Thursday, March 28, 2024

Sudan Tribune

Plural news and views on Sudan

Darfur Camps: The Murderer Visiting the Grave of the Slain Victims

By Mahmoud A. Suleiman

The people of Sudan say in their popular parables that the killer kills the victim and walks in his funeral! The same seems to be applying to the recent visit of the former Janjaweed militia leader to an IDP camp in Darfur.

The recent visit of the commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia to the Zamzam camp for the internally displaced Persons (IDP) is similar to a visit of a Mass murderer to the graves of his victims.

This article comes against the backdrop of the reported visit of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia leader Mohmed Hamdan Dugulu, better known as Hamedti to the Internally Displaced People’s Camp of Zamzam in El-Fashir the Capital of the North Darfur State on Monday 5 November 2018. He was accompanied by Al-Sharif Mohamed Abbad the Governor of North Darfur State and the State Security Commission.

As expected, there was a protest against that visit by the residents of the Camp who are the survivors of the systematic atrocious crimes committed against the civilian population of Sudanese citizens in the Darfur region by the notorious Janjaweed militias from which the current so-called (RSF) came to repeat the same crimes under their new label under the unlimited authorization of the mastermind, the Genocidal criminal, fugitive from the international justice, Marshall Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir.

The security forces in Al-Fashir detained six residents of the crowded Zamzam camp for the (IDPs) on Monday the 5th November 2018 for protesting against the visit of the commander of the (RSF) militia, Mohammed Hamdan Hamiditi, to the camp, which was accompanied by the governor of North Darfur and the state security committee.

The visit of the commander of the militia of the rapid support forces, Mohammed Hamdan Hamiditi Dugulu, provoked resentment among the camp residents, describing it as a kind of treacherous provocation, as did Omar al-Bashir on September 21 – 2017 during his visit to the Kalma camp in Nyala in South Darfur. At the time, the motto of the Kalma Camp residents was outright refusal saying Al-Bashir is ‘not welcome’ in South Darfur Camps”. Protests and marches continued in and around Kalma camp for the displaced near the South Darfur capital of Nyala ahead of the planned visit by Sudan’s President Omar Al Bashir. According to Radio Dabanga, Al- Bashir addressed a mass public rally in Nyala on the today of his visit when he was flanked by the then South Darfur Governor Adam El Faki and Maj. General Muhammad Hamdan Hamiti, commander of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia.

Similarly, al-Bashir made his address in El Geneina in West Darfur., Al Bashir spoke of the return of the displaced persons to their villages of origin, and encouraged the state to develop formal housing for those who are eligible. He reiterated that the state is in the process of extending security and collecting and legalising weapons and vehicles.
https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/al-bashir-not-welcome-in-south-darfur-camps

However, the current visits to camps of the displaced persons by the (RSF) militia leader General Muhammad Hamdan Hamiti should be considered by officials of the ruling regime the National Congress Party (NCP) to be considered a kind of hatred and a behavioural dilemma to be achieved in order to reach hidden goals and targets, of a destructive potential with enormous negative capabilities against the human rights aimed at targeting a group of Sudanese citizens who have been forced to live evil dwellings for more than a decade since the genocidal campaign of the Darfur region in western Sudan.

The provocative and malicious Tactics of the NCP regime against the Darfur IDPs Camp dwellers should receive a torrent of condemnation from the Sudanese public, the regional authorities and the international community.

Furthermore, the report indicated that Muhammed Hamdan Hamiditi arrived in the morning amid unprecedented security reinforcements to the Zamzam camp for displaced people, where heavy armoured vehicles and artillery have spread in large parts of the camp as well as the heavy deployment of elements of the rapid support militia belonging to the force of Hamidati in the presidential palace until the road to the Zamzam camp.

According to sources (Voice of the Margin), the elements of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia and members of the security services and police carried out a raid on Monday 5, 2018 (dawn) on the houses of the displaced and arrested about six of them against the visit of the commander of the militia rapid support of the camp.

In a move characterised of conspiracy and provocation, the Governor of the North Darfur State announced his decision to change the names of displaced camp of North Darfur, Sharif Mohammed Abad, formally changed the names of the Internally Displaced Camps in his State, in a step interpreted by observers as the beginning for the premeditated dismantling plan of all the camps for the displaced persons. The Governor Sharif Mohammed Abad has announced the Change of the Abu Shouk Camp for the (IDPs) to Name the Neighborhood of Doha, as well as Zamzam camp to become the Zamzam City and the Peace Camp to become the Beach City!

These methods followed by the ruling regime of the National Congress Party (NCP) on the displacement camps in Darfur is because their presence reminds the world of the issue of the people of Sudan in the Darfur region that without reaching fair solutions and the effects of the crimes of Omar al-Bashir reflected in the presence of the camps remains as a sign of the crimes committed in Darfur and Omer al-Bashir who remains fugitive from the international justice and being chased by the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the Netherlands. The Camps for the (IDPs) in Darfur remain the cause of the concern to al-Bashir and his criminal entourage. He continues to be obsessed with concern about the existence of the (IDPs) Camps in Darfur as they tend to give him sleep deprivation, worry, make him miserable despite the wealth he and the members of his close-knit corrupt entourage has accumulated from the Sudanese Public Coffer.

Thus, Omer al- Bashir continued saying since 06 November 06, 2017 that time to empty the internally displaced Persons Camps (IDPs) in Darfur has come and overdue. https://www.news24.com/Africa/News/sudans-bashir-says-time-to-empty-camps-of-darfur-displaced-20171106

Moreover, the Fugitive from the international Justice continued saying that IDPs and refugees have to return to their villages. He continued saying that he would provide security and services to their villages.

The conflict in the Darfur region in the western Sudan broke out as early as the year 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir’s Arab-dominated government, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically and demanded their share in the Power and wealth of the country; enough and enough marginalization. The Government of Sudan (GoS) Chaired by Marshall Omer Hassan al-Bashir rejected that demand instantly and outright; saying ”We came to Power on the back of the Tank, and whoever wants power needs to confront us carrying arms as we are”! So Omer al-Bashir did not leave any room for negotiations with the rebel groups from the Darfur region.

The United Nations (UN) officially said that the conflict in Darfur has killed about 300 000 people and displaced more than 2.5 million, most of whom still live in large camps. Omer Hassan Ahmed al- Bashir steadfastly denies committing war crimes and genocide in Darfur. In response, Bashir has regularly criticised foreign aid organisations, and in 2009 he expelled several that were operating in Darfur. Furthermore, the National Congress Party (NCP) regime officials including al-Bashir allegedly saying that the war in Darfur has ended, and have consistently demanded that the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNAMID) deployed in the region to be dismantled.

It is time to reiterate the fact that Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir has been indicted by The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide and he is wanted for being arrested. However, al-Bashir adamantly denies the figure given by the (UN) as 300 000 people but he confesses that the figure is only 9000 people died in the conflict and he strongly says that internally displaced people should return to their villages and not stay in camps any more.

On May 16, 2018, the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir vowed to meet all demands of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) expressing keenness to achieve peace and amend the social fabric in Darfur. The Sudanese president further pointed out that they would develop an integrated programme in coordination with Darfur governors to meet the demands of the IDPs and refugees. http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article65422

On January 12 – 2016, Sudan Democracy First activists said that Dismantling Darfur’s camps is a crime. It added saying that the Sudanese government is determined to dismantle the camps for people who have been displaced by conflict in Darfur and to push out the UNAMID, in order to create a cover for further crimes against Darfuris. It added saying: “Khartoum wants to prove the existence of a phantom peace in Darfur”. https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/dismantling-darfur-s-camps-is-a-crime-sudan-democracy-first

The activists have also added in reports of Darfuris who returned to their homes but suffered from attacks or robberies by militias and militant new settlers in the areas. According to Democracy First, ‘The Government of Sudan was engaged in vehement diplomatic and public propaganda to deceive national and international actors that the war in the Darfur region has come to an end. Such political claims, coupled with attacks on IDPs and IDP camps and the attempts to force the exit of the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) mission, are intended to create a smokescreen for the current intensive Government’s campaign of violence and control.’ This was in addition to the former “Second Vice President Hassabo Mohamed Abdelrahman’s deadline of 50 days for the voluntary returns of displaced people to their home areas reveals a rush to dismantle the camps, prior to the Darfur States referendum.” https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/dismantling-darfur-s-camps-is-a-crime-sudan-democracy-first

As early as January 2016, Sudan Democracy First Group (SDFG) reiterated their worries about the fate of the (IDPs) in Darfur and wrote an article with the slogan: “Dismantling IDPs Camps in Darfur, a New Crime in Saga of Calamity”. The Statement under the foregoing title was: “The last few months of 2015 witnessed a steady increase in violence against civilians in Darfur. As the ‘Darfur Fatigue’ syndrome set in, which has blurred the focus and distracted the international and regional actors, the crisis in Darfur was left entirely in the hands of Sudanese government (GoS). The government’s determination to dismantle the camps of the internally displaced persons (IDP) and push out the UN and AU hybrid mission in Darfur is intended to create a cover for further crimes against civilians”. http://democracyfirstgroup.org/dismantling-idps-camps-in-darfur-a-new-crime-in-a-saga-of-calamity/
Michael Ignatieff
Member of the Canadian House of Commons

Michael Grant Ignatieff PC CM the Canadian author, academic and former politician and was the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011 has been quoted as saying: “Genocide is not just a murderous madness; it is, more deeply, a politics that promises a utopia beyond politics – one people, one land, one truth, the end of difference. Since genocide is a form of political utopia, it remains an enduring temptation in any multiethnic and multicultural society in crisis.”
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/genocide
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=michael+ignatieff&oq=Michael+Ignatieff&aqs=chrome.0.0l6.1587j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/

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