Nierteti committee rules in favour of Darfur displaced

A committee formed to investigate the death of a woman near a Central Darfur camp, and a subsequent revenge attack on the site, has ruled in favour of the displaced on Wednesday.Last week, three people were killed after militiamen attacked Nierteti North camp in revenge for the death of a woman selling milk, who belonged to the same tribe as the gunmen.Sources affirmed that her death was accidental, and a committee, formed to investigate the allegations, concluded its work on Wednesday. The committee confirmed that the woman died because she fell from her donkey.Witnesses who attended the committee’s final session in Nierteti told Radio Dabanga its members found the camp residents innocent of killing the woman, based on the testimony of witnesses and her relatives.It was also concluded that, based on the confession of the assailants’ leaders, the attackers had received orders from the “the government” to attack the camp. The total of losses caused by the incident is set at about SDG750,000 ($168,600).The conclusions of the investigation committee were delivered to the Commissioner and the Security Committee of Nierteti locality, the Omda of Nierteti, in addition to relatives of the deceased woman, camp residents and the perpetrators.The commissioner will forward the results to the authorities of Central Darfur in order to take over the process of compensating the camp residents for the losses that include deaths, stolen properties and donkeys, and houses burned down.Nierteti has been witnessing a series of attacks recently. Two farmers assaulted by militiamen in Nierteti North, Central Darfur, are currently being treated at the hospital after being beaten and forced to drink “filthy mud water” at gunpoint on Tuesday.Ismail Ali Abdallah and Ismail Abakar were tending their farms in Wadi Seiro, 1 km north of Nierteti, when the gunmen assaulted them.Sources speaking to Radio Dabanga added that on the same area on Wednesday, “militiamen, at gunpoint, forced their livestock onto farmlands for grazing, in front of government forces.”File photo by Albert González Farran/UnamidRelated: Darfur farmers: ‘armed herdsmen grazing ahead of schedule’ (15 October 2013) Threat of new ‘revenge attack’ on Central Darfur camp (9 October 2013) ‘Revenge attack’ leaves two dead in Central Darfur camp (8 October 2013)