Under the Cover of September 11, Sudan Government-Supported Arab Militia Massacres Massaleit Civilians in Western Sudan (12/27/2001)

The September 11 tragedy, oft-blamed on Sudan's extremist Islamists' friends and like- minded fanatics based in Afghanistan, has ironically benefited the Sudanese militants. In effect, the militants have been afforded more room to commit egregious crimes against their long suffering victims in Western and other parts of Sudan . The UN Security Council, in an act of betrayal of the long suffering Sudanese people, hastily rewarded the genocidal regime in Sudan for its blatantly superficial break with international terrorism. Additionally, the note of appreciation from the US State Department to the rogue regime for its cooperation on security matters has emboldened the regime's leaders, army and allied Arab militia in widening attacks against innocent people.

A few days after the lifting of UN sanctions against Sudan , government security agents assassinated a senior Massaleit military doctor in Khartoum ; he was shot with five bullets at his home in the Mayo residential area. The primary motivation for the killing of the doctor was most likely the activist anti-government activities of his elder brother, who had fled to Chad before the Sudanese security could capture him. Moreover, the father of the late doctor is an active Massaliet elder who is not in good standing with the regime. Such a death is a shocking reminder of the notorious government policy of eliminating intellectuals from Massaleit and other groups suspected of disloyalty to the regime. One must recall 1999 when, shortly after the then Sudanese Minister of Interior publicly labeled all Massaleit 'infidels' and fifth- columnists in the mass media, several intellectuals were killed in Geneina, the capital of West Darfur State, as well as other parts of Sudan. For example, Ibrahim Yacoub (Darfuri), a prominent Massaleit Omda and teacher, and his wife Aziza Defa, a teacher also, were shot dead at their Geneina home-only a short distance from a police station and local headquarters of the Sudanese security.

In Western Sudan , Massaleit civilians continue to suffer massive violations of their fundamental human rights. Recently, one Tama and eight Massaleit traders were killed while on their way home from Adere town, a few kilometers from the border between Sudan and Chad . The money and goods of the dead were stolen by their murderers, no doubt the Arab militia who have wreaked havoc in the area for many years. It is noteworthy that the perpetrators of this crime never worried about the presence of security forces stationed in the nearby town. The atrocities of the Arab militia were tolerated and covered up by the regime in Sudan, which in fact sponsored them! Acts of brutality were often accounted for and substantiated under the rubric of traditional tribal conflicts or banditry.

About two weeks ago, Arab militia attacked Kadamule village, situated to the South-West of Geneina. More than 150 huts were set ablaze, leaving over 100 families homeless. About 28 people, mostly children and women, were killed in the attack. Most of the dead children were males. Some of children burnt to death, having been removed from their mothers and thrown into the flames. A Massaleit refugee, who fled to Cairo in the past four days, lost some relatives in the carnage, which has never been reported on by the mass media in Khartoum. Fear of government repression partly accounts for the usual lack of reporting on massacres in western Sudan.

As a former UNICEF official pointed out in a September 2000 conference in Canada, (met by the standing ovation of participants), the 'government routinely lies and manipulated donors.' Sudanese fundamentalist leaders should be judged by their actions rather than their words and promises. Pressure should be brought to bear on the Sudanese regime to stop its sponsorship of Arab militia brutality.