Showing posts with label Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. Show all posts

Sunday, April 16, 2023

Hamdok's video message to Al-Burhan, Mohamed "Hemeti" Dagalo, and leaders of the SAF and RSF

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Many years before Sudan's president Bashir was jailed he fondly nicknamed Dagalo "Hemeti". He saw him as his replacement and the son he never had. He dislikes being called Hemeti. 
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From: BBC News LIVE - full copy
Saturday 15 April 2023 at 16:37 GMT UK

Edited by Rob Corp


Fighting must stop immediately - former  Sudanese prime minister


Copyright: Getty Images

Abdallah Hamdok in 2021

Image caption: Abdallah Hamdok in 2021


Former Sudanese Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has made a statement in a video posted on his Facebook account.


He says the "exchange of fire must stop immediately" and calls on the Sudanese people to "stay strong". 


Quote Message: My first message is to General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the leaders of the Sudanese military, and to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). 


The exchange of fire must stop immeditately, and the voice of reason must rule, everyone will lose, and there is no victory when it is atop the bodies of our people." from Abdallah Hamdok Former Prime Minister of Sudan


My first message is to General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, and the leaders of the Sudanese military, and to Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and the leaders of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The exchange of fire must stop immeditately, and the voice of reason must rule, everyone will lose, and there is no victory when it is atop the bodies of our people."

Abdallah Hamdok

Former Prime Minister of Sudan


He asks the Sudanese people not to allow "the drums of war to take over", before issuing a plea to the international community to "do their duty in finding a solution".


Hamdok served from 2019 until he was ousted in the October 2021 coup, before being reinstated again a month later.


He resigned last year after long-running disagreements with the army.


Source and further updates by the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-africa-65285254


[Ends]

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From BBC Live 



Saturday 15 April 2023 at 7:02 GMT UK - full copy

Military action will not resolve situation - UK foreign secretary

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has tweeted in the last few moments. 

He says the violence in Sudan "must stop immediately". 

Quote Message: The UK calls on the Sudanese leadership to do all they can to restrain their troops and deescalate to prevent further bloodshed. 
Quote Message: Military action will not resolve this situation." from James Cleverly UK Foreign Secretary
James CleverlyUK Foreign Secretary

[Ends]

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Saturday, December 04, 2021

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: 


Friday, December 03, 2021

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

Thursday, December 02, 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

Thursday, March 19, 2020

Sudan: Militia strike gold to cast a shadow over Sudan's hopes of prosperity

Supported by wealthy foreign backers, a feared paramilitary outfit controls Sudan’s most lucrative industry, complicating the country’s path to democracy. Read more:

Militia strike gold to cast a shadow over Sudan's hopes of prosperity
Analysis from The Guardian UK
Written by Ruth Michaelson (funded in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)
Dated 10 February 2020, 07.00 GMT

Photo: Sudanese Rapid Support Forces display gold bars seized from a plane that landed at Khartoum airport as part of an investigation into possible smuggling. Photograph: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters

Ornate, heavy necklaces gleam on stands above stacks of thick filigree bangles in the windows of Khartoum’s gold market. The gold is Sudanese, dug from the rich mines that span the country.

Shop owner Bashir Abdulay hands over a palm-sized lump of pure gold with two small bore holes as he explains how the prized metal goes from mine deposit, through middlemen, to Khartoum.

Abdulay describes the Jebel Amer gold mine in Darfur [ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-darfur-gold/special-report-the-darfur-conflicts-deadly-gold-rush-idUSBRE99707G20131008 ], one of several controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, the paramilitary group whose leader Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo [ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/29/hemedti-the-feared-commander-pulling-the-strings-in-sudan ] is now a central figure in Sudan’s transition to democracy.

“There are many people working there, some work on their own, others for the RSF. Everyone has his place, and the RSF have theirs,” he says, the metal twinkling in the bright shop lights. “The RSF have a big place producing gold, and selling it on their own.”

The RSF seized control of the Jebel Amer gold mine in Darfur in 2017, immediately making Dagalo, known as Hemedti, one of Sudan’s richest men. The RSF and Hemedti also control at least three other goldmines in other parts of the country, such as South Kordofan, making them a key player in an industry that produces Sudan’s largest export [ https://oec.world/en/profile/country/sdn/ ].

After the 2019 uprising that overthrew [ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/apr/11/sudan-army-ousts-bashir-after-30-years-in-power ] former dictator Omar al-Bashir, Hemedti became part of the transitional military council and the sovereignty council designed to shepherd Sudan to democracy before elections are held in 2022.

Despite tentative government efforts to wrestle parts of the gold industry away from Sudan’s security services and back under state or private control, questions remain about whether Sudan [ https://www.theguardian.com/world/sudan ] can truly transition to democracy while the politically powerful RSF run a parallel economy all of their own.

To buy gold from the RSF, where do you go? Abdulay answers without hesitation: “Al Gunade have an office upstairs on the second floor,” he said, gesturing at the ceiling, unapologetically connecting the two organisations.

Al Gunade is a mining and trading corporation with deep ties to Hemedti and the RSF. Hemedti’s brother Abdul Rahim Dagalo and his sons are the three owners of Al Gunade, while reported RSF deputy Abdul Rahman al-Bakri is the general manager.

According to one of the documents [ https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6469821-Al-G.html#document/p1/a530944 ] obtained by the anti-corruption NGO Global Witness, Hemedti himself sits on the board of directors.
Photo: Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces, at a meeting in Khartoum. Photograph: Ãœmit BektaÅŸ/Reuters

After reviewing evidence of the activities of Al Gunade and the RSF, Global Witness concluded [ https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/conflict-minerals/exposing-rsfs-secret-financial-network/ ] that “the RSF and a connected company have captured a swathe of the country’s gold industry and are likely using it to fund their operations”.

The organisation obtained bank data and corporate documents that, they say, show the RSF maintains a bank account in their name at the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (now part of the First Abu Dhabi Bank) in the United Arab Emirates, providing “evidence of the financial autonomy of the RSF”.

The UAE is by far the largest importer of Sudanese gold in the world. Global trade data from 2018 shows it imported [ https://trademap.org/Country_SelProductCountry.aspx?nvpm=1%7c729%7c%7c%7c%7c7108%7c%7c%7c4%7c1%7c2%7c2%7c1%7c1%7c2%7c1%7c1 ] 99.2% of the country’s gold exports. The Gulf nation has also subcontracted RSF militiamen to fight in Yemen [ https://apnews.com/d5705f44afea4f0b91ec14bbadefae62 ] and Libya [ https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/1-000-sudanese-militiamen-arrive-in-libya ], providing funds to the RSF.

The relationship between Sudan’s gold, wealthy foreign backers and the RSF militia is concerning observers. Global Witness believes the RSF is “an organisation whose military power and financial independence poses a threat to a peaceful democratic transition in Sudan”.

A former camel-trader, Hemedti gained his nickname from the words “my protector”. Before taking part in the coup that toppled him, he was the right-hand man of former dictator Bashir. Hemedti’s RSF grew out of the infamous Janjaweed militia active in Darfur, described as “men with no mercy” and accused of war crimes in a 2015 Human Rights Watch report [ https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/09/09/men-no-mercy/rapid-support-forces-attacks-against-civilians-darfur-sudan ].

HRW found that during the RSF’s campaign in Darfur, the militia were responsible for “egregious abuses against civilians … torture, extrajudicial killings and mass rapes”, as well as “the forced displacement of entire communities; the destruction of wells, food stores and other infrastructure necessary for sustaining life in a harsh desert environment”.

Last June, the RSF were accused of attacking peaceful protesters [ https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/11/17/they-were-shouting-kill-them/sudans-violent-crackdown-protesters-khartoum ] to disperse a sit-in in Khartoum calling for a handover to civilian rule. Protestors and observers said [ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2019/06/sudan-remove-rapid-support-forces-from-khartoum-streets-immediately/ ] the RSF brought the violent methods deployed in Blue Nile, South Kordofan and Darfur to the capital, shooting, stabbing, burning or crushing the skulls of at least 104 civilians, dumping bodies in the Nile, and raping at least 70 men and women.
Photo: Members of the Rapid Support Forces secure a site in Khartoum. Photograph: Ãœmit BektaÅŸ/Reuters

The RSF have consistently denied their involvement. An investigation is ongoing.

“Hemedti himself, he understands the process of transition personally,” says Montaser Ibrahim, a former human rights defender who works with the RSF as an “unofficial consultant” on human rights. “This is one of the reasons that led me to deal with him.”

His new role has led to criticism from some in human rights activism, but Ibrahim sees the RSF as champions of minority rights, and Hemedti as a challenge against political elites.

“Hemedti is a revolutionary,” he says. He dismisses any notion of the RSF’s involvement in violence against protesters, branding accusations of war crimes against Hemedti and the Janjaweed as “propaganda”.

Both of Al Gunade’s two offices above Khartoum’s gold market are accessed via a dank staircase where bare wires jostle for space on the filthy walls.

Behind the tinted windows of Gunade’s offices, a kilogram gold bar sat on a lacquered wooden desk among office stationary, an ostentatious paperweight that may be the real thing. A man who repeatedly refused to give his name referred all questions about Al Gunade to the central bank, opening the office door to indicate that no further discussion would be accepted.

Sudanese authorities have begun attempts to overhaul the gold trade, dissolving mining companies involved with the former regime’s security services. Sudan now allows private traders to export gold [ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sudan-gold/sudan-opens-up-gold-market-in-bid-to-raise-revenue-idUSKBN1Z81M2 ] provided 30% of deposits remain in the central bank.

An official from Sudan’s mining ministry, who cannot be named as they are not permitted to brief the media, said extra checks are made to screen out companies associated with the previous regime. The official said that the people behind a company mattered less than whether or not it followed the rules. 

“Now even if the head of the transitional military council came himself, he has to go with the regulations,” the official said.
Photo: Goldmine workers wait to get their raw gold weighed at a shop in the town of al-Fahir in North Darfur. Photograph: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters

Mohammed Tabidi, a Khartoum gold trader, says the new gold trading laws are a world away from those under the previous government that forced traders to buy gold from Sudan’s security services, or face arrest. “It’s a free market now,” he says.

He is hopeful about the possibilities of free trade amid a powerful black market and spiralling inflation that make daily life a struggle for many. Around the corner from the glistening mall where Tabidi works, men perch on bonnets in a car park, flicking fat wads of Sudanese pounds to signal their trade to drivers passing through. The official rate of 25 Sudanese pounds to the dollar is obsolete compared with the black market rate of 75, maybe even 80.

Tabidi says that while gold companies associated with other security services were rendered obsolete by the overhaul, Al Gunade remained.

“There is no company similar to Al Gunade [now],” he says. “There is nothing else like it.” The law is in flux, he says, and it is up to the authorities whether Al Gunade will continue.

“If export opens for traders, maybe Al Gunade won’t work,” he says. “But if they get a deal with the ministry of finance, they can.”

“Hemedti now is vice-president,” he said. “There are some things I can’t talk about.”

The RSF said [ https://www.globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/global-witness-response-to-news-that-head-of-sudans-rapid-support-forces-preparing-to-hand-over-gold-mining-areas-to-hamdouk-government/ ] in December that they would hand control of Jebel Amer to the government. Who will reap the profits remains very much in question, given the lack of transparency in Sudan’s gold industry and the difficulties in controlling a supply chain plagued by smuggling and remote sites controlled by militias. There are also few safeguards in place to prevent the RSF and Al Gunade operating illegally.

Richard Kent of Global Witness is critical of the RSF’s claim: “We welcome the development because it is potentially very beneficial to the Sudanese people and gold industry, but it’s still unclear exactly what this means,” he says. “Does this mean giving up the Al Gunade concession, reinstating some kind of civil or traditional administration – and if so how would that work, would it be independently appointed by the civilian government?”

Political transition offers the tools needed to transform Sudan’s most lucrative industry, cleaning up ministries and the supply chain. But there is a long road ahead before the Sudanese gold industry reaches the standards set by international observer bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

“There needs to be a level of transparency in the process,” Kent says. “The RSF and to a lesser extent other security agencies haven’t demonstrated [that] in other areas of their business until now. The reality is, there are still a lot of individuals associated with the intelligence agencies riddled throughout the industry and ministries. As long as general intelligence service and the RSF still have a hold over natural resources and over governing institutions, it’s very hard to see how the gold industry would be able to implement the internationally accepted standards it needs to improve and attract investment.”

Sipping tea outside a French cultural centre where he is taking classes, the RSF’s consultant Ibrahim, an avid reader of Paulo Coelho, says: “The RSF looks like a rebel force. But we need to use them to change the political situation in Sudan.”

Ibrahim’s role illustrates the RSF’s hints of reform and change. While Ibrahim is very concerned about being misunderstood, he declines to say whether he is paid, what the job actually entails or whether he believes there are receptive RSF ears for his talk of human rights.

“Hemedti believes in the revolution – I know you might be shocked by this,” he says.

Ibrahim maintained that the only way forward for Sudan’s transition is for cooperation between civil society and the security sector. He believes he is part of the solution, not the problem. “The security sector in Sudan can’t be cut from the political process,” he says. “This doesn’t contradict the idea of democracy.”

Formerly a “a political adviser” to the Sudan Liberation Army, Darfur-based militants, Ibrahim says he became a prisoners’ rights campaigner during Bashir’s regime and his latest role is the apex of a long journey in Sudanese politics. He has created an organisation within the RSF intended to provide training “for NGOs and civil society”. But not the RSF themselves? “No,” he answers dismissively.

Members of the Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), an umbrella trade union association that spearheaded the mass protests leading to Bashir’s overthrow, are confident that Sudan’s path towards democracy isn’t threatened by the RSF or their economic interests, says their spokesman Dr Mohanad Hamid.

“Hemedti is dangerous not because he’s one of the richest men in Sudan, but because he has an army, a militia in pure terms that’s independent from the Sudanese army – this is the issue,” he says. “Of course the economy is one of the main concerns, [but] peace is also one of the main concerns.”
Photo: Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, centre, waves a baton as he arrives for a rally in the village of Abraq, about 60km north-west of Khartoum. Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images

Hamid is confident that Hemedti and the RSF’s wealth won’t present a problem, provided their businesses are eventually brought under state control. “It’s all of four months since the beginning of the transitional period – this process is years,” he says. “If we get all the money back into the ministry of finance at the end of the three years it will be great, but we’re still waiting.”

Other SPA representatives, like Dr Batoul Altayeb, are unfazed by the RSF.

After protesters staged a mass demonstration [ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/13/sudanese-protesters-demand-justice-after-mass-killings ] against the RSF and the military following the Khartoum massacre, the SPA believe people power can contain the force of the RSF.

“We did it before and we will do it again,” says Altayeb calmly. “[The sovereign council] includes the RSF because they know that peace is the key before the economy. Democracy is on the way – it’s a process, not just an outcome.”

This article was corrected on 10 February 2020 to clarify the ownership structure of Al Gunade. This article was amended on 11 February 2020 to add additional comments from the Sudanese Professionals Association. About this content This website [above] is funded by support provided, in part, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The journalism and other content is editorially independent and its purpose is to focus on global development.

Tuesday, March 17, 2020

Sudan: Inquiry by PHR finds that authorities armed and orchestrated security forces that killed more than 200 pro-democracy protesters

An inquiry by the New York-based advocacy organisation Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) finds that authorities armed and orchestrated security forces that killed more than 200 pro-democracy protesters in June 2019. 

PHR is calling on UN member states to sanction the Sudanese officials responsible for the human rights abuses and for Sudan’s civilian-military government to include human rights, rule of law and accountability protections in the nation’s new constitution. Full story:

Sudan accused of masterminding lethal attacks on Khartoum protesters
Inquiry finds that authorities armed and orchestrated security forces that killed more than 200 pro-democracy protesters
Report from The Guardian.com 
Global development
Dated Thursday 05 March 2020 13.03 GMT, Last modified 8.07 GMT.
Photo: Demonstrators hold a banner bearing images of protesters allegedly killed in unrest in Khartoum in June 2019. Photograph: Marwan Ali/EPA

Sudanese security forces systematically planned and coordinated a series of deadly attacks that killed up to 241 pro-democracy protesters and injured hundreds more at a Khartoum sit-in last year, an inquiry has found.

Authorities “purposefully pre-positioned” state security forces armed with tear gas, whips and assault rifles in the month before the protests began, and “intentionally targeted” medical personnel and facilities during and after the protests, according to the New York-based advocacy organisation Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), which led an investigation into the violence.

The findings were based on interviews with 30 survivors of the 3 June massacre, eyewitness accounts, and analysis of thousands of still and video images of the protests, among other sources of information. They contradict previous theories that the attacks on the protest camp were spontaneous, or the work of “rogue” military personnel, as a government-led inquiry indicated.

“The June 3 massacre against Sudanese civilians at the hands of government security forces is an egregious violation of human rights,” said Phelim Kine, PHR’s director of research and investigations.

“Security forces’ horrific tactics – sexual violence, including rape, use of tear gas, whips, batons, and live ammunition – killed and critically injured hundreds of civilians. To support the national commission charged with investigating these crimes, the Sudanese legal and human rights community, as well as international bodies such as the United Nations and the African Union, must conduct further investigation into the full scope of government-perpetrated violence on June 3.”
Photo: Sudanese forces deployed to disperse the Khartoum sit-in are seen around army headquarters on 3 June, 2019. Photograph: Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images

Grassroots pro-democracy protests began in December 2018 [ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/25/sudan-clashes-between-security-forces-and-anti-bashir-protesters-prompt-concern ] in the centre of Khartoum in opposition to three decades of autocratic rule by Omar al-Bashir. The unrest continued after the president was ousted by military generals in April 2019 as protesters called for power to be ceded to civilians.

On 3 June, armed men in military uniform – many of whom declared themselves to be members of the Rapid Support Forces – stormed the peaceful sit-in that had been camped for months outside the military headquarters, shooting, stabbing, beating, raping and humiliating protestors.

Interviewees told PHR how security forces taunted them while beating, burning, and cutting them. One witness described an attempt by armed men to sexually assault him after they detained and tortured him, cutting open a healed wound and putting out cigarettes in it. Several interviewees said they had seen women gang-raped in broad daylight. 

Others described being shot at, beaten with whips and batons, and suffering severe post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.

PHR said some survivors would suffer from a lifetime of chronic pain and disability as a result of their injuries.

One interviewee, Muna, recounted how she had been wearing skinny jeans during the protests. She reported that a soldier from the Rapid Support Forces – a paramilitary force heavily armed by Bashir – grabbed her and said: “How do we get her pants off her? Give me a blade so we can tear it off her.”

A doctor interviewed by PHR said he was directly targeted by soldiers, who pointed automatic weapons at him as they yelled: “You’re the reason for all this chaos and this whole mess … You’re the reason why the country’s like this. You’re the reason why we kill people. You’re the reason why people die.”

The attacks were used to “intimidate and silence those demanding civilian rule and major reforms in Sudan”, said PHR’s director of policy, Susannah Sirkin, who contributed to the report.

“As doctors and their organisations were at the forefront of calls for change in Sudan, they were a target. As those who treated injured protesters, or received bodies in the morgues, they were doubly targeted. As credible witnesses to gross human rights violations and their physical and psychological impacts, they were triply targeted.”

The report echoed similar findings, published by Human Rights Watch [ https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/11/17/they-were-shouting-kill-them/sudans-violent-crackdown-protesters-khartoum ] in November, which concluded that “the number of forces deployed in the operation against the sit-in – estimated in the thousands – suggests official operational planning”.

Medical expert Rohini Haar, who serves as research and investigations adviser at PHR, said: “This pattern of targeted attacks on healthcare is a recurring weapon used by Sudanese security forces that violates the obligation and rights of medical personnel to treat those in need, threatens the lives of medical workers, and has a devastating impact on civilians.”

PHR is calling on UN member states to sanction the Sudanese officials responsible for the human rights abuses and for Sudan’s civilian-military government to include human rights, rule of law and accountability protections in the nation’s new constitution.

Global development is supported by BILL & MELINDA GATES foundation