Darfur rebel figure starts hunger-strike over confinement by UN
Feb 8, 2007 (KADUGLI) — A Darfur rebel figure has started hunger strike in a United Nations hospital where he is confined since several months, requesting to be moved abroad for treatment. Also, rebel commanders stopped efforts to reunite the SLA unless he attends their conference.
The former humanitarian coordinator in Sudan Liberation Movement, Suleiman Jamous started a hunger-strike on Wednesday to draw the attention of the UN secretary general to his difficult situation. Jamous is trapped in UN Mission in Sudan in Kadugli, South Kordofan since last June.
Suleiman Jamous, had been detained by Minni Minawi on 20 May 2006 after his opposition to Darfur peace agreement. He was released on 22 June 2006 after the intervention of the former UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk and transported to Kadugli in UNMIS hospital for medical treatment; but also to protect him from Minawi.
After his transport to Kadugli, Khartoum had imposed a two-day ban on the UN humanitarian operations in Darfur.
Jamous told Sudan Tribune by telephone that the UN assured him that he would not stay in that hospital for only four days. He said he can’t move out side his room because the UN has placed a soldier at his door.
“The UN staff here can’t treat me and I need to go abroad for treatment. I asked to go to the United States, Germany, Netherlands or Slovenia where is my friend Tomo Kriznar.” Jamous said.
“They demanded Sudanese government to the permission to transport me aboard, and we are still waiting.”
Asked why all this delay from the UN, he said that it is clear that the UN mission in Sudan does not want to engage on confrontation with Khartoum after Pronk’s expulsion. “So they do not exert any efforts to encounter Sudanese government obstruction.”
Jamous expressed fears for his live. He said that Khartoum plans to capture him from the hospital. He received credible information that Sudanese government had already asked the Egyptian government, whose soldiers are guarding the UN hospital, “to hand me over to them. They refused, but this indicates the GOS’s intentions.”
SLA COMMANDERS SHOW SOLIDARITY
In a separated development leading Sudan Liberation Army commanders said they would not attend a conference sponsored by the African Union to reunite all the SLA factions unless Jamous attends his conference.
The rebel commanders said this conference was the idea of Suleiman Jamous. His “political experience and advice is needed at this conference in order for it to be successful.” Said a statement issued on 1 February.
The goal of the conference is to reunite the rebel groups in order to be able to negotiate a sustainable and equitable solution to the conflict in Darfur.
The statement is signed by the following commanders: Abdalla Yahya Ahmed, Siddeig Burra, Suleiman Maragan, Jar Elnebi Abdelkarim, Abdellatief Abdelhameed.
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Below, the text of a letter sent by Suleiman Jamous to the UN Secretary General at the end of December 2006.
To his Excellency United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon,
On June 24th, 2006, the envoy for the United Nations Mission in Sudan, Jan Pronk, transported me from Darfur to the UN hospital in Kadugli, south Kordofan, for medical treatment. After the UN secured my release from Minni Minnawi, who had detained and held me for nearly a month, I was hesitant to go to Kadugli, but was assured that I would be back in Darfur or another location within four days. I have been trapped in Kadugli ever since.
The government of Sudan (GOS) has insisted that I am not to be transported unless they permit it. And until now the UN has not received this permission. I have been trapped in Kadugli for more than six months with little hope of being released. The GOS has placed checkpoints outside the hospital in order to arrest me if I try to leave.
Of further concern is information I have received from a source I know to be reliable. The GOS has plans at an unknown date to capture me from the hospital in order to detain or possibly assassinate me. Indeed, the GOS has already asked the Egyptian government, whose soldiers are guarding the UN hospital, to hand me over to them. They refused, but this indicates the GOS’s intentions.
Furthermore I am suffering from a disease of the abdomen. The doctors at the UN hospital have examined me and certified that I need further testing and treatment that cannot be done at the hospital in Kadugli, as the hospital does not have the necessary equipment.
Your Excellency, I worked tirelessly to provide great service to the people of Darfur as the former humanitarian coordinator of the Sudan Liberation Movement. I organized the delivery of humanitarian aid to hundreds of thousands of Darfurian civilians in rebel-held areas of Darfur. I also coordinated with dozens of international journalists, human rights workers, and the International Criminal Court, to enable them to enter rebel-held areas of Darfur and report on the atrocities that had occurred. I was a member of the SLM negotiating team at the 6th round of the Abuja talks and I worked toward resolving the SLM’s internal differences.
It is unacceptable that more than six months after the UN envoy to Sudan assured me that I would spend only four days in the hospital in Kadugli, I am still here. It seems that I am trapped here for the foreseeable future, and my captivity gives the unfortunate impression that the United Nations is detaining me on behalf of the government of Sudan.
Your Excellency, I am respectfully requesting your direct intervention in resolving my case with the greatest possible speed.
With all respect and appreciation,
– Suleiman Jamous
– UNMIS hospital in Kadugli
– 22/12/2006