Darfur militias now ‘a state within a state’: lawyer
Darfuri lawyer and human rights activist Saleh Mahmoud has warned of the spread of unrest and violence akin to what happened last week in Nyala, South Darfur. “The fighting between militias and security forces, and terrorising and looting of the property of citizens could spread to other areas if not dealt with responsibly,” Mahmoud stressed in an interview with Radio Dabanga. “The risk now lies in the fact that these militias or paramilitary forces are not subject to any orders from the military leadership in the garrisons in Nyala, El Fasher or El Geneina. Accordingly they have become a state within a state,” he said, “which threatens national security and could cause violation of the national sovereignty.” Mahmoud asserts that what happened in Nyala “is exactly what activists have been warning about since the beginning – the unwise trend of the regime in arming specific tribal groups”. He suggests that “the regime in Khartoum is acting to fragment the unity of the people of Darfur” and called on the people to be aware of this. He also wanted to alert the Sudanese people that Darfur is a major part of Sudan. “Darfur’s destabilisation means the destabilisation of all Sudan. We all have to address the scheme of the destruction and fragmentation of society by the regime. I call on all the people of Darfur to unite now and renounce the fragmentation.” In a separate interview with Radio Dabanga, the spokesman for the coalition of the National Consensus Forces, Kamal Omar Abdel Salam, said that he coalition “holds the National Congress Party and its regime in Khartoum fully responsible for the events in Nyala and in all parts of Darfur; as they have failed in their primary responsibility of protecting the lives of citizens, thus entering Darfur into a circle of security failure”. Salam accuses the Khartoum regime of “entering Darfur into organised and systematic violence by creating militias of various names as well as creating crises between the tribes to divide the people of Darfur with the purpose of staying in power”. He warned of the regime sidestepping current debate “by appointing some Darfuris as Ministers, such as Vice President Al Haj Adam Yusuf, with the aim of selling the Darfur cause in favour of some groups, and then letting the other groups die as a result of the militias and tribal conflicts”. Salam stressed that “Darfur is now living in a state of chaos caused by the regime itself and the primary solution lies in removing it from power in Khartoum”. File photo Related: ‘Violence in Darfur threatens to undermine security in province’: Sese (10 July 2013)
Darfuri lawyer and human rights activist Saleh Mahmoud has warned of the spread of unrest and violence akin to what happened last week in Nyala, South Darfur.
“The fighting between militias and security forces, and terrorising and looting of the property of citizens could spread to other areas if not dealt with responsibly,” Mahmoud stressed in an interview with Radio Dabanga.
“The risk now lies in the fact that these militias or paramilitary forces are not subject to any orders from the military leadership in the garrisons in Nyala, El Fasher or El Geneina. Accordingly they have become a state within a state,” he said, “which threatens national security and could cause violation of the national sovereignty.”
Mahmoud asserts that what happened in Nyala “is exactly what activists have been warning about since the beginning – the unwise trend of the regime in arming specific tribal groups”.
He suggests that “the regime in Khartoum is acting to fragment the unity of the people of Darfur” and called on the people to be aware of this. He also wanted to alert the Sudanese people that Darfur is a major part of Sudan. “Darfur’s destabilisation means the destabilisation of all Sudan. We all have to address the scheme of the destruction and fragmentation of society by the regime. I call on all the people of Darfur to unite now and renounce the fragmentation.”
In a separate interview with Radio Dabanga, the spokesman for the coalition of the National Consensus Forces, Kamal Omar Abdel Salam, said that he coalition “holds the National Congress Party and its regime in Khartoum fully responsible for the events in Nyala and in all parts of Darfur; as they have failed in their primary responsibility of protecting the lives of citizens, thus entering Darfur into a circle of security failure”.
Salam accuses the Khartoum regime of “entering Darfur into organised and systematic violence by creating militias of various names as well as creating crises between the tribes to divide the people of Darfur with the purpose of staying in power”.
He warned of the regime sidestepping current debate “by appointing some Darfuris as Ministers, such as Vice President Al Haj Adam Yusuf, with the aim of selling the Darfur cause in favour of some groups, and then letting the other groups die as a result of the militias and tribal conflicts”.
Salam stressed that “Darfur is now living in a state of chaos caused by the regime itself and the primary solution lies in removing it from power in Khartoum”.
File photo
Related: ‘Violence in Darfur threatens to undermine security in province’: Sese (10 July 2013)
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