Bashir’s last part of genocide plan
By Abdellatif Abdelrahman.
August 7, 2010 — The genocide committed by Khartoum regime against the indigenous black Africans in Darfur namely Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit (whom they arrogantly called Zurga); started through different systematic phases. First; by keeping the African tribes areas undeveloped, cut from basic services such as education, health, water and sanitation. Secondly; by selective state sponsored armed robbery; aimed to impoverish African tribes from any resources, in addition to the killing of African tribe’s influential leaders who may help their sleeping masses. Thirdly; the arming Arab pastoralists by the state against indigenous black farmers to carry out organized raids for purposes to occupy the land by force, in order to resettle the Arab tribes. The plan beforehand was masterminded by the Arab congregation Organization (Al-tajammu Al-Arabi) between 1983 to 1989,during the Transitional Military Council, headed by the Islamist; the former Arm Chief of Staff, Adul Rahman Suwar El-Dahab, who came to power after the popular-uprising that toppled late General Nimeiry in 1983.
In 1984 when Al-Sadig Al-Mahadi, was elected as prime Minster of Sudan he immediately adopted the ideology of the Arab Congregation; and with help of Current President of Libya Muammar Gaddafi was able to establish Legion of Islamic Forces LIF (Al-Failag Al- Islami),which led by two prominent Islamists, Asil and Sheikh Ibn Omer Between the years 1984-1989. Some of the Libyan troops were based in El-Fashir, the capital of Darfur region at the time, under the pretext of developing Sag Al-Naam Agricultural Scheme; 30 km south east of El-Fashir, these troops were the principle force, which helped the Janjaweeds to evacuate scores of Fur villages. The LIF which provided financial and military training to the Janjaweed militias carried out very systematic and well organized attacks against Fur tribe in current West Darfur State, under cover of armed rubbery. The killings in that period were concentration on Fur tribe influential leaders. It’s worth to mention that the UN/AU created rebel leader Al-Tigani Sessei was appointed by Umma Party a governor of all state of Dafur before Darfur was divided by the Islamist government in to three states in 1994. When Fur well known Shartai, Tahir Ahmed Shatta and other Ummdas and sheikhs were killed by the Legion of Islamic Forces; Al- Tegani Sessei appeared on Sudan media and denied the existence of such forces in Darfur.
In 1989 when Fur tribe militias defeated the LIF in west Dafur; the National Islamic Front made military coup against the Prime Minster Al- Mahdi on June 1989; and the Arab Congregation (AC) was changed to pan-Arab belt in the sub-Saharan region of Africa, under name of (Guraish 1 and Guraish 2); aimed to create Arab- Islamic state in Sudan after wiping the Negroid African tribes (Zurga), from their lands by force and replace them by Arabs from Sudan and the neighboring countries. For more details read Sudanese newspaper Al-Midan published on July 2004.
The defeat of all Arab tribes by Fur militias; Khartoum was embarrassed and swiftly intervene to carry out mood reconciliation conference intended to lull the situation to give chance for Arab tribes to re-organize their ranks and attack again under supervision of the state and help of some Arab countries. In the periods of reconciliation between Fur and Arab that was initiated by Islamist Government; the attacks of Guraish one and two reached Masalit tribe in West Darfur; before Zaghawa tribe. The truth to be mentioned here is that, most of Zaghawa tribesmen and intelligentsias at that time were staunched and influential members in National Islamic Front; where Dr. Khalil and others were leading Mujahedeen in South Sudan, Blue Nile and Nuba Mountains. The war in Dafur included Zaghawa tribe after the split of the Islamists in Khartoum in 1999.
It is essential to mention here also that, before the start of SLM/A military operations in Darfur in August 2001; the Islamist Government in Khartoum carried out more than 34 tribal reconciliation Conferences in Darfur. The most important reconciliation conference was in 1989 between Arab tribes and Fur tribe in El Fashir during the tenure of the military governor of Darfur State Attaib Mohammed Al-Kheir. The recommendations of this conference were to disarm the all Fur villages as well as all Arab groups. The mechanism of disarmament was very strange because Fur stay in one place which was very easy to be disarmed; however Arabs nomads who are moving from place to another, were not given clear mechanism for their disarmament. After few days from the conference Fur delegation that collected weapons from villager discovered later that the collected weapons from Fur villages were redistributed to the Arab tribes in Darfur by Al-Bashir government under clause of protecting their animals from thieves. Therefore; the bulk of these reconciliation conferences failed to materialize and bring a meaningful peaceful, co-existence between the different tribes of African and Arab origin in Darfur; because, the objective of the Islamist regime in Khartoum was to give chance to Arab tribes be reorganized whenever they face a big defeat from African tribes.
In 2001 when Sudan Liberation Movement Army emerged, due to biased treatment of the Islamist regime against the people of African origins in Darfur and selective killing of their influential leaders under the cover of armed rubbery; the events on the ground in Darfur took new dimension as the regime with its janjaweed militias retaliated by conducting wide-scale, scorched land polices by focusing mainly on civilian targets. The Sudan Islamists Government use of all its military capabilities and arsenal; including aerial bombardment carried by China and Russian made gunships and Antonovs; because they were panicked and were not expecting that people of Darfur would one day revolt against the central governments in Khartoum.
As a result of Khartoum military mobilization against people of Darfur, and use of proxy Janjaweed militias as well; and their barbaric attacks; forced the people out of their lands and villages and rendered fertile lands completely uninhabitable. Inhuman act such as disemboweling of pregnant women, slaying of men in front of their family members, throwing adults and children into fire a live, raping of women and girls in front of their men folk, poisoning of wells by dumping human bodies, putting genitals in the mouths of dead bodies, burying people a live, kidnapping for the purpose of enslavement, removing the eyes from dead bodies and so many atrocities, which had never ever happened in human history. The limitation of the space would not allow me to mention but more than 6000 villages burned to ashes, 500,000 internally displaced, more than 400,000 killed, 3 million people fled the country to neighboring countries.
The atrocities committed by Al-Bashir and his militias in Darfur, I believe are enough to make a rock cry. As a result, the genocide survivors today, are displaced in squalid concentrated camps inside Darfur, such as Kalma, AbuShouk, Hamidiyya, Garsilla, Kassab, Sirrba, Keilla, Tongkitir, Al Salam, Zamzam, Naivasha, Kass, Mornei ,…etc and more than three million took refuge in neighboring countries like Chad and Central African Republic . With considerable numbers of civilians trapped in government –controlled towns and areas facing unbearable conditions of harassing, arbitrarily detention and summarily execution, torture, and enslavement by the Janjaweed and government security forces. A woman from Kass IDPs camp of southern Darfur disclosed that, a Janjaweed man will sit comfortably under a tree and call a woman who makes tea; “hey, you black slave woman! Bring me tea; don’t you hear me you slave black woman”? The Janjaweed would continue repeating the word slave to her many times; she said. If a woman delays his requests, the Janjaweds man comes and lashes her bitterly. We can respond to a man holding a machine gun while we hold teas spoons in our hands; she concluded.
In March 2009 the expulsion of 13 International relief organizations from Sudan; by Al- Bashir was intended to continue the genocide throw slow motion in Darfur. Because the expelled organizations were providing food and health services to over 1.5 million people, water and sanitation as well as food assistance to more than 1 million victims in Darfur and other parts of Sudan. The idea was that, those whom survived the Janjaweeds and military forces attacks, now will die from hunger, thirst or diseases. This was Al-Bashir’s unequivocal message to Darfur genocide survivors, precise and simple.
On 29th of July, the National Congress Party has approved a new strategy on Darfur, which was presented to the party by the radical Islamist Ghazi Salah Al-Din, who is in charge of Darfur dossier. The new scheme of the genocide regime is precisely focusing on domesticating the Darfur peace by creating peace from within. The people who would implement the new plan of Islamists Government in Khartoum to dismantle the IDPs and refugees camps are; President Assistant Mini Minawi and three governors of three Darfur beside Ghazi Salah Al-deen. This was slammed by the chairman of SLM/A Abdul Wahid; he called it as a new security plan, which include among other things, dismantling the IDPs camps and send them to live in out skirts of big cities.
The plan is already implemented, judging from continues attacking of the IDP camps by the regime these days, massive-scale of detentions of people Darfur everywhere in Sudan, as well as IDPs, imposing of total humanitarian blockage in Darfur, especially in Jebel Marra and Kalma and obstruction of relief operation, escalation of military operations, targeting and invoking the UNAMID by the regime. All these developments on the ground in Darfur belie the claim of the regime that, the domestication strategy was meant to bring peace. It’s indeed, completion of the last part of the genocide; sugar coated this time with new domestication strategy. I believe that, the regime had the military solution in its back mind. Therefore, the domestication of peace process strategy in the mind of Mr. Ghazi, is just like “commission for security and retention of State Authority” (CSRSA), which established at the beginning of the conflict in 2003, composed of governors (walis) of the three Darfur State and other high-ranking army, security, police which chaired by retired General Ibrahim Suleiman, intended to solve the problem by military muscles.
Pursuing its genocide plan to the last man and woman in Darfur; Al-Bashir from the first of August 2010; has totally barred any humanitarian aid into Kalma IDP camp; while the world, humanitarian and human rights organizations maintaining total silence. A source from inside the camp, told me that, “there is a possibility that some children might starved to death, since I can not reach the other centers of the camp” .Khartoum told UNAMID that, they will not allow relief into the camp, unless UNAMID hand over the people as a condition. He further added. Since the beginning of the tension in the Kamp, the government has besieged the camp. Nobody allowed in, even to enter with food to the camp and the women who go outside the camp to bring food to their children not allowed to return either. On the second day of the barring the UNAMID Daily Media Brief reported that “no organization have been allowed to deliver humanitarian aid” to the IDPs in Kalma camp despite of the appalling condition of the raining season.
On the 2ed of August the regime started shelling the camp from Bileil, in order to intimidate the IDPs flee from it. A source also disclosed to me that, those who fled the camp were taken by force from Nyala to kaeileik village, south-west of Kass town; where they heavily guarded by security forces and Janjaweed militias as voluntary return. Meanwhile; a resident from Kass camp told Sudan tribune that, one thousand of militiamen gathered outside the camp and paraded around the area to intimidate the residents. The same source added that, they received reports from Zalingei in west Darfur saying some 50 people were arrested by the security forces there. I personally received the same information from different areas of Darfur telling me about the government’s new waves of arbitrary a arrests and detentions a among the IDPs and civilians in the entire region, including trucks and lorry drivers who transport commercial goods and cash crops to Jabal Marra areas. Due to difficulty of communication I was not able to get all the names of the arrested people, thus until writing this opinion I received the following names: Ahmed a dam Sabass –Abu Shouk IDP camp, Mohammed Al-Hassan Al-Salam IDP camp, Abdulrahman Adam Yahya, from Kabkabiyya, a trade, Najm el-Din Abdalla, from Kabkabiyya, student, Ibrahim Yousif Saboon, from Rawanda IDP camp, Mohammed Yousif, civilian, Abdul Salam, Zamzam IDP camp, student, Adam Hamid Cosovo, from Abu Shouk, trader, Abdalla Yagoub, civilian from Zalingei, Adam Musa, teacher from Zalingei, Ismaeil Wad el-Nuba, civilian, Zalingei, Ishag Ishag, Zalinge, Aboud Mindei, a trader from Zalingei, Hassan Adam Musa Fadoul, Zalingei, Mubarak Ibrahim Haraka, free-lancer journalist, Idriss Fadoul, trader from Zalingei, Ahmed Mursal, from Zalingei.
It’s essential to remind that, Khartoum regime putted Kalma camp in the fix as it constitute strong material evidence to the genocide; thus worked hard to dismantle it by hook or crook.
As a reminder the same attacks happened on 25th August 2008, when Sudan government launched a brutal attack against the IDPs in Kalma camp. In that attack about 1000 armed to teeth soldiers and security agents stormed the camp and killed more than 31 IDPs and wounded more than one hundred others. A government military source justified the attack, by saying that, the attack had been tolerated by UNAMID in agreement with the Sudanese army to clean up the camp from alleged weaponry and armed elements accused of creating unrest; although there were no arms found after the attack. No investigation was carried to verify government’s claims.
On continuing its unabated crimes; on Thursday 6 of August the regime bombarded the Dirrbat, areas in morning hours; as a result three villages were burned included Nou and Dalou villages, five civilians reported dead and seven others were injured.
However, it’s regrettable that until now the world is silent to these atrocities, therefore I call upon the International Community to go beyond words and slogans and intervene immediately to rescue the live of hundred thousand civilians facing eminent death, before it’s too late so as to save the never again slogan.
“Fear is better than sorrow; fear goes when the threat is eliminated but sorrow stays with us until we go to our graves”.
The writer is based in Kampala, Uganda and can be reached at [email protected].