Showing posts with label Madikheir. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Madikheir. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

ICC: Hilal knows truth about Hemeti & Darfur war (Part 2)

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor:  The following article by Radio Dabanga dated 27 Nov 2017 features the Nov 2017 arrest of Sheikh Musa Hilal in North Darfur by Hemeti’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Coloured highlighting is mine.

See the second photo: a captive’s shoulder appears to be newly bruised, his shirt is being roughly pulled, he looks dazed and exhausted, the arm of a lowlife RSF thug seems to be raised in a violent manner.  

The eyes of the captives look strange, like they have been through hell. Surely they feel shocked, devastated, humiliated and ruthlessly betrayed by Messrs Bashir and Hemeti. 

Hemeti inveigled himself into Bashir's life who treated Hemeti like the son he never had. Bashir felt protected by Hemeti. Together, Bashir and Hemeti protected themselves. 

The arrest took place during the Bashir era. Hemeti ordered the RSF to bring Musa Hilal to Khartoum "dead or alive". Musa Hilal sought peace for Darfur, had the skills and gold to do so, posing a threat to Bashir's regime and Hemeti's lust for power in Darfur and its gold.

Musa Hilal is a warrior, for 16 years he has known the truth about his former underling Hemeti, the RSF and Janjaweed, what went on in Darfur and Khartoum, and the policing of vast areas far away from Khartoum. 

Musa Hilal’s daughter is married to Chad’s president Idriss Deby. Hemeti hires men from Chad for his RSF. 
Musa Hilal and his relatives and affiliates have been locked up in Omdurman prison for almost two years.  Have they been given a fair trial? Who is checking that they are being properly treated and cared for?

Could the UN/International Criminal Court (ICC) arrange to transport Musa Hilal and his relatives and affiliates to the safety of the ICC in The Hague where the truth could be told to help bring peace to Sudan?

Musa Hilal and his relatives and affiliates must be kept safe, treated respectfully and taken good care of now and in the future as they could help bring peace to Darfur and Sudan - and, in turn, South Sudan.

Article from and by Radio Dabanga.org
Dated 27 November 2017 - MISTERIYA / KHARTOUM
Musa Hilal, Revolutionary Awakening Council leadership arrested in Darfur
Musa Hilal, chairman of the Revolutionary Awakening Council, arrives as captive in Khartoum on Monday (RD)

Musa Hilal, former janjaweed leader and chairman of the Revolutionary Awakening Council, as well as his sons, brothers, entourage, and senior members of the Council’s leadership, were arrested on Sunday and arrived today in Khartoum.
The official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reports that the Commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (known as Hemeti), has affirmed that Hilal was arrested on Sunday at Misteriya area, North Darfur. Gen. Hemeti, says that Musa Hilal was “involved in a plot against Sudan which has external dimensions”.

Hemeti said that in addition to Hilal, a number of his aides and three of his sons have also been detained. He also referred to detention of “a person who holds a foreign nationality among the forces of Musa Hilal”, indicating that this man had advanced communication equipment, “a matter which confirms the involvement of foreign parties in the acts for undermining the security and stability in Darfur”.

Hemeti affirmed stability of the security situation at Mustariha area, reiterating determination of his forces to continue implementing their duties.

Sons and brothers
Sources from the area also confirm the Hilal’s sons Habib, Fathi, and Abdel Basset were also held, along with his brothers Omar Hilal, Adam Ramadan, and Mohamed Barma Yusuf.
Brothers, sons and affiliates of Hilal were also captured (RD)

The arrests seem to verify claims made by Hilal’s Council last month of a plan for the RSF to capture him and send him “alive or dead” to Khartoum. In a statement, the Council accused “influential parties” within the government of “seeking to punish Hilal”, who has refused to cooperate with the government’s current campaign of arms collection.

Witnesses have told Radio Dabanga that at least 11 members of the Border Guards militia were killed in Sunday’s clashes. Callers said that civilians, including at least three women, were also killed during Sunday’s clashes, but exact numbers have not yet been ascertained. The area is reportedly under siege – all roads in and out are controlled by the RSF. Large military reinforcements have arrived with “tanks, armoured vehicles, and 500 armed vehicles”.

Arms collection
A spokesman for the RSF, Colonel Abdelrahman El Jaali, confirmed the death of the RSF director of general supplies, Brigadier Abdelrahim Gumma, in Hilal’s heartland of Misteriya during the confrontations that led to the arrest. Col. El Jaali told SUNA that Gumma was killed when he went to investigate an ambush on two vehicles transporting Hilal-led militia elements arrested within the framework of the forcible arms collection campaign.

He stressed that the state will go ahead in its project for collecting weapons and confronting those who tend to undermine the national security.

Also on Sunday, a spokesman for the RSF, Colonel Abdelrahman El Jaali, announced the arrest of Haroun Mahmoud Madikheir, the spokesman for the Revolutionary Awakening Council at Wadi Bari south of Misteriya of Kutum locality in North Darfur. Madikheir was reportedly on his way to Chad with his bodyguards.

El Jaali said in a statement to SUNA that the rapid support militia managed to arrest the most important person in the leadership and the founder of the Revolutionary Awakening Council accompanied by his personal guard.

Sudan: Musa Hilal faces court martial in Khartoum (Part 1)

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: A few minutes ago (12 noon in England, UK) I completed drafting six blog posts featuring Sheikh Musa Hilal of North Darfur, Sudan.

Radio Dabanga in The Netherlands is doing such a fine job of reporting that I have re-printed, here below, their article on Musa Hilal published today [10 Sep], re-titled it "Part 1" and, as a matter of urgency, I have followed it by jumping to my blog post titled "Part 6" and re-titled it "Part 2" in order to bring it forward for publishing today. The other parts, and more, will follow this week. Yellow highlighting is mine.

In my view, this news is important and urgent. Musa Hilal and his relatives and affiliates must be protected as soon as possible, kept safe and taken good care of, now and in the future, as they could help bring peace to Darfur and Sudan, and South Sudan. God bless the Sudanese people and the peace makers. 

Article from Radio Dabanga.org
Dated 10 September 2019 - KHARTOUM / MISTERIYA
Former Darfur janjaweed leader Hilal faces court martial in Sudan capital
Photo:  A bewildered Musa Hilal arrives in Khartoum after his arrest in Darfur in 2017 (RD)

A military court in Khartoum resumed proceedings on Tuesday [10 Sep 2019] to try former janjaweed leader Musa Hilal, who was detained two years ago, along with hundreds of his supporters.

The Revolutionary Awakening Council (RAC) which was founded by Hilal, said in a statement on Monday [09 Sep 2019] that the Council was surprised to hear that morning that their leader and his detained followers were summoned to appear before the military court without warning.


The RAC statement questions how it is possible that a court martial will try Hilal and his comrades while they were detained during the regime of ousted President El Bashir.

“Opens the door to ask whether the regime has fallen entirely or not. 

The regime that was overthrown by a popular uprising and brought a new system representing the goals of the revolution, freedom, peace, and justice.” The statement says.

The statement also asks why Hilal and his companions remain in prisons and detention cells until now, after the overthrow of the Al Bashir regime.

The RAC rejected any kind of trials (military or civilian) for political prisoners.

RAC: “Stop this absurdity”
In his statement, the RAC called for their immediate and immediate release, and called on the government of Sudan, represented by the Sovereign Council, Prime Minister and Minister of Justice, to intervene immediately to “stop this absurdity to preserve the law and the achievements of our glorious revolution”.

In May 2018, the Darfur Bar Association criticised the military trial of Hilal, “which is being conducted without taking into account the principles of a public trial”. According to the Darfur lawyers at the time (prior to regime change), Hilal’s “trial is a violation of the fair trial standards enshrined in the Sudanese Constitution and the law, which is casting doubts on its fairness and integrity, regardless of the acts attributed to Musa Hilal and his affiliates”.

Hilal should immediately be transferred to a criminal court. “This would constitute the only guarantee for correcting the violated legal procedures,” the statement read.

Families
The families of the detainees, most of them belonging to the Mahameed clan, of which Hilal is the leader, have reiterated their demand for their immediate and unconditional release.

The statement of the families of the detainees refused any trial of these detainees, whether civil or military courts, and demanded in return the Prime Minister Hamdouk’s immediate intervention and the issuance of a decision to release all political detainees.

After the deposal of President Al Bashir and the release of a number of political detainees, mainly fighters of armed movements, relatives and followers of Musa Hilal have publicly called for his and his men’s release more than once.
Supporters of Hilal organised a large demonstration in Misteriya in North Darfur last week, demanding his release.

On August 27, 10 of Hilal’s imprisoned affiliates entered into a hunger strike to protest their continued detention in a military prison in Omdurman. According to the spokesman for Hilal’s Revolutionary Awakening Council, “they have been subjected to systematic ill-treatment by the prison authorities and deprived of their most basic rights such as medical treatment and to meet their relatives through visits”.

In a statement, the organisers of the demonstration demanded from the newly established Sovereign Council and Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdouk to intervene, and release all political prisoners in the country “as soon as possible, without any conditions”.

“The failure to release all political detainees is a conspiracy in order to isolate them politically, and exclude them from the ongoing political process,” the statement reads.

The demonstrators appealed to the Forces for Freedom and Change and other political and civil forces to pressure the authorities to release all “political prisoners and prisoners of war”.

The statement also demanded the representatives of the revolution do their part towards their comrades in the struggle who are part of the charter of freedom and change and are still in prison remnants of the former regime.

Janjaweed
Hilal was arrested in a raid on his stronghold in Misteriya, North Darfur, in November 2017. His sons, brothers, and entourage, were detained as well. Hilal, who refused to operate with the government’s disarmament campaign, was transferred to Khartoum. His trial secretly began on April 30.

Hilal is held responsible for the atrocities committed in Darfur against civilians after the conflict erupted in 2003. In that year, he was released from prison by the Sudanese government with the purpose to mobilise Darfuri Arab herders to fight the insurgency in the region.

With full government backing, Hilal's janjaweed targeted villages of African Darfuris. They rarely came near forces of the armed rebel movements.

In 2008, Hilal was appointed as Presidential Assistant for Federal Affairs. In January 2014, he announced his defection from the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), and established the RAC.

The Council consists of Hilal’s militiamen and a number of North Darfur native administration leaders. RAC commanders took control of the Jebel Amer gold mining area in El Sareif Beni Hussein locality in July 2015. According to a UN Security Council report in April 2016, Hilal and his entourage were profiting from vast gold sales in Darfur.

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