Who killed the UNAMID’s personnel in Darfur?
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Ahmed Hussain Adam*
July 22, 2013 - On July 13, 2013, Darfur witnessed another deadly
attack on the personnel of the African Union and United Nations
Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), in the outskirt of Nyala City. According
to the reports, 100-150 gunmen carried out the attack and they
outnumbered the UNAMID forces. The ambush resulted in the killing of
seven Tanzanian soldiers and 17 were wounded, including two female
soldiers. The UNAMID’s officials described the attack as a sustained
heavy fire from machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. No doubt,
this detailed information suggests clearly that the perpetrators were
well-equipped, well-armed and probably well-informed about the
UNAMID’s forces movements and patrols.
This incident has exposed previous reports and statements by UNAMID
and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) to a new
scrutiny. UNAMID’s leadership repeatedly claimed that the security
situation in Darfur had improved considerably, and therefore, the
conflict in Darfur can be newly classified as a low intensity
conflict. This latest incident proves beyond a doubt that Darfur is
not safe. Are these false claims made to justify the reduction of the
Mission’s forces for some financial and political calculations? In any
case, these statements and announcements by UNAMID officials have been
opportunistically exploited and used by Bashir’s regime in advancing
its military strategy and war propaganda.
Undoubtedly, the incident constitutes a clear violation of the
provisions of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and the
relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions as well as
the UN General Assembly Convention on the Safety of the United Nations
and Associated Personnel of 1994, known as “Safety Convention”, which
protect this Mission and its personnel as a part of the UN
peace-keeping missions around the world.
Thus, the following questions should be raised: Who did commit this
serious crime? And why did they commit it? Does anyone have a track
record and interest in killing UN personnel? What kind of message
would this incident send if it was meant as a message? And what are
lessons learned and what need to be done about it?
To answer the above questions, one would start by providing some
contextual facts about the area of Khor Abeche, the site of the
incident and the armed forces and militias that normally operate in
it. This area is a vast fertile land, which is suitable for farming
and grazing. It also includes a huge forest, known as (Ghabat Hamada
(Arabic) – the Forest of Hamada) which makes it a convenient place for
various activities and purposes. Many ethnic groups live in this area.
The older inhabitants are the Birgid, Tunjur, Zaghawa and other
non-Arab ethnic groups. Nonetheless, since the early days of the
Darfur conflict, Khor Abeche area has also been known as the
stronghold for some of the regime’s Janjaweed militia, namely the
Messiriya-Netaiga group. This Militia has been incorporated by the
Government in its Border Guards and Central Reserve Police (Abu
Taira). The Netaiga-Janjaweed Militia is one of the most notorious
forces available to GoS. This group has been involved in series of
crimes against the civilian populations in that area. For instance,
The African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS)’s Ceasefire Commission (CFC)
in Darfur, in it its Report of April 5, 2005, stated that,
‘the team established that about 200 Mesiriya/Janjaweed Militia under
the command of Nasr Altijani Abdel Gadir attacked Khor Apache at
0800hrs, killing 4people, injuring many others, destroying everything
except school, mosque and few huts. Fifteen villagers were declared
missing.’ (
http://www.africa-union.org/darfur/Reports%20of%20the%20cfc/88-05.pdf).
The AMIS’s Ceasefire Commission’s Report went further to state that
“The Governor of South Darfur confirmed to the CFC that Nasr Altigani
Abdel Gadir under his control.’ (
http://www.africa-union.org/darfur/Reports%20of%20the%20cfc/88-05.pdf).
This is just one single example of the serious crimes that were
committed in this area by this particular Janjaweed group. According
to the AMIS’s Report in April 7, 2005, the Governor of South Darfur
clearly admitted and took the responsibility for the Leader of
Mesririya- Netaiga and his actions.
To date, the Sudanese government has not prosecuted this Janjaweed
Leader for the crimes that he committed against innocent civilians,
nor has it stopped him and his militia from committing further
atrocities. In fact, the Janjaweed are a part and parcel of the broad
regime’s military and security strategy in Darfur.
The objective of the Bashir regime’s orchestrated pattern of attacks
is to terrorize and force UNAMID and the remaining aid organizations
to leave Darfur. Consequently, dismantle the IDP camps and transform
Darfur into a black-box genocide site. The recent attack on the UNAMID
forces can have no other logical motive.
When this tragic attack on the UNAMID personnel occurred, the regime’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs tried to divert culpability away from the
regime because they knew they themselves were responsible. In front of
the cameras of the international community, the regime’s Foreign
Ministry swiftly condemned the incident and accused the Sudan
Liberation Army (SLA) of Minie Arko Minnawi of committing it.
Nonetheless, that couldn’t change the fact that it is well known that
particular area, the scene of the crime, is controlled by the regime’s
armed forces and its allied Janjaweed Militia, namely the
Masiriya-Netaiga militia, also known as Border Guard or Central
Reserve Police (Abu Taira). However, this dosn’t suggest in any way
that the entire ethnic group was involved in this criminal incident.
Only journalists outside Sudan can safely report what reliable inside
sources believe is true: the regime’s Janjaweed militia committed this
crime against UNAMID.
Furthermore, the sources on the ground indicate that this attack on
UNAMID personnel in Khor Abeche was spearheaded by a well-known
Janjaweed commander who looted the vehicle that was carrying the
UNAMID salaries inside Nyala City in August 2012. Not surprisingly,
this Janjaweed commander was freed by his militia from inside the
court in Nyala. Also some sources confirmed that the government was
aware of this fact that is why it rushed suspiciously to condemn the
incident and blamed it on the SLA/Minie Minnawi’s faction, in order to
divert the attention, protect its allied militia and avoid any
criminal or political or diplomatic responsibility consequential to
this crime.
Thus, this pattern of attack on UNAMID is not a unique one and it is
likely to continue, given the previous numerous deadly attacks and
kidnapping of the aid workers and UNAMID’s personnel in the government
controlled areas in Darfur. It is a well-established fact that almost
all these criminal activities and incidents took place in the
Government controlled territories. Not only that, many attacks and
kidnapping of the peacekeepers and aid workers took place inside Nyala
City, the Capital of South Darfur. For instance, the kidnaping of
Bulgarian citizen in January 2012, who used to work for the World Food
Program (WEP); South African UNAMID personnel who were kidnapped in
2009; and the Jordanian UNAMID police who were also kidnapped by
government allied militia. All these incidents occurred inside Nyala
City which clearly suggests the government was either conspiring in
committing these crimes or had lost control and the ability to keep
the law and order in Darfur. In both cases the regime should be held
responsible and accountable.
Therefore, The UNSC should hold a special emergency session to discuss
the current status and future of UNAMID as a part of broad strategy
for holistic change in Sudan. Moreover, the ICC has to take this case
seriously and investigate it; it is a serious violation of the
provisions and norms of international law. The ICC should also
investigate all abductions and attacks against UNAMID and aid workers
in Darfur and make more indictments if necessary. To this end, it is
vital that the ICC should establish a new genuine witness protection
program according to its Statute and vigorously pursue the current and
pending cases.
The ICC should shake up its approach and mechanisms too, if it is
going to fulfill its duty in fighting impunity, realizing
accountability and standing as a real voice for the victims. The UNSC
should act seriously and without any delay to execute the current
arrest warrants against Bashir and his associates. The public
relations lip-service about Bashir’s arrest is an insult and slap in
the face of the victims and survivors. In addition, the current
behavior of inaction by the international community, particularly the
UNSC with regard to the ICC’s Darfur’s case, is clearly undermining
and failing the ICC and international justice as a whole.
Ahmed Hussain Adam is a Visiting Scholar and Co-Chair of the Two
Sudans Forum at the Institute for the Study of Human Rights (ISHR),
Columbia University in the City of New York. He can be reached at:
[email protected]
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