North Darfur MP wants to hear Ministers on Kutum raids

A Member of Parliament in Kutum, North Darfur, has announced his attempt to summon the Minister of Defence for a hearing on the multiple attacks on civilians by Border Guards members in Lamena and Abu Sekin villages during the first week of September.

Independent MP Ahmed El Tayeb Ibrahim for North Darfur constituency 9 said that he will raise three urgent issues for the chairmanship of the parliament, in order to summon the Defence Minister, as well as the Interior Affairs and Justice Ministers. They would have to answer for the security vacuum and the absence of police and judicial organs that have lasted over three years in Kutum, he told Radio Dabanga this week.

The MP: “We have been following up the immunity lift procedures against seven of the leaders of the Border Guards who have been involved in the assault on the unarmed residents of Lamena and Abu Sekin, along with the burning of a number of orchards, generators, and pumps.”

He explained that this is a prelude to arrest and prosecute them. The North Darfur Governor has already sent and order to the commander of the Border Intelligence Brigade's sixth infantry to take the perpetrators into custody.

“The Border Guards members will be held accountable, in order to avoid any violations in the future.”

Meanwhile, residents continue to leave Lamena and Abu Sekin areas to El Hamra area, the MP claimed. He pointed out that the efforts of the native administration have not resulted in resolving the issue of displacement.

Ibrahim pledged that the perpetrators will be held accountable, “in order to avoid any violations in the future against civilians, and imposition of the prestige of the state and the rule of law”.

Members of the Border Guards continued their attacks on rural areas in Kutum for several weeks in September. Reportedly eight people were killed. Livestock was stolen and residents were robbed.

Border Guards is the popular term for the paramilitary Border Intelligence Brigade, which is part of the Sudanese Military Intelligence.

Lawlessness in Kutum

For more than three years, policemen, prosecutors, and other members of the judiciary are absent in Kutum locality, which has a population of 55,000 inhabitants. The army is supposed to keep order instead. The population is terrorised day and night by gunmen, who beat, rob, and abduct people "as they like", activists and residents of the locality reported to Radio Dabanga in the past.

Related:

North Darfur to send police, judges to lawless Kutum: source (10 July 2015)