in Khartoum, we’ve witnessed the Rapid Support Forces’ despicable brutality against Sudanese civilians – the only difference being, in Darfur they have committed atrocities with impunity for years,” stated Amnesty Secretary General Kumi Naidoo. 

A convenient black hole

The RSF have enjoyed total impunity for years in Darfur partly due to the ousting [ https://africanarguments.org/2009/03/24/ingos-expelled-from-darfur-time-to-acknowledge-the-smoking-and-loaded-gun/ ] of international NGOs and local and foreign journalists 
[ https://nubareports.org/a-q-a-with-award-winning-photographer-adriane-ohanesian/ ] effectively banned [ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/05/captured-in-darfur-south-sudan ] from the region. Phil Cox, a photojournalist and filmmaker, is possibly one of the last foreigners to venture into Darfur in December 2016 when RSF forces kidnapped [ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/05/captured-in-darfur-south-sudan ], tortured and jailed Cox and his colleague Daoud Hari for 70 days. At the time, the Sudanese government issued a massive bounty for their capture, indicative of their deep determination to keep the world’s eyes away from Darfur and what future investigations might reveal, Cox told Ayin. “Darfur has gone from being the focus of global attention and international condemnation that mobilized activists, celebrities and world leaders alike, to a forgotten conflict smothered by an information black hole,” Cox said. “No media team or investigators have had independent access there for years –yet rumours of atrocities and ethnic cleansing have persisted.” 

Darfur Bar Association lawyer, Abdel-Basset Al-Hajj, says the RSF enjoy “official immunity” and no accountability for their actions. “The RSF have no legal justifications to carry out law enforcement, arrest, imprisonment –they enjoy being the police, prosecutor and judge all in one,” Al-Hajj told Ayin. While they enjoy these powers, Al-Hajj said, they carry out these duties with no recourse to the law or training. “They don’t know how to investigate a crime, they simply rely on torture and somehow think this is the rule of law.” 

In July 2017, the RSF raided [ https://nubareports.org/south-darfur-residents-fear-insecurity-with-militia-control-of-police-station/ ] Nyala’s second largest police station in the Al-Masan’i neighbourhood with four heavily armed Land Cruisers, threatening the police officer in charge of the station to leave within 48 hours, according to a police officer from the station preferring anonymity for his security. The RSF order to evacuate the station was made on the pretext that Himmedti purchased the land where the police station was based. A lawyer working for the local land registry who also requested anonymity for security reasons, said the land allegedly purchased by the RSF leader was government-owned property. Lt.-Gen. Mohamed Hamden Daglo did not present any documents regarding the purchase, the lawyer said, and suspect the RSF leader seized the land by force. 

Nyala-based Police Officer Ali Osman* remembers the raid well. “Of course it was not legal but nobody from the local government can talk to them, they may shoot you,” the officer said. Well-equipped and paid salaries five times that of a regular Nyala police officer, Officer Osman told Ayin he is powerless to stop them whenever they steal from the public. “I can’t do anything –those people are outside the law and can kill me.” 

“They have made the security situation more precarious here,” lawyer and El-Geneina resident Ibrahim Shamou said, “crime, murder and theft have increased –[it’s] a state of terror and chaos.”

El Geneina, Daein

Since the revolution started, the RSF also increased their presence in other Darfur capitals cities such as El Geneina and Daein in West and East Darfur, respectfully -targeting and terrorising civilians with the same impunity. There are roughly 200 RSF armed four-wheel drive vehicles (commonly referred to as ‘technicals’) patrolling West Darfur State, lawyer and El-Geneina resident Ibrahim Shamou told Ayin. “They have made the security situation more precarious here,” Shamou said, “crime, murder and theft have increased –[it’s] a state of terror and chaos.” Even farmers outside the city are not safe from the RSF, the lawyer said. With no one to protect them while working in the fields, RSF have been looting farmers of livestock and money since June. 

RSF have arrested local government members in Daein during the state of emergency imposed by the former president back in February with no real recourse to the law, according to Daein resident Maala Awad al-Karim. RSF have also imprisoned a large number of citizens arbitrarily, al-Karim adds, some of which still remain there since February. Many people have ran away from Daein and have attempted to eke out a living in outside villages to avoid the RSF, according to Daein resident and lawyer Mohamed Abdallah. “These militias don’t follow any rule of law,” Abdallah added, “even the courts look at them like people who took the authority of the court without any permission.”

According to Officer Osman*, RSF are already recruiting from outside Sudan, particularly via Chad and receive Sudanese identity cards in Nyala … more on RSF’s regional dynamics: http://bit.ly/2KwT3nw

RSF as a regional force

While the RSF have increased their presence in the Darfur region, there are signs the militia could become more of a regional force. According to Officer Osman, RSF are already recruiting from outside Sudan, particularly via Chad and receive Sudanese identity cards in Nyala. Osman said he could identify them as foreigners from their features and the fact they do not speak Arabic. “We must remember RSF is a tribal militia and Himmedti has influence with his ethnic extensions in bordering countries like Chad where they are coming from,” Osman said. Well funded by exploiting Darfur gold reserves independently of the state and as a parallel budget, the RSF are well placed to become regional mercenaries in East and Central Africa, Nyala lawyer Al-Hajj told Ayin. The RSF can “carry out criminal acts internally and externally,” Al-Hajj said, “and will provide those with interests with all the necessary components to continue and control the reins of the state.”

Future of RSF, future of Sudan

The question still remains if the RSF will continue to control large swathes of the country and whether this influence will expand further both nationally and cross borders during the transitional period. The Transitional Military Council’s deputy leader Himmedti will, after all, likely be part of the ruling sovereign council during this stage. A constitutional declaration agreed upon by the Military Council and opposition on Sunday [4 AUG 2019] also ensures the sovereign council to be lead by a military general for the first 21 months of the transitional period. Nevertheless, the parties also agreed that sovereign council members would not be immune to prosecution for war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to the recently penned constitutional declaration, the RSF are meant to be under the command of the Sudanese army and stipulated that citizen’s rights are to be free from arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment. There are signs of more accountability within the RSF ranks –military authorities allegedly detained [ https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/africa/Sudan-detains-nine-soldiers-after-el-obeid-killings/4552902-5220132-rs45nn/index.html ] and dismissed nine RSF soldiers last week, implicated in the killing of six protestors in El Obeid. But the fact that security forces killed 
[https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/08/protesters-killed-live-ammunition-sudan-omdurman-190801190332665.html ] four more protestors in Omdurman just a day prior to the prosecution of the RSF soldiers hardly imbibes confidence for reform within Sudan’s security sector and the RSF militia in particular.

While much-needed RSF reforms may not emerge from the political negotiation process-taking place in Khartoum, the people of Nyala may induce change themselves. Despite the daily intimidation by RSF forces, Nyala residents conducted three separate demonstrations [ https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/protests-unabated-across-sudan%20 ] last month to condemn the ongoing detention of Nyala citizens, the attack on protestors in El Obeid, in solidarity with rape survivors across the country and to call for the revival of independent trade unions. “We don’t know what will happen in Khartoum,” said one Nyala activist, “but we will continue to struggle here no matter the outcome.”

* Names changed to protect their security

The law = RSF

“The RSF have no legal justifications to carry out law enforcement, arrest, imprisonment –they enjoy being

the police, prosecutor and judge all in one,” Al-Hajj told Ayin

View original article here: https://3ayin.com/rsf-in-darfur/

- - -

Kidnapped, tortured and thrown in jail: my 70 days in Sudan

A photograph taken by Cox while being held hostage in Sudan on Christmas Day 2016. Photograph: Phil Cox/Native Voice Films

Phil Cox and Daoud Hari on the Chad-Sudan border in December 2016. Photograph: Native Voice Films

Read full story here: http://trib.al/inI80TQ

Dickens & Madson lobbyists don't know their Darfur Sudan client Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo aka Hemeti

Note from Sudan Watch Editor: With respect to the following nonsensical quote taken from the below copied article, it seems apparent that Canadian firm Dickens & Madson's lobbyist Mr Ari Ben-Menashe does not really know who he is dealing with, his client Hemeti is the "commander" responsible for unspeakable atrocities and destruction, including the maiming, raping and slaying of a countless number of unarmed civilians in Darfur and elsewhere, affecting the lives of millions of civilians.

"The lobbyist also compared Dagalo to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “In spite of his past — if it’s a morality contest, [Dagalo] would beat Netanyahu hands down. How many people died in the Middle East trying to make quote, unquote ‘Israel safe’? Sorry, but I have to make this comment.”

Article from Middle East Monitor

Dated 23 July 2019 at 1:46 pm

Ex-Israel spy admits lobbying US on behalf of Sudan military council

Photo: Israeli businessman Ari Ben-Menache [Twitter] 

A former Israeli spy has admitted to signing a multi-million-dollar contract with Sudan’s Transitional Military Council to lobby the US to support its rule.

The deal was signed by Ari Ben-Menashe, a 67-year-old Israeli businessman based in Montreal, Canada, who heads the “Dickens & Madson” lobbying firm. Menashe is a former Israeli spy and boasts a long, controversial career which has reportedly seen him lobby for African opposition figures, witness US-Iranian hostage deals and execute arms deals.

Dickens & Madson recently signed a $6 million deal with Sudan’s Transitional Military Council, which has ruled the country since former President Omar Al-Bashir was ousted in April.

The documents – submitted to the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act – stipulated that Ben-Menashe would lobby “the executive and/or legislative branches of the government of the United States and its agencies to support the Transitional [Military] Council of Sudan’s efforts to establish a democratic government”.

The firm would also work on improving the military council’s media coverage, Haaretz reported yesterday. In a separate deal also disclosed in the documents, Dickens & Madson would work with Venezuelan opposition to replace embattled President Nicolas Maduro and lobby Russia to support his proposed successor, Henri Falcon.

Though the documents were first made public last month, Ben-Menashe confirmed the deals in an interview with the Israeli daily this weekend.

Ben-Menashe discussed his Sudanese client Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – often known as Hemeti – who heads the country’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary unit formed from the remnants of Darfur’s Janjaweed militia. Since 2005, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been investigating allegations of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity against Janjaweed leaders for their actions in Darfur.

Though the official documents show that Dickens & Madson is also representing Transitional Military Council head Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, Ben-Menashe said that Dagalo “is the one with true power”.

Ben-Menashe told Haaretz that despite the RSF’s brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters last month – which saw as many as 100 demonstrators killed, tents burned and women raped in Sudanese capital Khartoum – Dagalo has “promised him that all he wants is for Sudan to have fair elections”.

“I’m not his fan really,” he said of the military leader, “[but] he’s the only guy that can keep order until this civilian government takes hold. What we’re also banking on is that there’s an army and there’s the Rapid Support Forces: one would put [a] check on the other.”

The lobbyist also compared Dagalo to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “In spite of his past — if it’s a morality contest, [Dagalo] would beat Netanyahu hands down. How many people died in the Middle East trying to make quote, unquote ‘Israel safe’? Sorry, but I have to make this comment.”

Ben-Menashe also touched on Dagalo’s relationships with regional powers, which are known to include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt.

Ben-Menashe told Haaretz that the Sudanese leadership is struggling to balance its support of US President Donald Trump’s administration with the president’s “Saudi friends”, who he claims are pressuring Dagalo to continue sending Sudanese troops to Yemen. Ben-Menashe claims that Dagalo “knows the arrangement is not a good thing for Sudan”.

The Transitional Military Council leadership has met with its regional allies on a number of occasions, with council head Al-Burhan in May visiting the Saudi city of Mecca for emergency summits of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the “threat” of Iran in the region.

This came just days after Al-Burhan met Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who “stressed the importance of dialogue between the Sudanese people in this sensitive phase”, as well as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who stressed “Egypt’s readiness to fully support the brothers in Sudan”.

Almost immediately after Al-Bashir’s ousting, Sudan and the UAE agreed to send Sudan $3 billion worth of aid in a bid to support the military council. The deal was understood to include $500 million to be deposited in the Sudanese central bank, while the rest would come in the form of food, medicine and petroleum products.

SOURCE: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20190723-ex-israel-spy-admits-lobbying-us-on-behalf-of-sudan-military-council/