Sudan’s former spy chief slams slow pace of Darfur crimes probe

June 7, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The former director of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Salah Gosh chided the government over the lack of progress in its investigation of the alleged war crimes committed in the country’s western region of Darfur.

“Despite the appointment of a general prosecutor for crimes in Darfur and having several cases pending we have not seen them [cases] presented to the courts,” Gosh said at the National Assembly during deliberations on a report presented by the justice minister Mohamed Bushara Dousa on the performance of his ministry.

He further warned that accusations by the outside world about the inadequacy of the Sudanese legal system, particularly in relation to Darfur, should not be taken lightly.

Gosh is a member of parliament representing Merowe constituency in North Sudan. He acquired the seat following elections held in April 2010. Up until recently, Gosh was considered a powerful figure within the state and the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

But last April he was abruptly sacked by Sudanese president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir from his position as presidential adviser for security affairs. No reason was given for the decision though other NCP officials hinted that Gosh was planning a coup.

This move followed his surprise removal in 2009 by the Sudanese president from the directorship of the NISS, a position he held since 2004.

Last month Gosh was also relieved from his position at the NCP where he was the head of the party’s workers’ secretariat. A senior party official at the time suggested that Gosh could also lose his seat in the parliament should he decide to leave the party.

Bashir’s former adviser has maintained silence ever since amid widespread rumors that he is being held at the notorious Kober prison in the Sudanese capital.

In his first public remarks since his removal, Gosh pointed out that Sudan has the qualified staff to bring justice but that the current laws are not strong enough.

He emphasized the need for a political will to establish the desired state of justice and the law.

The Sudanese justice minister responded by acknowledging the slow pace of investigations in Darfur but said that war in the restive region is the cause behind it.

The forceful statements by Gosh will likely raise eyebrows given the fact that he personally was named as a possible suspect in Darfur war crimes by human right groups.

In 2004 Gosh gave a rare interview to Reuters and made the first confession of its kind that the government armed the notorious Janjaweed militias accused of having committed mass atrocities in Darfur.

Prior to this interview, the Sudanese government has vehemently denied any links to the militias.

Gosh also acknowledged that human right violations took place in Darfur and stressed that those responsible would be brought to justice.

But there has been little visible progress on the justice track for Darfur.

Last April the Sudan Justice Ministry Undersecretary and special prosecutor for Darfur crimes Abdel-Dayem Zumrawi resigned from his post citing personal reasons. However, sources told Sudan Tribune that Zumrawi was unhappy by what he thought was too much interference in his work by other government agencies.

Zumrawi was appointed last October as a special prosecutor to replace his predecessor Nimr Ibrahim Mohamed who occupied this position since 2003.

The independent Al-Sudani newspaper reported that Zumrawi had difficulty overcoming the issue of immunity in his investigations of several incidents that occurred where mass civilian deaths was alleged including Gereida in South Darfur.

The justice minister appointed Al-Fatih Mohamed Eissa Tayfour to replace Zumrawi.

Sudan has sought to prove its seriousness in going after perpetrators of war crimes by appointing a special prosecutor and establishing special courts.

But no cases have been brought to date in connection with war crimes in Darfur by the special prosecutor.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March 2005 after a UN international commission of inquiry concluded that the Sudanese judiciary is unwilling or unable to carry out credible prosecutions in the war ravaged region.

To date, the Hague tribunal charged three individuals from the government side including president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir, South Kordofan governor Ahmed Haroun and militia leader Ali Kushayb.

All three figures face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity but Bashir is also wanted for genocide in connection with claims that he orchestrated a campaign to wipe out the African tribes of Fur, Zaghawa and Masaalit in Darfur.

The Sudanese leader blocked attempts by the then general prosecutor Salah Abu-Zeid in 2007 to investigate Haroun. The former justice minister Abdel-Basit Sabdarat was also pressured to stop a planned probing accusations of Haroun’s role in Darfur war crimes.

In addition to that the government held Kushayb in preparation for trial but later released him despite earlier assertions of having sufficient evidence to try him.

Last January, the state minister for justice Bol Lul Wang told Reuters that Khartoum has not conducted serious investigations into Darfur crimes. He also claimed that the Sudanese government has no will to go after suspects because of the high-level position they occupy.

“The prosecutor may find some difficulties taking procedures against them [Haroun & Kushayb] because they are being protected by the government,” Wang said.

“These people are high figures in the government. The government has no will to pursue or even investigate those people … It is not serious. Because if it was serious they would not let a man like Haroun hold a ministerial post.”

An African Union panel headed by former South African president Thabo Mbeki was tasked with working on ensuring that Sudan establish mechanisms to bring justice to Darfuris particularly through hybrid courts as well as making changes to the penal code.

But Khartoum resisted the idea and Mbeki acknowledged in a report last November that he had little success in pushing Khartoum to implement his justice proposals.

The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report issued last October that the Sudanese government “has made no meaningful progress in the implementation of the Mbeki Panel recommendations on justice”.

“[T]he government has not taken key steps to strengthen its criminal justice system in line with the panel’s recommendations and with its obligations under international law and its own constitution,”.

(ST)