Darfur: RSF Crimes without Punishment

Report – Talal Mudathir

Since mid-April, the city of El Geneina in the far west of Sudan – West Darfur State, 1,400 km from the capital, Khartoum, has been witnessing unimaginable acts of violence, destruction and ethnic cleansing. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are angry with the endemic tribal component of the border city, which is only 27 km from the neighbouring country, Chad. The tribe are the “Masalit”, and the reason, as told to the world by Salih Arbab Suleiman, in a massive press conference held that day by civil leaders in the state of West Darfur in the city of Port Sudan, eastern Sudan, was the refusal of the Masalit tribe to call for the RSF to join them in their ongoing war, and even the leaders’ haste to inform Khartoum that the militia had mobilized one hundred thousand mercenaries and brought them in in preparation for going to war. Only then, the punishment for El Geneina would then be collective, as the RSF militia wreaked havoc at the time in the city that it invaded and killed in June the governor of its state, who belongs to the Masalit tribe, “Khamis Abkar,” and mutilated his body, looted homes, and practiced mass murder. Bodies were scattered in the streets, which, according to Al-Farsha Mujib Al-Rahman Muhammad Yaqoub, forced them to force the Red Crescent teams present in the city at the time to collect the bodies and put them in trucks, and then the drivers unloaded them and drove them to bury them collectively in unknown places to erase the traces of the horrific crime.

That was since April, so what happened after about seven months?

The RSF militia invaded “El Geneina” again after seizing control of the command of the 15th Division of the Sudanese army in the “Ardamta” region, which is an administrative unit affiliated with the “El Geneina” locality and is located in the northern part of it. It is the land of new atrocities coming within the folds of this investigation, as video clips filmed and broadcast by soldiers showed The RSF militia themselves gathered a group of Masalit people there. They were gathered, humiliated, and beaten with whips, while uttering obscene racist expressions before they were taken to an open area.
Then there were reports of them being shot dead, but the appetite for more killing took another turn, as the militia assassinated this time on the fifth of November this year Al-Farsha Muhammad Arbab, 85 years old, one of the oldest leaders of the Native Administration in the state of West Darfur, and a number of his family members in “Ardamta” -eight of his grandchildren

The “Anxious” World Intervenes

The United States of America expressed its concern about what is happening in Ardamta specifically, and described, through a statement from its embassy in Khartoum last Wednesday, these actions as “disgusting and highlights once again the history of the brutality of the RSF in the areas under its control.”
America also indicated that the decision of the RSF to appoint the commander of the West Darfur sector, Abdul Rahman Jumaa, as commander of the 15th Infantry Division in El Geneina, proves their lack of seriousness in protecting civilians, as the man is subject to visa restrictions imposed on him by the US State Department after it accused him of committing gross human rights violations. It held him responsible for the killing of the former governor of the state, Khamis Abkar, and his brother.

UNITAMS on Line

The United Nations Integrated Mission to Support the Transitional Phase in Sudan (UNITAMS) was also concerned about what is happening in El Geneina, as it in turn said that it had received “worrying reports from a variety of reliable sources on the ground” that Arab militias allied with the RSF were committing “serious human rights violations” especially in the Ardamta neighborhood in El Geneina in West Darfur state, specifically in the period from 4 to 6 November of this year, and UNITAMS went on to add clearly that these killings specifically targeted the “Masalit” community.

November 4th – 6th :Terrifying Dates

In the statements of the United States Embassy in Khartoum and the UNITAMS, they both referred to a specific date for the massacres and murders that occurred in El Geneina, specifically in Ardamta.
The first date is November 4th, which is the date of the killing of Al-Farsha Muhammad Arbab of Mistri region, and one of the wise men of the Masalit Sultanate. He took over leadership in 1958 and remained in its administration for 64 years.
In his radio statements to Radio ‘Tamazuj’, his son Muhammad tells the story of his father’s killing. He says, “On Saturday, the fourth of November, after the fall of the 15th Infantry Division, the RSF attacked the house of my late uncle, Mayor Al-Amin, in the Administrative Unit. They demolished it, killed my father, and looted our entire house.
The son of “Al-Farshah Muhammad Arbab” demanded justice in his father’s murder, but before Farshah of Mistri’s blood dried, the features of the second crime appeared yesterday, as the RSF militia returned two days later – that is, on November 6, and assassinated the governor of the “Azarni” area, “Al-Farsha Abdul Basset Suleiman Dina,” his wife, and his son after storming his home in “Ardamta,” as the second local leader in the tribe to be liquidated.
He was assassinated, and the Darfur Bar Association mourned him and said in a statement yesterday, Thursday, that he was killed by the RSF along with him, his wife, and his son on the sixth of this November during their invasion of the Ardamta region – note the dates: two leaders of the native administration were assassinated within just two days – which is what prompted Sultan Bahar Saad Abdel Rahman Bahar Al-Din – Sultan of Darmasalit issued a statement yesterday, Thursday, in which he said that all forms of crimes that fall under the category of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement are being committed against the Masalit tribe and innocent civilians in the “Ardamta” administration. He pointed out that the targeting affected community leaders. Especially the leaders of the civil administration, Al-Farsha Muhammad Arbab and his sons, Al-Farsha Abdul Basit Suleiman Dina, his two wives and his children, political leaders, civil service leaders, religious leaders, and the assassinations even affected male children, which confirms beyond a doubt that the Rapid Support militia has enormous goals and ambitions in Darmasalit. According to the Sultan’s statement.

Convictions Continue

It seems that “Ardamta” is on its way to becoming the region that will prick the conscience of the world and target it with repeated pokes as the militia’s brutal crimes raise concerns in Britain, which said in a statement on Thursday that it is horrified by the increasing and reliable reports that the RSF and their allied militias in Darfur are committing serious human rights violations again.
Britain added, “We are deeply concerned about reports from El Geneina and Ardamta in West Darfur of ethnically directed violence against men and boys, and extrajudicial executions including the killing of Masalit community leader, Al-Farsha Mohamed Arbab, along with members of his family.”
It seems that Britain will be forced to issue a second statement, as it has become clear that another “Farsha” was killed again yesterday.

Save “Ardamta”

A prominent hashtag began to spread on media platforms to draw the world’s attention to what is happening in the city of El Geneina in the state of West Darfur and its administration, “Ardemta.” The title is “Save Ardamta,” where the ancestral land of the ancient Sultanate of Darmasalit, which arose in central Sub-Saharan Africa, embraced many components of their various tribes and lived in harmony and harmony throughout the past eras before the RSF took control of them, as the Sultan said. Tomorrow, more crimes and atrocities will come to light. The crimes that have been reported to the people so far are crimes of only two days, from 4 to 6 November. The details of what also happened in the (Karandang) camp for the displaced and the rest have not yet come out to the public. Do you see what has happened there until today, and today is the ninth of November? We should remember this date well and wait for tomorrow to see a new chapter in the genocidal war in Darfur.

* Al-Farsha: A high position in Dar Masalit as an agent of the Sultan in the region in which he is chosen by the Presidency of the Sultanate. Darfur is famous for the roots of the native administration, whose members enjoy leadership qualities and great influence in the tribe.
*Karandaang: The word in the Masalit language means bringing something to its place, meaning bring it here
* The RSF: a scattered, outlawed, and socially outcast group that makes its living by plundering from the population. Camels and horses are used in their fighting.