UN report fingers Sudan for attacks on Unamid

A UN committee tasked with monitoring compliance with Sudan-related sanctions has pointed fingers at the Sudanese government for attacks that took place last year on Unamid peacekeepers in Muhajeriya, East Darfur, and Khor Abeche in South Darfur. According to a report, obtained by Sudan Tribune, and which has not yet made public, “Janjaweed groups almost certainly played a leading role in the most prominent attacks against Unamid”. “The attackers fit the profile of some well-known Janjaweed elements. These groups have also been behind violent crimes against internally displaced persons, tribes and even, in some instances, the Government itself,” the report states. The report, prepared by the UN Panel of Experts on the Sudan established pursuant to resolution 1591, was transmitted to UN Security Council this week. It says that the Panel got hold of evidence showing that the 18-19 April 2013 attack on the Unamid team site in Muhajeriya was carried out by a group known as “Savana”, led by a man known as Mohamed Adam. “The group has previously received arms and training from the Government and participated directly in the recovery of Labado and Muhajeriya. There is further evidence to suggest that the Government has assigned the group responsibility for controlling 11 areas in Southern and Eastern Darfur. The Panel is almost certain that this attack was carried out by Savana members, with the knowledge, acquiescence and/or support of the national armed forces”. The UN committee asserted that the involvement of the government in the attack is “highly probable”. The second attack, in July 2013, occurred when a Unamid patrol was attacked about 22km from the team site at Khor Abeche in South Darfur. Eight Unamid officers were killed and sixteen were wounded. “Although the Panel has strong information on possible or alleged names of the perpetrators, it has still to obtain independent confirmatory evidence. It is, however, highly probable that the assailants were members of a Janjaweed group”. The UN committee however, acknowledged that some Janjaweed groups may have been acting on their own in some instances but nonetheless blamed the government “because it is highly probable that it continues to arm, support, use or tolerate many of the Janjaweed factions”. “It is the responsibility of the Government to investigate and prosecute each of the crimes in which these armed groups are alleged to be involved. The Panel is unaware of any tangible result, other than some public statements, about the fulfilment of the Government’s obligations in this regard”. Ali Kushayb, a Janjaweed leader charged by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur, is being investigated by the panel for his recent activity in the restive region. The Sudanese government has previously detained the militia leader to try him on unspecified charges in 2007 and 2008, but released him for lack of evidence. The panel said it had no evidence linking rebel groups to the attacks on Unamid during the reporting period. Justice and Equality Movement The report also sheds new light on the killing of the leaders of a breakaway faction of the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) last May. Mohamed Bashar, who led a splinter JEM faction (JEM-Bashar) was returning to Darfur from the Chadian capital of N’Djamena, before heading to Khartoum to start the implementation of a peace deal he signed with the government in Doha on 6 April. The UN panel said that Bashar received a telephone call from Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) “informing him that someone within his entourage was providing information to JEM and that an attack was imminent”. But before Bashar could confront the informant, his group was attacked “by overwhelming firepower and so were unable to defend themselves effectively”. The witnesses who were interviewed by the panel agreed that Bashar and his deputy were gravely wounded during the initial attack but were later executed along with four others. The report said that during meetings with the Panel, the representatives of JEM were clear that the incident should be regarded as an internal JEM struggle in which the group applied its own “honour code” to an act of treason, rather than as an impediment to the peace process. File photo: Unamid peacekeepers honour honour seven fallen comrades killed in the 13 July attack in South Darfur before their bodies were repatriated. (Saidi Msonda/Unamid) Related:UN ‘outrage’ at attack on Unamid patrol in South Darfur (14 July 2013)Conflicting reports as JEM-Bashar leader dies near Chad-Sudan border (13 May 2013)UNAMID Peacekeeper killed in attack on Muhajeriya Team Site, East Darfur (19 April 2013)