Arrests in Chad; continued rights abuses in Western Sudan (5/18/04)

The RMCE has received information about four Massaleit refugees in Chad who were arrested on Friday, May 14 (2004) at the village of Cherkary which is located to the west of the town of Adre (in eastern Chad). The four men were attempting to enter a refugee camp in the area when, according to a number of eyewitnesses, Chadian security officials arrested them. The four refugees are suspected of supporting the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA).

It is common for Chadian officials to carry out surveillance of the refugee camps accompanied by

Sudanese security personnel. This collaboration is the result of past security agreements between the two countries that was renewed last year.

The names of the four arrested refugees are as follows:

Abdallah Abaker Adam, who is at least 63 years old.

Ishag Addoma Ahmed, who is 42 years old.

Attahir; (his full name is unknown to us).

Kortoomy; (his full name is unknown to us).

The RMCE has also received information that further acts of ethnic cleansing have occurred in the town of Arara, which is located near the border with Chad, approximately 150km southwest of the city of Al-Geneina. According to our information, local civilians who were still living in the town were

forcibly evacuated by Sudanese government forces so that people connected to the Janjaweed Arab militias could settle there, taking over local property for their own use. This occurred on Monday, May 10 (2004).

The RMCE has also learned that on Saturday, May 8 (2004), a group of approximately sixteen Massaleit women were attacked by Janjaweed militiamen while bringing dry grass into Al-Geneina to sell in the market so as to buy food. These women had fifteen donkeys that were carrying the grass, and when the Janjaweed came across the women, they set fire to the dry grass on the donkeys' backs. All but two of the donkeys were killed by their burning loads. Incredible as it seems, the Janjaweed militias are intent that the non-Arab civilians of Western Sudan be prevented from any means of subsistence.

Most of the displaced people of non-Arab descent in Western Sudan do not have access to the basic means of survival, and as a consequence, face a daily struggle to survive. The RMCE is very concerned about the miserable and terrible situation of displaced persons in Western Sudan. The inability of people to plant their crops during the rainy season will result in a complete catastrophe later in the year. We urge the international community to be diligent in addressing the injustices occurring in Western Sudan, and to do all that it can to provide needed humanitarian assistance to the refugees of this disaster.