More Violations Against Massaleit Civilians in Western Sudan (4/27/2003)

The NIF government and its Arab militias proxies have escalated the war against the Massaleit people in several cities and the rural areas. Yesterday, 23 April 2003, there was an attack on the village of Molly in which over 60 people were killed and 75 injured while they were praying the afternoon prayer (Duhr) at about 1pm. The attackers, who were estimated at over 300 men, were riding horses and some of them were dressed in military uniforms while others were wearing civilian clothes. After the attack, the militiamen headed north towards the city of Geneina and burnt down some villages along the way in the area of Kondoby where many people were killed. (Details of the atrocities committed in the Kondoby area have yet to reach us.)

The Sudanese government was quoted as saying that these incidents are part of a larger series of tribal conflicts between local Arabs and Massaleit villagers, and that there were casualties on both sides. This is untrue. All the dead were from the Massaleit side, (although there were victims from other local Black African ethnic groups including Tama, Fur and Zagawa). The attempt by the government of Sudan to portray this incident and many others as part of a tribal conflict between local Arabs and the Massaleit masks the government's deep involvement in stoking local tensions, and its active support for the local Arab militias including the provision of intelligence, material support and army personnel to its allies

We have also received new information today, 27 April 2003, that the Sudanese security forces in Geneina have arrested approximately 10 people from the Massaleit community and imprisoned in the Geneina jail. The arrested Massaleit included local intellectuals and community leaders whom the security forces accused of agitating the people against the government. Among the detained people are the following:

1. Mr. Abubaker Abderhaman, Habeela area administrator.

2. Mr. Abdin Abderhaman, an official in Geneina state.

3. Mr. Osman Rizgalla, a professor at Sudan University.

4. Ms. Munira Hassan Tajedin, a retired teacher.

5. Mr. Adam Zole, a trader.

6. Two sons of the late prince Mohamed Bahradin (first names not known yet).

There are others who were arrested but we have yet to receive their names. The RMCE is very concerned about the safety of these Massaleit prisoners and we appeal to the international community to put pressure on the Sudanese government to protect the life of these prisoners.