Highlights
– Sudanese governmental officials ask UN peacekeepers to vacate the Darfur town of Muhajiriya
– African Union seeks a delay in the International Criminal Court indictment of Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir
– Rebels deny claims by Sudanese government that Chad is supplying them with material/logistical support
On February 1, 2009, for the first time, the Sudanese government requested that the United Nations peacekeeping force located in the town of Muhajiriya depart the area. In preparation for the launching of an offensive against the rebels who control the town, Sudan’s ambassador to the African Union, Akuei Bona Malwal, stated that the Sudanese government was only requesting they depart, not demanding it.
“It’s sort of like informing them, ‘something will be happening here’.” Malwal said.
Forces belonging to the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) took control of the town last month, seizing it from a group loyal to the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), who had signed a peace accord with the Sudanese government. The resulting two weeks of fighting between rebel and government forces have been the most violent in almost a year.
The government forces began a campaign to retake the town of Muhajiriya on Monday, February 2, 2009, with airstrikes dropping bombs close to the city. Airstrikes are in violation of UN Security Resolutions, but the Sudanese government claims it has the right to target groups who have not signed any peace accord, as JEM has not done. The bombings resulted in thousands of civilians seeking safety from the joint UN/African Union base located in Muhajiriya. Government officials claim the offensive is in response to JEM massing forces in anticipation of war crimes charges being laid against the President of Sudan, Omar el-Beshir, by the International Criminal Court (ICC)
Although this is the first time the Sudanese government has asked the UN peacekeepers to leave an area due to expected fighting, it is not the first time there has been tension between the two. In January of 2008, Sudanese army forces opened fire on a convoy transporting UN peacekeepers in Darfur, critically wounding one of the drivers. Even as they acknowledged that their troops had fired upon the convoy, Sudanese officials passed the blame to the UN peacekeepers, claiming that they should have notified Khartoum of their movement plans. United Nations observers worry that this new development, simply asking them to move out of the way, would pose a serious challenge to the peace process in the turbulent region, and stated that they would not depart amid thousands of displaced civilians surrounding their base.
African Union seeks delay in ICC indictment
The African Union also took an unexpected stance on February 2, 2009, requesting that the ICC postpone charging President Bashir for up to 12 months. The AU claims that in addition to a war crimes trial disrupting the ongoing peace process in Sudan, there were concerns that only African individuals seemed to be under ICC scrutiny.
“We think there is a problem with ICC targeting only Africans, as if Africa has been a place to experiment with their ideas,” Said Jean Ping, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union. Ping went on to say, “the law should apply to everyone, not just the weak.”
Amid concerns of a possible double standard within the ICC, Khartoum has denied all charges against the President, and has refused to cooperate with the ICC in this matter.
The ICC plans to charge President Omar el-Bashir with war crimes stemming from the violent and bloody civil war, which has been ongoing in the Darfur region of Sudan since 2003 when mainly non-Arab rebels rose up against the Arab dominated Sudanese government. The rebels accuse the government of marginalizing their supporters, and using the Janjaweed – Islamic militias – to perpetuate genocide on non-Arab tribes living in Sudan. International experts put the death toll for the rebellion at somewhere between 200,000-300,000, with more than 2 million refugees displaced from their homes and living in camps scattered throughout the region. Khartoum denies this claim, and places the number at around 10,000 dead, accusing unidentified Western countries of inflating the death toll for political reasons.
Rebels deny Chad involved in supporting their operations
The Sudanese government has long espoused the claim that various anti-government, non-Arab rebel groups are receiving aide from Chad, in the form of weapons and supplies. The government claims that Chadian Republican Guards were key in providing the necessary logistical support to Darfur rebel groups in order to come to the aide of JEM in Muhajiriya, a claim that JEM hotly refutes.
“We operate inside Sudan, far from Chad, and do not need any external support,” stated Ahmed Hussein Adam, spokesman of the rebel group. Adam also stated that the rebel groups had no need for Chadian military equipment, because they have all the requisite materials from the Sudanese Army, from whom they presumably seize the equipment.
Rebels have claimed that the government accusations are simply a means to avoid the real issues, genocide in Darfur and political oppression, and to further misdirect attention from the ICC indictment of President Bashir, which is expected in the near-term. Government forces maintain that JEM is attempting to position itself in a favorable position for the proposed Doha (Qatar) peace talks. We expect JEM most likely hopes to increase its influence within the political realm, and is maneuvering to do so accordingly.
