ANNEXES: to “’Changing the Demography’ Violent Expropriation and Destruction of Farmlands in Darfur, November 2014 – November 2015″
• Spreadsheet representing data for violent land expropriation in Darfur, November 2014 – November 2015
• Maps representing data for West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur, based on the UN Darfur Atlases (2005) and the 2012 UN Administrative map for Darfur
BELOW:
[1] Darfur and Sudan Timeline: November 2014 – November 2015
[2] Abbreviations, acronyms, geographical locations, and uncommon words
[3] Bibliography of sources
[4] Khartoum’s characterization of conditions in Darfur paired with a selection of Radio Dabanga dispatches, broadly representative of conditions in Darfur
[1] Darfur and Sudan Timeline: November 2014 – November 2015
October 31 – November 1, 2014: Mass rape at Tabit, North Darfur, by regular SAF soldiers, acting on orders from their garrison commander;
November 9, 2014: UNAMID investigators finally gain access to Tabit, but issue a completely untenable report the following day; international cries for an independent investigation are bluntly rebuffed by Khartoum.
November 10 – 24, 2014: various international pleas and demands for an independent investigation of the Tabit rapes and other violence continue to produce only strenuous denials by Khartoum; then-Foreign Minister Ali Karti takes the lead in insisting that there is no truth whatsoever to the rape charges.
November 24, 2015: Khartoum shuts down UNAMID’s human rights office in response to pressure to allow an independent investigation of the mass rapes at Tabit.
December 2014: the Khartoum regime’s efforts to promote a “National Dialogue” yield nothing; leaked minutes of an August 2014 meeting by senior regime officials and military officers make fully clear that the “National Dialogue” is nothing but a political ploy.
December 2014: Sudanese economists, both in Sudan and in the diaspora, become more sharply critical of the state of Sudan’s economy; one economist goes so far as to say the economy has “collapsed.”
December 4, 2014: Thabo Mbeki, head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel, suspends Darfur peace talks; Mbeki has been the AU’s primary negotiator since 2009.
December 11, 2014: Senior Khartoum officials, including Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, declare that the “rebel movements will be crushed in the next dry season offensive, then moving into high gear.
December 13, 2014: at Khartoum’s request, Russia vows to keep the mass rapes at Tabit off the UN Security Council agenda; Russia also promises to support Khartoum in its effort to see a UNAMID exit from Darfur.
December 14, 2014: nine villagers returning to their village are killed, and their homes burned to ashes in an attack by militiamen on Abu Jabra, Gireida Locality, South Darfur. “About five weeks ago, the people of Abu Jabra had returned to their village, in the voluntary return programme organised by the Darfur Regional Authority,” reported Radio Dabanga.
Late December 2014: Khartoum expels two senior UN humanitarian officials from Darfur and Sudan.
December 31, 2014: as Khartoum’s dry-season campaign begins, its security forces prevent representatives of UNAMID and the US Agency for International Development from entering Zamzam camp for the displaced outside El Fasher, North Darfur.
January 2015: in its annual World Report 2015, Human Rights Watch finds that Sudan’s human rights record deteriorated in 2014, with deepening political repression and a lack of accountability
Early January 2015 to the onset of the rainy season in June 2015: The RSF’s second campaign, “Operation Decisive Summer II,” was conducted primarily in Jebel Marra and East Jebel Marra. Human Rights Watch reports that in both the first and second RSF campaigns,
…the RSF received Sudanese government air support and often fought with Sudanese military forces as well as other paramilitary and militia forces.
Human Rights Watch has documented during both operations apparent crimes against humanity – that is, widespread and systematic abuses by the RSF that are part of an attack against a civilian population. The abuses include killings, mass rape and torture of civilians; the forced displacement of entire communities; the destruction of the physical infrastructure necessary for sustaining life in the harsh desert environment including wells, food stores, shelter, and farming implements; and the plunder of the collective wealth of families, mainly livestock.
For an inclusive excerpt of the HRW report as it focuses on “Operation Decisive Summer, Phase II, December 2014 to May 2015,” see here.
January 20, 2015: Military jet aircraft of the SAF deliberately target an MSF hospital in Frandala, South Kordofan; it is the second aerial strike by Khartoum against this hospital, whose GPS coordinates MSF had voluntarily provided.
January 24 – 25, 2015: the RSF take over the town of Golo in Jebel Marra, committing a series of atrocity crimes.
January 24, 2015: UN Panel of Experts on Darfur reports that, “The effects of this [indiscriminate bombing campaign] have resulted in 3,324 villages being destroyed in Darfur over the five-month period surveyed by the Darfur Regional Authority, from December 2013 to April 2014,”
January 29, 2015: MSF/Belgium announces that it is shutting down all humanitarian activities in Sudan, citing a total denial of access to Blue Nile, the forced closure of activities in East Darfur, and administrative obstacles and blockages in South Darfur, all of which “have made it impossible for MSF to respond to medical emergencies in these areas.”
January 29, 2015: Chadian President Idriss Déby begins an official state visit to Khartoum.
February 2015: some 40,000 people are displaced in the first month of Khartoum’s new dry season offensive in Darfur.
February 2015: Amnesty International declares that “freedoms of expression, association, and assembly were severely curtailed [in Sudan] last year, with crackdowns on the media, public dialogue, and demonstrations.”
February 11, 2015: Human Rights Watch issues what will be the definitive account of the mass rapes in Tabit; it is based on a great many first-hand accounts as well as eyewitness accounts; Khartoum continues its blanket denial that rapes occurred.
Mid-February 2015: the U.S. announces that it is relaxing sanctions against Khartoum, allowing the export of smartphones, laptops, and other communications hardware and software; only weak justifications are offered for this move, which may well serve the regime.
February 22, 2015: Radio Dabanga reports that, “There are about 700,000 street children living in Khartoum, according to the Sudanese Homeless Child Association.”
March 18, 2015: UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operation Hervé Ladsous declares that the security situation in Darfur “deteriorated significantly” over the past year; Ladsous had previously justified a draw-down in UNAMID personnel on the basis of improved security in Darfur; earlier in March, UNAMID announces the cutting of 770 personnel from the Mission.
March 22, 2015: Radio Dabanga reports that, “The Sudanese government plans to dismantle the camps for the displaced in West Darfur, according to West Darfur Governor Haidar Galokuma,” on the basis of purported improved “security.”
Late March 2015: Khartoum decides to join the Saudi military campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen (who are supported by Iran); this represents a sharp strategic pivot away from Iran to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, reflecting desperate financial/cash needs within Sudan.
March/April, 2015: the African Berti people of North Darfur (closely related to the Zaghawa) are increasingly targeted by Arab Ziyadiya militiamen.
Early April 2015: significant anti-election efforts are reported throughout Sudan;
April/May 2015: Arab inter-tribal fighting intensifies in “East Darfur” (formerly South Darfur);
April 2015: 26,000 people in North Darfur alone have been displaced since the beginning of the “dry season offensive.”
April 9, 2015: a UNDP vehicle is hijacked in Nyala, capital of South Darfur;
April 13 – 15, 2015: Khartoum’s patently fraudulent national “elections” are greeted by very poor turnout.
April 22, 2015: Khartoum refuses to issue visas for senior US, British, and French diplomats planning to conduct a fact-finding mission in Darfur.
April 23, 2015: Radio Dabanga reports that “a number of national organisations providing health services in the South Darfur camps for the displaced will be forced to halt their services because of financial constraints.”
April 28, 2015: Khartoum denies an emergency medical evacuation to a wounded UNAMID peacekeeper in West Darfur, who later dies of his injuries.
May 2015: harassment of Darfuri students intensifies and will continue to do so for the rest of the year.
May 5, 2015: humanitarian organizations and UN agencies estimate that Sudan will require more than $1 billion in relief assistance in the coming year—assistance to more than 5 million people in need; the Khartoum regime will pay for almost none of this, as has long been the case with humanitarian operations in this desperately needy country.
May/June 2015: water shortages become increasingly acute throughout Sudan.
May/June 2015: newspaper censorship and confiscation escalate significantly in Khartoum;
June 2015: Conflict Armament Research (UK) reports strong evidence that Khartoum is airdropping weapons and ammunition to the Sudan People’s Liberation Army/in Opposition in South Sudan, thereby stoking conflict in the new nation.
June 3, 2015: a worker for the Irish relief organization GOAL is abducted in Kutum, North Darfur (there has been no police presence in Kutum for many months).
June 7, 2015: the UN’s World Food Program announces that funding for cash and voucher assistance in Sudan is facing a severe shortfall; this will primarily affect people in Darfur.
June 15, 2015: President Omar al-Bashir narrowly escapes arrest in South Africa, following a ruling by the South African High Court in Pretoria on the International Criminal Court arrest warrant for al-Bashir.
June 19, 2015: the U.S. State Department continues to include Sudan on the list of “State Sponsors of Terrorism.”
June 19, 2015: Radio Dabanga reports that, although the Khartoum regime told the UN last week that it would close displaced persons camps “to encourage people to return to their villages,” a settlement program has started in East Jebel Marra that “contradicts the guarantees for a safe return” of displaced persons. Up to ten thousand new Arab settlers have already expropriated land in areas from which people fled.
June 29, 2015: The UN Security Council renews UNAMID’s mandate for twelve months, despite pressure from the regime to exclude West Darfur from the Mission mandate; the African Union signals that it is willing to negotiate an “exit strategy” for UNAMID from Darfur.
June 29, 2015: International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda urges the UN Security Council to take action “to ensure justice for the long-suffering victims of atrocity crimes.”
July 2015: Arab inter-tribal fighting intensifies in South Darfur.
July 6, 2015: Radio Dabanga reports that “Hacking Team, an Italian company that develops powerful surveillance tools, sold its software to blacklisted Sudan.”
July 15, 2015: UNAMID forces are attacked near Kutum, North Darfur.
July 17, 2015: the Arab Satellite Communication Organization (ArabSat) complies with Khartoum’s demand that it cease to broadcast Radio Dabanga.
July 20, 2015: Khartoum claims to have received $2 billion in concessional loans from Gulf States.
Late July 2015: the UN High Commissioner for Refugees tells leaders of refugee camps in eastern Chad that distribution of the monthly food rations may end in January 2016 because of a funding shortfall.
August 2015: Sudan’s economic woes continue to worsen, as the Sudanese Pound slips to a record low of more than ten Pounds to the dollar; despite official reports of moderating inflation, very significant price hikes for food, water, and electricity are regularly reported; some foods double in price from the preceding month.
August 1, 2015: The UN World Food Program reiterates that there is no 2016 funding for food for Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad.
August 5, 2015: Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed Adam claims that Darfuris prefer the easy life of the camps to working on redevelopment of Darfur.
August 16, 2015: UN OCHA announces that one million children in Sudan under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition, and some 550,000 among them are severely malnourished and at risk of dying; another two million are stunted owing to chronic malnutrition; Radio Dabanga reports children starving to death in Jebel Marra.
August 21, 2015: The UN World Health Organization (WHO) in Sudan declares that a measles outbreak is raging and that at least 16 million Sudanese children need vaccination to stop the accelerating spread of the highly contagious disease, not infrequently fatal in poorly nourished children.
August 24, 2015: Radio Dabanga reports imposition of a flight ban on UNAMID aircraft by North Darfur government officials.
August 24 – 29, 2015: U.S. special envoy for Sudan Donald Booth is in Sudan, but not allowed to travel to Darfur.
September 2015: this marks the beginning of the fifth year of Khartoum’s embargo on humanitarian assistance to civilians in rebel-held regions of South Kordofan and Blue Nile; the embargo on assistance to Jebel Marra in Darfur is of even longer duration.
September 2015: Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad complain about restrictions placed on their movement by Chadian officials.
September 7, 2015: UNICEF issues report indicting that more than 3 million children in Sudan denied schooling because of war/conflict.
September 8, 2015: two relief workers are killed in West Darfur.
September 9, 2015: Human Rights Watch releases its report on the RSF (“Men with No Mercy”), an extraordinary indictment of militia activities, based in large part on the testimony of defectors from the SAF and paramilitary forces; the report is powerful, authoritative, and comprehensively researched, and supports unequivocally the findings of Radio Dabanga in the dispatches rendered in data format here.
September 10, 2015: The Khartoum regime’s import restrictions and regulations of the import of relief supplies is denying critical aid to malnourished children in Darfur and elsewhere.
September 15, 2015: Khartoum’s Expatriates’ Affairs Agency reports that 50,000 people emigrated from Sudan in 2014, including “4,979 doctors and pharmacists, 4,435 technical professionals, 3,415 engineers, and 39,000 [other] workers…”
September 22, 2015: The State Minister of Justice in the Khartoum regime declares that the RSF is a voluntary force and have followed military training; he cleared them of all abuses.
October 11, 2015: UN OCHA reports that the Global Acute Malnutrition rate for Aillet Locality, North Darfur is 25.3 percent for children under five; the emergency threshold for children in a conflict zone is 10 percent; many of these children will die from diseases related to malnutrition
September 27, 2015: A South African member of UNAMID is shot and killed by assailants in Darfur, becoming the 59th fatality in the eight-year-old mission.
October 15, 2015: The UN and Britain complain that the Khartoum regime is refusing to release food rations and other essential supplies for UNAMID staff in Darfur
October 19, 2015: Sudanese troops arrive in Yemen to support the Saudi military campaign; it marks a final phase in Khartoum’s strategic shift in regional alliances, from Iran to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States; the cause is the desperate need for economic assistance.
October 26, 2015: UNICEF warns of a polio outbreak in Sudan; the cause is the Khartoum regime’s refusal to allow country-wide vaccinations; this represents a significant threat to world health and the efforts to eradicate polio.
October 28, 2015: Martin Ihoeghian Uhomoibhi of Nigeria is appointed as the fourth head of UNAMID.
Late October 2015: the UN’s World Health Organization confirms a significant outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) in Darfur, a class of diseases that includes the Ebola and Marburg viruses.
Late October 2015: the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that Sudan may experience a 50 percent crop loss because of poor rains.
October 31, 2015: Radio Dabanga reports that 49 women have been raped in the vicinity of Tabit in the year following the mass rapes of Oct 31-Nov 1, 2014, during which more than 220 girls and women were raped by regular SAF soldier on orders from their garrison commandee; see Human Rights Watch’s definitive report on the Tabit mass rapes | https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/02/11/Sudan-mass-rape-army-Darfur
November 2015: Khartoum continues to freeze in Port Sudan delivery of 190 containers bound for UNAMID in Darfur, clearly as a signal of impatience with the Mission for failing to accelerate talks concerning an “exit strategy” for UNAMID.
[2] Abbreviations, acronyms, geographical locations, and uncommon words
Combatants/parties to conflict
JEM – Justice and Equality Movement; the other major rebel group, militarily the most potent; JEM has also experienced divisions; the current leader of the main fact is Jibril Ibrahim;
LJM – the Liberation and Justice Movement; the names given to a factitious grouping of rebel splinters who agreed to negotiate with Khartoum, and the only Darfuri signatory to the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (July 2011; DDPD); led by el-Tigani Sese, who would become head of the Darfur Regional Authority per the DDPD;
MI – Military Intelligence; MI has primary responsibility for carrying out the regime’s security directives in Darfur;
NIF/NCP – National Islamic Front/National Congress Party; the two primary names the regime has used to identify itself; the shift to National Congress Party came in 1998 – 1999;
NISS – National Intelligence and Security Services; the primary group of intelligence/security services deployed by the regime; Khartoum employs a multiplicity of security forces not within NISS;
PDF – Popular Defense Forces; a paramilitary force that has been active in conflict throughout Sudan for many years;
RSF – Rapid Support Forces; the primary Arab militia force presently operating in Darfur, with strong support in all ways from Khartoum;
SAF – Sudan Armed Forces; Khartoum’s regular armed forces;
SLA/M – Sudan Liberation Army/Movement; the original rebel movement, which has since fractured, and fractured yet again into a wide range of elements; of particular note are the SLA/M-Abdel Wahid al-Nur and SLA/M-Minni Minawi; al-Nur is a Fur, Minawi is a Zaghawa;
Peace “agreements
DPA – Darfur Peace Agreement (Abuja, Nigeria; May 2006); the first Darfur Peace Agreement, also with only a single Darfuri signatory, Minni Minawi; the agreement failed quickly and dismally, but did succeed in badly splitting the rebel groups;
DDPD – Doha Document for Peace in Darfur; signed in July 2011 in Doha (Qatar), the DDPD was a dead letter from the very beginning; it was almost universally rejected by Darfuri civil society and the major rebel groups; it continues to be pressed by Khartoum as the only avenue to peace in Darfur, despite its manifest failure, because this relieves the regime of the obligation to negotiate a meaningful peace agreement; the African Union’s Thabo Mbeki has proved disastrously inept in negotiating peace following the DDPD;
DRA – Darfur Regional Authority; the “regional authority” nominally created by the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur; it has proved deeply corrupt and poorly led by el-Tigani Sese;
Humanitarian terms and actors
GAM – Global Acute Malnutrition; rates above 10 percent for children under five in a conflict zone are considered a humanitarian emergency;
HAC – Humanitarian Aid Commission; an instrument of the Khartoum regime, this grossly misnamed “commission” has done much more harm than good in Darfur;
IDP – Internally Displaced Person(s); as opposed to refugees, i.e., displaced persons who have fled to another country;
MSF – Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières;
SAM – Severe Acute Malnutrition; children suffering from SAM are likely to die if not cared for in a hospital or supplementary feeding center;
UNAMID – UN/African Union “Hybrid” Mission in Darfur; the Mission mandate is to protect civilians and humanitarians;
UNHCR – UN High Commission for Refugees;
UNHCHR – UN High Commission for Human Rights;
UXO – Unexploded Ordnance; bombs dropped by Khartoum’s air force that have not exploded, but continue to pose a threat on the ground;
VHF – Viral Hemorrhagic Fever; a highly dangerous class of diseases, including Ebola and Marburg; an outbreak of VHF has been underway in Sudan for over a year, with a recent spike in cases;
WFP – UN World Food Program;
Main geographical markers in Darfur:
Capital cities for five states
Ed Daein – “East” Darfur (formerly part of South Darfur)
El Fasher – North Darfur
El Geneina – West Darfur
Nyala – South Darfur
Zalingei – “Central” Darfur (formerly part of West Darfur)
Significant geographical locations/reference points in North Darfur (for each state, several locations of particularly well-reported atrocity crimes have been linked to reports detailing what occurred):
East Jebel Marra – North Darfur area east of Jebel Marra massif and west of El Fasher
Kabkabiya
Mellit
Misteriya
Saraf Umra
Shangil Tobaya
Zamzam camp
Significant geographical locations/reference points in South Darfur (including “East Darfur”):
Burum
Ed Daein
Gireida
Kass
Tullus
Significant geographical locations/reference points in West Darfur (including “Central” Darfur):
Garsila
Habilah
Jebel Marra
Kulbus
Nierteti
Nnyuru
Sirba
Wadi Saleh (page 21 of Human Rights Watch report)
Zalingei
Names of twelve Darfuri refugee camps in eastern Chad (running north to south):
Oure Cassoni
Iridimia
Touloum
Am Nabak
Mile
Kounoungo
Gaga
Farchana
Bredjing
Treguine
Djabal
Goz Amer
Idriss Déby – Chadian strongman who came to power by military coup
N’Djamena – capital of Chad
Transliterated Arabic words
Abu Tira – Arabic name for Central Reserve Police
abbala – primarily northern nomadic pastoralists (as opposed to sedentary African crop growers) moving with camels
baggara – primarily nomadic pastoralists moving with cattle
feddan – unit of land measurement equal to just over one acre
Janjaweed – general name for Arab militia groups that gained currency during the early years of the genocide; sometimes translated as “devil on horseback”
omda – name for a leader of a larger administrative unit
sheikh – name for leader of a village or a camp
Darfur’s Tribal groups (there are almost 100 tribal groups and sub-groups in Darfur)
Prominent African tribal groups:
Fur – largest ethnic group in Darfur
Berti
Birgid
Dajo
Erenga
Gimr
Massalit
Tama
Tunjur
Zaghawa
Prominent Arab tribal groups:
Beni Hussein
Beni Halba
Beni Ja
Habbaniya
Ja’aliyin
Misseriya
Northern Rizeigat
Ma’aliyah
Ziyadiya
Political, diplomatic actors:
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir – president of Sudan since the military coup that brought him to power in June 1989
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – has proved entirely ineffectual, despite declaring Darfur a priority when he first assumed office
Donald Booth – third U.S. special envoy for Sudan in the Obama administration
Scott Gration – first U.S. special envoy for Sudan in the Obama administration (March 2009 – March 2011)
Second Vice President Sudanese Vice President Hassabo Mohammed Abdel Rahman – gave instructions to RSF and other forces to leave “no one alive” in East Jebel Marra
Vice President Bakri Hassan – arguably the most likely person to replace al-Bashir if he is incapacitated or leaves office for any reason; remains largely behind the scenes, though with great power
Musa Hilal—notorious Janjaweed commander
Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein – Former Defense Minister and Minister of the Interior, indicted by the ICC for massive crimes against humanity in Darfur
ICC – International Criminal Court; created by the Rome Treaty (July 1998)
John Kerry – former U.S. senator, currently Secretary of State; has long involved himself in Obama administration Sudan policy
Hervé Ladsous – head of UN peacekeeping operations
Princeton Lyman – second U.S. special envoy for Sudan in the Obama administration (March 2011 – December
Thabo Mbeki—head of the so-called “African Union High Level Implementation Panel”; Mbeki and company have yet to secure an agreement anywhere in Sudan or South Sudan to “implement”
el-Tigani Sese – signatory to the DDPD and head of the DRA
UN – United Nations: has provided various rapporteurs and reporting groups
UN Panel of Experts on Darfur – erratic performance, with some reports providing critical information and others entirely perfunctory in nature
[3] Bibliography of sources
Radio Dabanga, multiple dispatches
Sudan Tribune, multiple dispatches
Weekly humanitarian bulletins on Sudan, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
“Forgotten Darfur: Old Tactics and New Players,” by Claudio Gramizzi and Jérôme Tubiana, July 2012. Working Paper No. 28 | Human Security Baseline Assessment for Sudan and South Sudan | www.smallarmssurvey.org/nc/focus-projects/human…/5.htm
“Mass Rapes in North Darfur: Sudanese Army Attacks Against Civilians in Tabit,” Human Rights Watch, February 4, 2015 | https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/02/11/mass-rape-north-darfur/sudanese-army-attacks-against-civilians-tabit
“The Chaos in Darfur,” International Crisis Group | Africa Briefing No. 110, 22 April 2015
“Men With No Mercy”: Rapid Support Forces Attacks Against Civilians in Darfur, Sudan,” Human Rights Watch | September 9, 2015 | https://www.hrw.org/node/280756
SUDAN: Amnesty International Report 2014/2015, https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/africa/sudan/report-sudan/
Publications by Eric Reeves
Multiple archival entries from www.sudanreeves.org/, including: RAPE AS A CONTINUING WEAPON OF WAR IN DARFUR: Reports, bibliography of studies, a compendium of incidents, March 4, 2012
Books
Compromising With Evil: An archival history of greater Sudan, 2007 – 2012, eBook/no cost download at www.CompromisingWithEvil.org/)
A Long Day’s Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide (Key Publishing [Toronto], 2007)
Monograph
“‘They Bombed Everything that Moved’: Aerial military attacks on civilians and humanitarians in Sudan, 1999 – 2012” (www.sudanbombing.org/)
Articles
“The World’s Abandonment of Darfur,” The Washington Post, May 16, 2015
“Sudan embraces genocide, terrorism—and now Iran,” The Washington Post, November 30, 2014 (Sunday)
“A Better Restitution for Darfur,” The New York Times, July 15, 2015
“Obama’s Sudan Legacy: Justice and Restitution for the People of Sudan,” The Huffington Post, September 2015
“Why Won’t the Justice Department Answer Questions About the BPN Paribas Settlement?” The Huffington Post, July 16, 2015
“South Africa’s Ruling African National Congress Disgraces Itself, The Huffington Post, June 15, 2015
“Abandoning the Victims of Genocide in Darfur,” The Huffington Post, June 3, 2015
“Genocide is Decreed by Another Name in Darfur,” The Huffington Post, May 14, 2015
Khartoum’s characterization of conditions in Darfur paired with a selection of Radio Dabanga dispatches, broadly representative of conditions in Darfur
[a] The view from Khartoum:
Khartoum is sufficiently confident of its “black box” success in Darfur that it believes there is at least some audience for even its preposterous claims. Some of these claims are nonetheless dangerous, or at least reveal the outlook of a regime that rarely slips in knowing how to address the audience it is seeking to reach with a particular statement:
‘Darfur does not need Unamid protection’: Al Bashir’ | April 9, 2015 | El Fasher
[A claim made despite continuing violent mayhem that has overwhelmed whatever capacity UNAMID may have had as a peace support operation.]
Al Bashir urges people of Darfur ‘to expel the devil’ ” March 23, 2015 | Khartoum
[A shameless, if characteristic blaming of anyone other than the regime itself for Darfur’s agony]
Time for UNAMID to leave Darfur, says Sudanese official | Sudan Tribune | October 29, 2015 | Khartoum
On October 14th the UN peacekeeping chief Hervé Ladsous told the UN Security Council (UNSC) that some 190 containers, largely food rations are blocked in the coastal city of Port Sudan and urged the Sudanese government to release it immediately. But the foreign ministry in Khartoum denied the claim, and accused the joint mission of causing the delay by not providing its details at time
[There should be no mistaking the import of Khartoum’s blocking of these 190 containers: a signal is being sent to UNAMID that it can be shut down at any time by means of the regime’s control over the Mission’s logistics.]
EU assured that ‘Darfur Peace will be respected’ | January 27, 2015 | Khartoum
[We learn something about Khartoum’s attitude toward the Europeans in this absurd declaration, announcing that a non-existent “peace” will be respected. Insofar as it is a reference to the terms of the Doha agreements, it is painfully inaccurate: virtually none of the important issues nominally addressed in the Doha agreement has been of any concern.]
‘Vote for Al Bashir, or starve’: Commissioner to West Darfur displaced | March 23, 2015 | Sirba Locality
[There could hardly be a better measure of the cynicism of the Khartoum regime’s electoral politics, or its contempt for the people of Darfur. Such statements away from Khartoum often reflect views unexpressed by senior regime officials, but strongly held nonetheless.]
US, Israel driving support for terror organisations: Bashir | Sudan Tribune | February 20, 2015 | Addis Ababa
Sudanese president Omar Hassan al Bashir has accused US and Israeli intelligence agencies of funding terror organisations ISIS and Nigeria’s boko haram.
[Such ludicrous statements are meant for domestic consumption, but Sudanese news reporters, even if under cover, manage to make sure that Sudan Tribune and Radio Dabanga hear of all such bizarre claims.]
“Darfur displaced prefer aid to development”: Sudanese official | August 5, 2015 | Khartoum / El Fasher
Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed Adam accused the displaced living in the 133 Darfur camps of rejecting development in the region by insisting on the continuation of food distribution. “For 11 years, the displaced in the camps have been enjoying three free meals daily instead of exerting efforts to realise development in the region.”
[There is something unsurpassably callous about Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed Adam’s perverse and wildly inaccurate representation of realities on the ground in Darfur—as if displaced persons prefer an easy camp life to working for a living. The comments of the Humanitarian Aid Commissioner provide an apt context in which to consider the following representative examples from the past year of the “good life” in Darfur, just a few of the hundreds of dispatches on humanitarian issues and violence provided by Radio Dabanga.]
[b] The view from a survey of Radio Dabanga dispatches:
“Children die of malnutrition in Darfur’s Jebel Marra”: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs | September 3, 2015 | Khartoum / Nierteti, North Darfur
Children starve in Darfur’s Jebel Marra | August 9, 2015 | Nierteti
Children dying of fever in South Darfur’s Otash camp | December 22, 2014 | Nyala Locality
More children die in Central Darfur refugee camp | November 3, 2014 Azum / Wad Madani
Mother commits suicide in El Salam camp, South Darfur | August 2, 2015 | El Salam Camp
On Friday, a mother (35) of five committed suicide in El Salam camp for the displaced in Bielel locality, South Darfur. She was found hanging from a tree, sheikh Mahjoub Adam Tabaldiya reported to Radio Dabanga. He said that the harshness of life in the camp apparently pushed her to take her own life. “She became desperate when she could not feed her children anymore.
Sudan’s import restrictions on relief affect malnourished kids in Darfur | September 10, 2015 | Khartoum /Ed Daein (formerly South Darfur)
Displaced in North Darfur camp “beg for food” | May 29, 2015 | El Fasher
No food rations for displaced in Gireida, South Darfur | March 8, 2015 | Gireida Locality
Newly displaced without aid in North Darfur’s Shaddad camp | March 26, 2015 | Shaddad Camp, North Darfur
Unregistered displaced still await aid in North Darfur | August 5, 2015 | El Fasher / Zamzam camp, North Darfur
Hunger in Central Darfur’s Deleig camp | February 10, 2015 | formerly West Darfur
Health services fail in North Darfur’s Ein Siro | August 13, 2015 | Kutum, North Darfur
North Darfur displaced protest food ration cuts | March 17, 2015 | El Fasher Locality
Malaria, maternal deaths in South Darfur camp | November 3, 2015 | Nyala, South Darfur
Disease spreads in South Darfur camps | August 25, 2015 | Nyala
WHO: 16 million Sudanese children need measles vaccination | August 21, 2015 | Khartoum
[Khartoum’s humanitarian blockade in Jebel Marra, much of South Kordofan and Blue Nile—including the prevention of polio vaccination—creates an utterly irresponsible threat to world health.]
Expired, fake medicines sold in West Darfur, malaria patients die | December 4, 2014 | Sirba Locality
Stagnant water spreads disease in Kabkabiya, North Darfur | August 13, 2015 | Kabkabiya, North Darfur
Sudan, WHO confirm outbreak of haemorrhagic fever in Darfur | October 30, 2015 | Khartoum
North Darfur’s Zamzam camp short of water, medicines | January 25, 2015 | Zamzam Camp, North Darfur
‘No drinking water, no school in Otash camp, South Darfur’ | July 29, 2015 | Otash Camp
‘Malaria spreads in Central Darfur camps’ | July 28, 2015 | Zalingei, formerly West Darfur
‘Highest maternal mortality rate of Sudan in South Darfur’ | November 6, 2015 | Nyala
Fires leave Darfuris homeless, destitute | March 11, 2015 | Darfur
More than 450 homes collapse in South Darfur camps | August 6, 2015 | Nyala
Rains damage more than 1,500 homes in Darfur camps | August 5, 2015 | Zalingei / Sirba, West Darfur
38,000 displaced in Central Darfur’s Jebel Marra need aid | August 6, 2015 | Khartoum
“Scorched earth” in Darfur’s East Jebel Marra | January 5, 2015 | East Jebel Marra /Tawila
“No improvement in Sudan’s war zones”: US Deputy | March 1, 2015 | Khartoum / Washington
Situation tense after raid on Gireida camp, South Darfur | February 2, 2015 | Gireida, South Darfur
RSF militia sows terror in Kalma camp, South Darfur | January 29, 2015 |Kalma camp, South Darfur
Woman, baby die in Darfur bombing | September 17, 2015 | East Jebel Marra
21 killed, injured in South Darfur missile attack | November 4, 2015 | Deribat, South Darfur
“Government militiamen” attack displaced in West Darfur | January 4, 2015 | Kereinik, West Darfur
“Security situation deteriorating at South Darfur’s El Salam camp”: sheikh | December 23, 2014 | Bielel Locality, South Darfur
Attack, fire at North Darfur’s Zamzam camp | December 26, 2014 | El Fasher Locality
Militiamen attack cars, camp in North Darfur | January 30, 2015 | Jebel Marra / Zamzam camp, North Darfur
Camp market pillaged, village attacked in North Darfur | December 15, 2014 | North Darfur
15 elders, sheiks ambushed, slain near Manawashi, South Darfur | November 26, 2014 | Manawashi Locality, South Darfur
Rape as a weapon of war in Darfur
RAPE AS A CONTINUING WEAPON OF WAR IN DARFUR: Reports, bibliography of studies, a compendium of incidents, 4 March 2012
South Darfur girl of 10 dies after gang-rape | November 2, 2015 | Gireida, South Darfur
Six women, some minors, raped this week in Darfur | October 28, 2015 | East Jebel Marra
Herders abduct, “beat” sisters in North Darfur’s Tawila | November 2, 2015 | Tawila, North Darfur
Killing, gang-rape near Tabit in North Darfur | November 4, 2015 | Tabit, North Darfur
Woman shot, raped in West Darfur | November 1, 2015 | Foro Banga, West Darfur
Militiamen rape five women in South Darfur | November 6, 2015 | Gireida, South Darfur
Woman of 60 gang-raped in North Darfur | October 22, 2015 | Kutum, North Darfur
Two gang-raped in Central Darfur | October 11, 2015 | Zalingei
Four gang-raped in North Darfur’s Tawila locality | October 18, 2015 | Tawila, North Darfur
Minors among six North Darfur rape victims | October 15, 2015 | Tawila
Firewood collectors killed, raped in Darfur’s East Jebel Marra | October 21, 2015 | Khazan Tunjur
49 women raped in Tabit, Darfur, over the past year | October 31, 2015 | Tabit / Khartoum
Mass Rape in North Darfur: Sudanese Army Attacks Against Civilians in Tabit | Human Rights Watch, February 11, 2015
Over the course of 36 hours beginning on October 30, 2014, Sudanese army troops carried out a series of attacks against the civilian population of the town of Tabit in North Darfur, Sudan. The attacks included the mass rape of women and girls and the arbitrary detention, beating and ill-treatment of scores of people. The government of Sudan has denied that any crimes occurred and has prevented the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) from carrying out a credible investigation of the incident.
From research conducted remotely in November and December 2014, this report documents 27 first-hand accounts of rape, often by multiple perpetrators, and credible information about an additional 194 incidents of rape. Based on more than 130 interviews, the report provides a detailed account of the serious violations of international law that took place in Tabit from October 30 to November 1.
Sudanese government forces carried out the rapes and other abuses during three distinct military operations against the town during the 36-hour period: the first beginning the evening of Thursday, October 30; the second on the morning of Friday, October 31; and the third starting that evening and continuing until the following morning, November 1. Human Rights Watch found no evidence of a presence of any rebel force in the town immediately prior to or during the attacks.
Rape in Darfur: A History of Predation | Waging Peace, November 2015
This brief highlights the brutality of rape as a weapon on war, and the characteristic ethnic hatred defining sexual violence in Darfur:
- “After five hours…the child [11 years old] completely lost her consciousness, but he did not spare her.” “They raped eight women in front of my eyes, and then three of the, alternately, raped me…I couldn’t run because I was pregnant.”
- “They are cursing us, calling us ‘blacks,’ “dirty,’ and ‘slaves.” We will leave you nothing to eat, except your dogs or the flying locusts, and we will leave you the rope beds.”
- “‘You are from the Zaghawa [non-Arab/African tribal group], you are a Tora Bora [rebel] woman,’ and then they cursed us saying, ‘You dirty women, we are going to kill your men and leave you with nothing.’”
“Increase in fistula cases”: Darfur Health Minister | October 15, 2015 | El Fasher
The Minister of Health of the Darfur Regional Authority reported on Tuesday that the maternity mortality rates increased in Darfur since 2006, owing to the rise of urinary fistula cases. DRA Health Minister Ferdaus Abdelrahman told reporters in the North Darfur capital El Fasher that according to surveys conducted during the period between 2006 and 2010 the number of fistula cases significantly increased, causing a rise of maternity mortality rates, especially in South and West Darfur.
[Radio Dabanga seems peculiarly ignorant of the primary cause of fistulas, or perhaps is simply offering the view presented by the Darfur Minister of Health—ER] “Most often, [fistula] occurs when a woman endures obstructed labour without appropriate medical care.” [This is not true, and there are much more perspicuous accounts readily available, making clear the direct relationship between rape and fistulas, especially the gang-rapes and rapes of girls that have been a weapon of war since the beginning of the genocide–ER]…
Traumatic fistula is “an abnormal opening between the reproductive tract of a woman or girl and one or more body cavities or surfaces, caused by sexual violence, usually but not always in conflict and post-conflict settings.” [source: Acquire Project, June 2006, “Traumatic Gynecologic Fistula: A Consequence of Sexual Violence in Conflict Settings, A report of a meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, September 6-8 2005.”
It is a result of direct gynaecologic trauma, usually from violent rape, mass rape, including forced insertion of objects such as gun barrels, beer bottles and sticks into a woman’s vagina. The brutal rape can result in genital injury and can lead to the formation of a rupture, or fistula, between a woman’s vagina, her bladder, rectum, or both.
Women with fistula are unable to control the constant flow of urine and/or faeces that leak from the tear. Affected women are often divorced by their husbands, shunned by their communities, and unable to work or care for their families. [source: EngenderHealth, 2005, “Traumatic gynecologic fistula as a consequence of sexual violence in conflict settings: A literature review,” New York: The ACQUIRE Project].
Traumatic fistula, therefore, compounds the psychological trauma, fear and stigma that accompanies rape—with the same risk of unwanted pregnancy, vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV, and diminished opportunities to marry, to work or be participate in the larger community.
Expert surgeons trained in fistula repair can mend the damage. Post-operative care should include trauma counseling, rehabilitation and even physical therapy. As with obstetric fistula, however, some women are unable to heal even after several surgeries, and are left permanently damaged.
[additional sourcing in this overview: Muleta, M., and Williams, G. 1999. Postcoital injuries treated at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, 1991–97. Lancet 354 (9195): 2051–2052; Sharma, G. P. 1991: Post-coital vesico-vaginal fistula (a case report). Medical Journal Armed Forces India 47(3): 223–224, Parra, J. M., and Kellogg, N. D. 1995. “Repair of a recto-vaginal fistula as a result of sexual assault. Seminars in Perioperative Nursin” 4(2): 1 40–145 quoted in EngenderHealth, “Traumatic gynecologic fistula.”] (Friends of UN Population Fund)