QANTARA DW (2/9/2019)
Military and pro-democracy leaders signed a power-sharing agreement in August paving the way for a promised democratic transition after 30 years of authoritarian rule in Sudan. But refugees who fled genocidal violence in Darfur are expressing their reservations about the deal.
When Ahmed Yusuf Ahmed heard that Omar al-Bashir had been overthrown he was initially exultant. “I thought it was the best news I had heard in my life,” says Ahmed, who fled his native Darfur in 2003.
Sudan has been in a state of political unrest since protests triggered by an economic crisis started in December last year and spread across the country demanding an end to Bashir’s three decades of authoritarian rule. On 11 April, the military ousted al-Bashir and established a Transitional Military Council (TMC).
Ahmed was 16 years old when Janjaweed paramilitary forces hired by Bashir’s government to crush a local insurgency burned his village in the Karnoi area, killed his father and stole his family’s cattle. He lived in a refugee camp in Chad for 10 years, and then applied for asylum in Jordan, where – like most refugees who are not allowed to work – he struggles to make ends meet.
According to UN estimates, Bashir’s counter-insurgency campaign in Darfur has killed at least 300 000 people and displaced over 2.7 million since 2003. For their alleged role in the atrocities, al-Bashir and other top officials have been indicted for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court between 2009 and 2010.
Although Bashir’s fall was received with exhilaration, Ahmed was cautious. He knew the generals who removed him were closely associated with the old regime. The military council that took over was headed by lieutenant general Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who was the military intelligence officer coordinating military actions in Darfur between 2003 and 2005. The council’s most prominent member was General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, widely known as Hemeti, the leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Hemeti’s forces were formally established by Bashir’s government in 2013, but grew out of the dreaded Janjaweed militias mobilised to fight against insurgencies in Darfur and other marginalised areas throughout Sudan in the early 2000s. RSF mercenaries have received support from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to fight in Yemen as part of the Saudi-led coalition, and have been deployed to repress demonstrations throughout Sudan to protect Bashir’s government.
After the establishment of the TMC, mass protests continued to demand a transition to civilian rule, forcing the military to enter negotiations with the main pro-democracy coalition. Talks were suspended several times and strained by a violent crackdown on 3 June which, according to the opposition-linked Doctors’ Central Committee, left 128 people dead. But on 17 July, the military council and pro-democracy leaders announced they had reached a power-sharing deal amid growing pressure from the United States, the African Union and Arab allies.
A month later, Sudan’s governing military council and pro-democracy leaders signed the final power-sharing agreement. The two sides agreed on a constitutional declaration that established a joint civilian-military transitional council expected to take over in September and rule Sudan for the next three years until elections are held.
he agreement prompted celebrations in the streets of Sudan’s capital Khartoum, which filled with music, honking car horns and fluttering Sudanese flags. But for the Darfuri refugees who fled violence and persecution, reactions were much more cautious and restrained.
The deal had been signed by generals who were involved in the brutal counter-insurgency campaign in Darfur. “Hemeti’s hands are full of blood,” says Ahmed, who thinks the general should be charged for alleged crimes in Darfur, as well as for violence used against protesters. For refugees, the brutal crackdown on 3 June proved these generals cannot be trusted to uphold any kind of agreement.
Although no charges have yet been brought against Mohamed Hamdan “Hemeti” Dagolo, rights groups have denounced serious human rights abuses committed by his forces. A Human Rights Watch report published in 2015 described the RSF as “men with no mercy”, and accused the forces led by Hemeti of repeatedly attacking villages, burning and looting homes, and beating, raping and killing civilians in Darfur.
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