Destruction of the Power Grid: A War Crime
By Mohammed Wada’a
Continuing their pattern of targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, the criminal militia has committed yet another war crime by attacking civilian facilities in Merowe Dam, Shok, and Dongola. These actions also constitute a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law, endangering civilian lives and depriving them of vital services linked to electricity, including access to drinking water, bread production, food preservation, vaccines, and medicine.
This is not new; the militia has perpetrated the full spectrum of legally recognized crimes, including ethnic cleansing, rape, murder, forced displacement, theft, looting, and occupying civilian homes—violating all laws and norms. These actions are punishable under both national and international law and fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.
According to Rule 9 of the International Committee of the Red Cross’s customary international humanitarian law, “civilian objects are facilities, buildings, and equipment that are not military in nature.” The international community, through the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the 1977 Protocols, has sought to protect such objects, classifying attacks on civilian infrastructure as grave violations of international humanitarian law and elevating them to the level of war crimes. This stance was later codified in the Rome Statute.
These attacks are neither isolated incidents nor accidental misidentifications of military and non-military targets. They are deliberate and strategically planned operations, executed to create the illusion of control when the reality is quite the opposite. The battles in Gezira and the liberation of Madani mark pivotal moments toward ending the war and achieving a decisive victory.
In desperation, the militia’s foreign backers are making frantic efforts to provide them with advanced drones and possibly military aircraft to counter the army’s air superiority, which has been instrumental in the militia’s losses. Militia leaders have also hinted at acquiring military aircraft capable of threatening civilian targets on a broad scale, likely to boost morale among their ranks.
It is unsurprising that three of the Dagalo brothers have been punished for crimes of genocide and terrorism. Does the militia, or those encouraging its aggression, genuinely believe it can someday integrate into the very society against which it has committed such atrocities? Can it realistically hope to participate in public and political life?
These actions are neither random nor rogue but appear to be part of a premeditated “Plan B” previously announced. This plan aims to destroy infrastructure and deprive civilians of essential services by targeting power stations, water facilities, and hospitals. Such actions demonstrate the militia’s and its allies’ disregard for the legal and moral consequences of their crimes. With their ambitions of total power now scaled back, they are merely seeking an impossible foothold in Sudan’s political landscape.
