Former commissioner Darfur sentenced to death after discovery of mass grave

The former commissioner of Al Sunta in South Darfur, Bashar Al Jazam Bushara Nawiya, has been sentenced to death by the Criminal Court of Nyala. Judge Sid Abdulkadir ordered this week the capital punishment by hanging. He found the former commissioner guilty of murdering his assistant, Ibrahim Sinin Altalib. Other cases against him are pending.

The former commissioner of Al Sunta in South Darfur, Bashar Al Jazam Bushara Nawiya, has been sentenced to death by the Criminal Court of Nyala. Judge Sid Abdulkadir ordered this week the capital punishment by hanging. He found the former commissioner guilty of murdering his assistant, Ibrahim Sinin Altalib. Other cases against him are pending.

After Radio Dabanga reported on the disappearance of Ibrahim Sinin in January 2012, several people reported to the station that they also were missing relatives. After a demonstration demanding clarity from the government about the mysterious disappearances, a man confessed that he had been ordered by commissioner Bushara Al Jazam, to bury the body of his assistant for a sum of money.

After this revelation, residents were taken to the site by the man to dig up the grave to look for Ibrahim Sinin. There they found a further 30 bodies buried in a mass grave. Witnesses said that they believed these were the bodies of the people who had disappeared over the years. The authorities in Nyala had sent a fact finding team to investigate. After the investigation, the commissioner was promptly arrested and stripped of his immunity.

The convicted commissioner belonged to an armed militia that was integrated into the regular army. He signed a peace agreement with the government in 2011 and was appointed Al Sunta’s commisioner.