Curfew in South Darfur capital fails to curtail crime

Two residents of Dreige camp for the displaced near Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, were injured in an attack by militiamen on Tuesday morning inside their house. Mary Jibril told Radio Dabanga that militiamen entered her house at dawn, firing shots in the air before they beat her and her husband, Abu Nura. The attackers blindfolded them and robbed them of all their belongings. Mary, a midwife working in the camp, added that while the shooting could be heard throughout the camp, the police did not intervene and no one moved to help them. The Political Secretary of the Sudanese Communist Party in South Darfur State, Nur El Sadig noted to Radio Dabanga that the State of Emergency imposed by the Governor on 19 September has turned the city of Nyala into a big prison. All activities cease at 8pm and there is no electricity or running water. The State of Emergency has not halted the murder, robbery and theft during the time of the curfew, according to the political secretary. “At the market a pharmacy was attacked and robbed, and Chinese workers have been robbed of their possessions and laptop.” “But more importantly,” El Sadig added, “the curfew is blocking commercial and agricultural activities, and large segments of the populations are now suffering from a lack of liquidity. “We are even deprived of the possibility of praying in the mosques at sunset, in the evening and at dawn.” File photo by Albert González Farran/Unamid Related: South Darfur’s Nyala residents want curfew lifted (1 October 2013)Curfew in Nyala after police shoot demonstrators in South Darfur (19 September 2013)Sudan police kill five in uprising against South Darfur Governor (19 September 2013)