Darfur Bar asks human rights commission to study tribal conflicts

The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) of lawyers handed a memorandum to the Human Rights Commission in Khartoum, in which they call upon the commission to study the phenomenon of tribal conflicts in Darfur, and to protect human rights in the region.

The lawyers in collaboration with various civil organisations in Darfur said that the Presidency of the Republic arms tribes, or strips them of arms and confines them in the hands of the Sudanese army and police, who are tasked with maintaining security in the region. They asked the Human Rights Commission to provide advice to the presidency.

Darfur Bar lawyer Yousif Adam Basher told Radio Dabanga that the reason of raising the memo was the burning of villages, killing of civilians, robberies, and access denials to drinking water sources in North Darfur. The document includes a demand to proceed with bringing the perpetrators of these crimes to justice, preventing impunity to reign in Darfur.

Adam Basher held the government directly responsible for these violations: Khartoum arms tribal militias “such as the Border Guards of the Ministry of Defense and the Central Reserve Forces of the Ministry of Interior”. He claimed that all these forces are supported by the government, but it turned a blind eye to them and left them to do what they want in Darfur.

Lawyer Nafisa Hajar, member of the Bar, also accused the Sudanese government and further claimed that the perpetrators of the recent violations of human rights in Darfur are members of Musa Hilal's militias. She also named the Border Guards and the Central Reserve Forces as being among the perpetrators.

She urged the Commission to do its part in the investigation and explain what is going on in Darfur. The Bar plans to raise other memorandums to the judicial authorities in the country, especially to the Ministry of Justice.

Last week, the Bar issued a statement in which it blamed the Sudanese government for the recent outbreak of tribal fighting in North and South Darfur.