‘Security Council should stop ethnic cleansing in Darfur’: Koran sheikh
The security and humanitarian situation in Darfur have become worse than in the beginning of the war, in 2003-2004, according to Koran scholar Matar Younis in Central Darfur. He wonders why the UN Security Council, the international community and Darfuri officials in Sudan keep silent on the “systematic ethnic cleansing” in the region. In an interview with Radio Dabanga sheikh Matar Younis, Koran scholar at the Great Mosque of Zalingei, and head of the Young Rebels Association for Freedom and Democracy, said that “more intensive than ever before” the region is prone to killings, looting, burning, systematic displacement, government-backed militia attacks, and bombardments of defenceless civilians. “The majority of the people in Darfur have fled into the wilderness, mountains and valleys, trying to survive without shelter, water, food, cover, or medicines, amid a total silence of the international community, and the sons of Darfur in the federal and the state governments and legislatures. They prefer to keep their positions, salaries and privileges, instead of broaching the subject, which is about a second wave of genocide taking place against their families in the region.” “The ongoing talks about dialogue and a transitional government are not productive, nor do they provide a solution to the crisis, as the current regime is the one that is killing the people. The ongoing genocide and the displacement in Darfur, the destruction of lives in eastern and northern Sudan, the fighting in the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile, in short, all the agony of the people of Sudan cannot be stopped without toppling the National Congress Party regime.” Sheikh Younis wondered how many dead, injured, homeless, and displaced people the UN Security Council needs to see until it will act to protect the civilians in Darfur. “What is now happening in Darfur is definitely genocide, a systematic ethnic cleansing of the Darfuri people, conducted by militias and air strikes by the Sudanese Air Force.” He called upon the international community and the UN Security Council to “shoulder their full responsibilities for what is happening in Darfur. They should stop the aerial bombardments by immediately imposing a no-fly zone over Darfur, and then direct interventions in order to protect the defenceless civilians who are living in catastrophic circumstances.” File photo: Newly displaced in Saraf Omra, March 2014 (Albert González Farran/Unamid)Related: Security forces assault Koran scholar and activist in Central Darfur (17 February 2014)
The security and humanitarian situation in Darfur have become worse than in the beginning of the war, in 2003-2004, according to Koran scholar Matar Younis in Central Darfur. He wonders why the UN Security Council, the international community and Darfuri officials in Sudan keep silent on the “systematic ethnic cleansing” in the region.
In an interview with Radio Dabanga sheikh Matar Younis, Koran scholar at the Great Mosque of Zalingei, and head of the Young Rebels Association for Freedom and Democracy, said that “more intensive than ever before” the region is prone to killings, looting, burning, systematic displacement, government-backed militia attacks, and bombardments of defenceless civilians.
“The majority of the people in Darfur have fled into the wilderness, mountains and valleys, trying to survive without shelter, water, food, cover, or medicines, amid a total silence of the international community, and the sons of Darfur in the federal and the state governments and legislatures. They prefer to keep their positions, salaries and privileges, instead of broaching the subject, which is about a second wave of genocide taking place against their families in the region.”
“The ongoing talks about dialogue and a transitional government are not productive, nor do they provide a solution to the crisis, as the current regime is the one that is killing the people. The ongoing genocide and the displacement in Darfur, the destruction of lives in eastern and northern Sudan, the fighting in the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile, in short, all the agony of the people of Sudan cannot be stopped without toppling the National Congress Party regime.”
Sheikh Younis wondered how many dead, injured, homeless, and displaced people the UN Security Council needs to see until it will act to protect the civilians in Darfur. “What is now happening in Darfur is definitely genocide, a systematic ethnic cleansing of the Darfuri people, conducted by militias and air strikes by the Sudanese Air Force.”
He called upon the international community and the UN Security Council to “shoulder their full responsibilities for what is happening in Darfur. They should stop the aerial bombardments by immediately imposing a no-fly zone over Darfur, and then direct interventions in order to protect the defenceless civilians who are living in catastrophic circumstances.”
File photo: Newly displaced in Saraf Omra, March 2014 (Albert González Farran/Unamid)
Related: Security forces assault Koran scholar and activist in Central Darfur (17 February 2014)
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