Darfur Bar Association launches fact-finding commission to investigate West Darfur attacks

Statement by: Darfur Bar Association

The Commission announces the formation of a fact-finding committee on the violations committed in West Darfur, which began on the morning of Friday 22 April 2022, with the attack on the locality of Kereinik, and the attack, killing and intimidation, extended to the city of El Geneina and until today (April 27, 2022), for the purpose of explaining the naked truth and access to the correct numbers that are close to the accuracy of the human losses in the number of dead, injured, wounded, missing persons and material losses in public and private property.

According to the data that was available since the beginning of the attack on the Kereinik locality and on the first day of the attack, on the pretext of following the tracks of the perpetrators who killed two people, neither who nor the place of their killing was determined. Abusive, robbery and looting of property, according to a statement by the governor’s office on the third day of the events, the number of dead (160 people).

According to another statement issued by the doctors on April 26, 2022, the number of bodies as a result of the events (176 bodies) and (202 wounded), and there are bodies that have not been autopsied, as in the testimonies received from the people of Kereinik locality until the third day of the attack, the number of dead was ( 206 dead, including at least 17 schoolchildren, six teachers, a medical assistant and other public utility workers, and 98 wounded with varying injuries and injuries). She was taken to the hospital because there was no need for an autopsy, and there were dead during the displacement and dozens of missing persons. This is in contrast to the dead of the attacking party.

After the attack on El Geneina Hospital and the killing of the leader of the Sudanese coalition, Major General Elias Mustafa, he circulated a picture of the aforementioned slain brigade with news that he was going to El Geneina Hospital to liquidate the wounded Arab tribes, and through preliminary information, the majority of the wounded in the hospital were wounded by the armed militia attack at the same time, the Commission monitored For a widely circulated news attributed to Radio Dabanga, that the slain coalition commander, Major General Elias Mustafa, violated the instructions of his commander, the governor of the state, who lost control of his forces and attacked El Geneina Hospital. Radio Dabanga denied the news attributed to him, as did the governor himself.

Through preliminary information, the commission obtained information confirming that the murdered commander, Elias, was visiting his brother and others who were injured in a previous accident in the hospital. Groups have an interest in obliterating the facts and spreading panic among the citizens of El Geneina city and West Darfur state, as has already happened as a result of the continuous firing of live ammunition and various types of weapons indiscriminately and densely from all directions of the city, and the residents fleeing from the customs neighbourhoods, the mountain and Kerending camp, and the casualties and injuries.

As the commission seeks, through the formation of a fact-finding committee, to collect information related to the events and to entrust it to the public opinion, because it helps to highlight the abstract truth. .

In order to avoid reactions that may lead to the expansion of the scope of possible attacks, the commission includes its voice for the demand of the Council of West Darfur, which is entrusted with civil affairs in the Masalit Sultanate, for the immediate removal of the Rapid Support Forces from the state, in addition to the armed movements, including the Sudanese coalition forces, led by the state’s governor, Khamis Abdullah Abkar, and to strengthen the role of the state’s governor. The police and their support to achieve security in the state, and there is a need to review the performance of the army and security services in the state, but in the presence of a government backed by a sound constitutional reference other than the current and its unconstitutional status.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this statement are those of the contributing organisation/authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of Radio Dabanga.