نداء عــــاجل ... من أجل اقليم دارفور

نداء عاجل
من اجل أقليم دارفور بغرب السودان

يتعرض المواطنين في اقليم دار فور بغرب السودان لأبشع المجازر وحملات التطهير العرقي و الإبادة الجماعية التي تمارسها المليشيات التابعة لنظام الجبهة القومية الإسلامية الحاكم في الخرطوم، والتي تعوق وصول الإمدادات الانسانية كما تفيد التقارير الدولية، مما يضاعف من بشاعة الوضع، وعلية نحن الموقعون ادناه نطالب النظام الحاكم في الخرطوم بـ :
- الوقف الفوري لأطلاق النار.
- السماح للمعونات الانسانية بالوصول المنكوبين.
- الحل السياسي السلمي العادل للأزمة
مجموعة التضامن مع أفريقيا والشرق الاوسط بغرب استراليا تهيب بكل الهيئات الدولية والمنظمات الانسانية،والافراد بالوقوف مع اقليم دارفور بغرب السودان، والعمل علي وقف نزيف الدم.وندعوكم للتوقيع معنا علي هذا البيان

مجموعة التضامن مع أفريقيا والشرق الاوسط
بغرب استراليا
( من اجل كفالة الحقوق والحريات الاساسية للإنسان)

بريد اكتروني:
[email protected]

An urgent Appeal
For solidarity with victims of genocide in Darfur (Western Sudan)
Africa & Middle East Solidarity Group is a broad based alliance of activists in Western Australia who support the struggle for human rights in Africa and the Middle East .

For years the people of Darfur have been marginalized and subjected by the Sudanese Government to ethnic cleansing, gross violation of human rights and genocide committed by the armed forces and militia aligned to them.

Africa & Middle East Solidarity Group urge you to sign with us
We the undersigned urgently appeal to the international community and human rights organizations to strongly condemn and exert pressure on the Sudanese Government to immediately:

a) Cease fire.
b) Stop all atrocities committed by the armed forces and its militia.
c) Disarm the militia and stop supporting them.
d) Give protection to all civilians in Darfur.
e) Allow a secure and unrestricted access to all humanitarian organizations to deliver assistance to victims of the conflict.
f) Take all the necessary steps to resolve the conflict peacefully and under the auspices of an international organization.
g) Bring all perpetrators of crimes, ethnic cleansing and genocide to justice.


رابط التوقيع :ـــــــــ


http://www.petitiononline.com/darfur04


لكم الود

دخلنا وعلمنا اضعف الايمان بتاع كل مرة
وقعنا

الجندرية ...

التوقيع فعل ايجابي
ويستطيع أن يغير الكثير ....شكراً

فوووووق للناس الجديدة

قدمت مجموعة التضامن مع أفريقيا والشرق والاوسط بغرب استراليا تنويراً حول مأساة دارفور لعضوية الاتحاد الاشتراكي بغرب استراليا في 11 اغسطس الماضي بالورقة أناه التي اعدها وقدمها الاستاذ/ عبد الله آدم.

Africa and Middle East Solidarity Group in WA

A Brief History of Darfur

A few decades before the Sultanate of Darfur was established the area which is currently referred to as Darfur in Western Sudan was a thriving African kingdom ruled by the Daju tribe followed by Tunjur who ruled during the Christian period from 900 to 1200 after which the kingdom collapsed due to the advancement of Islam Eastwards from the Bornu Empire which centered around Lake Chad.

The Fur tribe established their dynasty after the collapse of the Tunjur Empire and ruled from 1640 to 1916. They name their Sultanate Darfur which means (the homeland of the Fur tribe). Their Sultanate extended from Darfur to the Western banks of Nile. Under their rule the inhabitants of Darfur were completely Islamized but the majority of them maintained their African languages and most of their cultural practices. The Sultans of Darfur fought occasionally with the Wadai kingdom to the East of Darfur and also managed to bring under their control the semi-independent nomadic Arabic speaking tribes neighboring their Sultanate.

In acknowledgment of the ethnic diversity that lived in their sultanate and to gain their loyalty, the Sultans further divided greater Darfur into many (Dars or homelands) named after each tribe that occupied a significant piece of land. Therefore, tribal lands inside Darfur were identified as Dar Zaghawa, Dar Massalit, Dar Rizaigat, Dar Taaesha, Dar Meedoob and .. extra… extra .. all of which exist today with the same names. Tribal boundaries were respected and right of passage was guaranteed to nomadic tribes that crossed the Sultanate seeking pasture. Now and then tribal disputes emerged but elders established reconciliation councils to resolve them. These councils operated very well and without government intervention however, in situations were the government had to intervene, it did so only as a neutral facilitator and mediator. While the indigenous African tribes were predominantly settled framers, the majority of arabized tribes were nomads, cattle and camel herders.

In 1870 Darfur came under the Egyptian rule and was given the status of a province and a few years later Rudolf Slatin was appointed the Governor of Darfur to protect it from the Mahadi army which was advancing towards Darfur. The Mahadi was a religious reformer and a charismatic political leader who united Sudan under his rule. In 1883 Darfur surrendered to the advancing forces and was incorporated into Mahadi’s state.

Following the overthrow of the Mahadi regime in 1898 the new Anglo-Egyptian government of the Sudan resurrected the Fur dynasty by acknowledging Ali Dinar as the Sultan of Darfur. However, in 1915 Ali Dinar rebelled against the Anglo-Egyptian Government of Sudan and was killed. His death marked the end of the Fur dynasty and also the end of Darfur’s independence as it became a province of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. After Sudan gained its independence in 1956 Darfur became a province of the Republic of Sudan.

Geographically Darfur lies in Western Sudan and borders Libya, Chad and the Republic of Central Africa. It occupies approximately 440,000 square kilometers. The Marrah Mountain occupies the central plains of Darfur with its highest peak rising to 3088 meters. Its fertile land and the moderate climate attracted many invaders and the Fur fought many battles to expel them. The current population of Darfur is over 6 millions consisting of over 100 ethnic groups.

Power Elite
Since gaining independence in 1956 the Sudan is continuously governed by political and religious elites whose philosophical orientation is to fully assimilate the nation into Arabist/Islamist ideology sometimes through education, enticement, intimidation and finally jihad or holly war disregarding the ethnic and cultural diversity of the nation. The Southern Sudanese, the Nubians of Western Sudan and South of Blue Nile inhabitants who are very proud of their African heritage were the first ethnic groups to resist assimilation policies. Lack of regional development, monopoly of power, coupled with assimilation policies made them feel marginalized and deprived of equal say in running their affairs. Failure to reach solution through political means plus aggressive government tactics to subordinate them led the Southerns, the Nubians and South of Blue Nile inhabitants to take arms to protect themselves from government army and its militias.

Far in the Eastern part of Sudan lives the Bija tribe who speak Arabic, their African languages and maintains its African culture. The Bija also resisted to be fully assimilated. They felt marginalized due to lack of regional development and equal share in power and resources. Successive governments ignored to address their needs and adopted aggressive policies to displace them. As a result the Bija took arms to protect themselves and also to force the government share power and resources.

While the army was destroying the South the Nuba Mountain, South Blue Nile and the East, Darfur enjoyed relative peace however, the Darfurians who constitutes over 40% of the Sudanese Army fought in all fronts to maintain Sudan unity and by doing that they actually maintained the status quo as planned by the elites in Khartoum. It is worth

noting that all the four ethnic groups mentioned above and which successive Sudanese governments waged wars against share the following:

a. They are all Africans whose mother tongue is not Arabic,
b. They proudly speak their native African languages,
c. And they resisted to be fully assimilated into the Arabist/Islamist ideology.

As the result of successive government policies of forced assimilation, genocide and ethnic cleansing to monopolize power, ideology and resources in order to maintain the status quo more than three millions people died and many more were displaced and disabled.

After independence successive Sudanese governments looked suspiciously to the Darfurians who were fiercely independent and who were forcibly incorporated into the Anglo/Egyptian Sudan and later into the Republic of Sudan. They perceived the Darfurians as a sleeping giant that if developed might wake up one day and disturb the status quo as they did during the Mahadi’s era. For this reason a mutual mistrust developed between the central government and Darfurians and the province was neglected. To break Darfurians unity divide and rule strategies were developed and promoted by successive governments which lead to small scale wars between some tribes however, the Darfurians managed to contain all situations before they developed into major conflicts. As a result of lack of regional development and the control of power by the elites two movements advocating armed rebellion by the Darfurians against the government emerged in the 1960 and the 1970 but were harshly repressed and eliminated.

Darfur and the Umma Party
Darfur has a very long historical association with the Mahadist movement which brought to power a Darfurians by the name of Abdulla Altaaeshi to govern Sudan for 16 years. For this reason Darfur became the political power base for the Umma party which was established by the Mahadist movement. However, despite their loyalty to the Umma party which assumed power most of the time during democracy the lack of regional development led the Darfurians to believe that their loyalty was taken for granted as they have been for decades marginalized and exploited.

To expressed their dissatisfaction with traditional political parties and specifically the Umma a substantial number of Darfurians deserted the Umma and other parties and joined the National Islamic Front. It is worth noting that most Darfurians who deserted traditional parties were from non-arabized African tribes. The desertions angered the elites of the Umma party as it eroded their 100% guaranteed power base which they enjoyed for decades and strategies to compensate their losses were planned.


Manufacturing the Janjaweed
Between 1970 and 1983 due to the Libyan-Chadian war and the severe draught thousands of Arabic speaking nomads from Chad and West Africa crossed the border seeking refuge in Darfur. The new immigrants were known as the “Abala” or camel herders. Another group of Sudanese camel herders due to draught also migrated from Northern Darfur and settled around Marrah Mountain neighboring the Fur and the Zaghawa tribes. However, the new arrivals had no or very little assets as they lost their herds due to sever draught but they came with firearms which they acquired during the Libyan/Chadian war.

Furthermore, due to their nomadic upbringing the Abala and other nomads had no farming or any other skills that they could utilize to earn their living. In addition, the government who encouraged them to immigrate and who promised to resettle them in Darfur deliberately did not provide them with any assistance. Therefore, they resorted to criminal activities stealing and robbing farming communities the majority of whom were members of the Fur, Zaghawa and Massalit tribes. Despite repeated calls for protection and complains by tribal leaders to the government at all levels the government did nothing. As a result farming communities armed themselves for protection. This group of Abala later teamed with other criminals, local nomads and camel herders and became known by the name of Janjaweed which means - a devil with a rifle on a horseback.

In 1989 a military coup brought to power the National Islamic Front which is still in power today. After the quo Darfurians who deserted the Umma party and joined the NIF were reasonably represented within the ranks of the newly created religious fundamentalist elites.

The NIF government and its followers internalize an ideology that is sharply focused on the creation of a purist Islamist/Arabist state in the Sudan and beyond. To that end it aggressively promoted the idea of jihad or holly war to spread the word and the will of god by force. In its opinion it governs by the will of god and anyone who opposes it opposes god and should be eliminated and the prize of jihad is eternal paradise. For this reason it waged aggressive holy wars in the South, the Blue Nile and the Nuba Mountains destroying all the infrastructure and killing and displacing millions of people. Thousands of Islamic fundamentalist volunteers from all over Arabic and Islamic countries came to Sudan to assist the government establish its imaginary purist Muslim state. The foreign volunteers aggressively promoted the idea of Jihad among the Sudanese youth and trained them to become the official paramilitary forces known by the name of People’s Defense Force. The force is also known by the name Bashmurga.

Despite their representation in the NIF government most Darfurians found themselves without real power as they could not achieve any tangible development for their region as promised by the party. In addition the government continued the same old game of divide and rule by setting one Darfurians tribe against another, forced acquisition of tribal land from tribes which resisted its ideology and used it to resettle loyal arabized nomads. It further encouraged the Abala to cross borders promising them land. This policy of favoritism created conflicts and disturbed the harmony that existed between tribes. Furthermore, the government’s objective of inviting the nomads and assisting them resettle on illegally acquired farming land aimed in the long term to gradually displace and dispossess Africans tribes who rejected its ideology and settle loyal Arabized nomads to create for itself a broad power base capable of breaking the Umma’s party monopoly on power in Darfur when democracy returns.

Bolad’s Rebellion
Frustrated by continuous attacks on his people, murders, rapes, torture, forced displacement and dispossession of properties and the lack of protection convinced a prominent Darfurians army officer named Bolad in 1991 to form a fighting force and declare a guerilla war against the government . Unfortunately, the government with the assistance of gangs of nomads who at this stage became known as the Janjaweed captured Bolad and he was summarily executed by the government. Instead of interpreting the rebellion as a sign of general displeasure with its policies in Darfur and improve services the government used it as a pretext to wage an over all war against the Fur, the Zaghawa, the Massalit and all other tribes which supported Bolad.

After Bolad’s execution the government became paranoid and a new cycle of forced displacement, arbitrary arrest, abductions and extra-judicial execution of those who opposed or suspected to have opposed government policies and ideology became the daily routine. The Janjaweed operated openly with the support of the Bashmurga robbing, terrorizing, killing and displacing farming communities with impunity. Therefore, the farming communities appeal for protection from within and the response was the birth of Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) in 2003 with the objective of protecting Darfurians from atrocities committed by the government and its Janjaweed militia, ending the monopoly of power and resources, creating a secular democratic state in which religion and politics are totally separated. According to a recent statement by the Chairman of SLA - Abdel Wahid Mohamed Nour that 85% of his forces are drawn from the Fur, Zaghawa, Massalit and other non-arabized tribes and 15% from arabized tribes. A Few month after SLA’s declaration another group named the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) also declared war against the government stating achieve similar objectives.

In order to eliminate the SLA , JEM and the tribes that supported them the government avoided to use its armed forces as 40% of them are Darfurians to avoid possible mutiny, instead the government planned to recruit the Janjaweed and local tribes to fight the rebels. To that end the government recruited Sheikh Musa Hilali, a local tribal leader, a camel herder and a well known criminal, convicted murderer and a bank robber who was serving a long sentence in prison . He was released immediately by ministerial and with government support Sheikh Hilali recruited members from his own tribe and from others incorporating them with the Janjaweed. They were highly paid and were allowed to keep whatever they loot and were promised to be resettled. With the help of the government the Janjaweed were trained and were transformed into a killing machines who until now have killed over 50,000 innocent civilians, dispossessed and displaced over 2 millions.

Despite many eye witness testimonies from both victims and humanitarian organizations operating in Darfur that the government supports the Janjaweed the government denied any involvement claiming that it was an internal tribal war. However, documents obtained by Human Rights Watch which were issued by Darfur government officials prove that the Janjaweed are an integral part of the government military force who were recruited, trained, armed and provided with aerial support to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.


WHY DARFUR

While the government has just signed a peace agreement in Kenya with Sudan Liberation Army ending 20 years of civil war in the South in which it killed more than two million innocent civilians, some might wonder why the government has started killing the Darfurians who represent 40% of its army and who have fought its wars in the South, the Nuba Mountains and the East. In addition the Darfurians are represented in the current Islamist government at all levels. Dr Ali Ali Dinar of the University of Pennsylvania and the grand - grand son of Ali Dinar the last Sultan of Darfur responded by stating that:

“ The National Islamic Front Government of Sudan’s war in Darfur is influenced by the following:

1. The only internal threat to the INF is the army and the war in Darfur keeps it preoccupied,
2. The Darfur war provides a pretext for the extension of emergency laws and other repressive policies,
3. This war can serve as an excuse for delaying the elections required by the Machakos protocol,
4. War enriches NIF elites and the security forces and with the slow down of war in the South and the possible peace a new source of profiteering is welcomed by many;
5. Revenge for what has been destroyed in arms and personnel in Darfur, and a victory – in contract to army defeat in the South.
6. A large percentage of Sudan soldiers are from Western Sudan, so it is in the government’s interest to create division among them as one group;
7. Divide and rule: the Janjaweed spread fear and animosity between the Arab and African peoples of Darfur,
8. Weaken the Umma party’s support among non-Arab Darfurians,
9. The presence of the NIF’s rival Isalmist faction, the People’s National Congress (headed by NIF ideologue Hassan al Turabi),
10. Generating support for the NIF from individuals and groups who have benefited from the war,
11. The war creates new alliances with groups that own livestock – a significance source of wealth as future strategic partners,
12. Shifting the radius of INF’s ideological expansion westwards, after its defeat southwards.


The Darfurians who are the victims and the main target of the current war share with the Southerns, the Nubians, the Bija and the inhabitants of South of the Blue Nile the following characteristics : - that their mother tongue is not the Arabic language, they proudly speak their native African languages and all of them resist to be fully assimilated in the Islamist/Arabist ideology. Furthermore, the Nubian of the North closer to the Egyptian border who have recently complained to the United Nations that the government of Sudan has displaced them and gave their fertile land to Egyptian companies for agricultural projects and allowed them to import Egyptians laborers also share the same characteristics with the four ethnic groups. Could it be a mere coincident that all victims of successive Sudanese governments share same characteristics or is it a well planned long term strategy designed by power elite regardless of their political orientation to control power and resources.

Human Rights Watch – Report on Darfur.
According to Human Rights Watch Quote: “ Since February 2003, the government of Sudan has used militias known as “Janjaweed” as its principal counter-insurgency ground force in Darfur against civilians from the Fur, Zaghawa, Massalit and other ethnic groups from which two rebel groups known as the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are drawn. ……… Hundreds of Villages in Darfur have been totally or partially burned and destroyed by bombing and ground attacks. More than a million people have been forced from their homes and more than 158,000 people have been forced from their homes fled Darfur for neighboring Chad. The vast majority of displaced civilians remain in Darfur where most are settled in camps on the outskirt of towns, dependent on international humanitarian assistance that the Sudan Government has blocked and restricted for months….”

In relation to supporting the Janjaweed which the government the Human Rights Report States:

“Human Rights Watch has obtained copies of Sudanese government documents that describe an official policy of support to the Janjaweed militias. These documents, which originate from the offices of the administration in Darfur, implicate government officials ranging a deputy minister from the Central government to the beigest levels of the Darfur civilian administration …….. The documents illustrate the involvement at the highest level of the state bureaucracy in the recruitment and arming of the militia and the authorization of their activities that have resulted in the crime against humanity and war crimes.”

In relation to ethnic cleansing and resettlement of land by nomadic groups the report states:

The document from the office of the commissioner of Kutum, North Darfur State, dated February 12,2004 also appears to validate claims made by numerous sources …….. that the Sudanese government has plans to resettle lands from which the original inhabitants have been displaced. “ Unquote.

Furthermore the report referred to a statement by the Sudanese Minister for the Interior of his intention of creating 18 camps which will be protected from Janjaweed attacks to resettle one million displaced persons. The plan is very alarming as it reinforces the government policy of ethnic cleansing.

Milestones
1. On April 2004 a ceasefire agreement was signed by the government and SLA & JEM but it has been violated by the government many times.
2. Due to international pressure the government promised to protect civilians by sending 6000 police. However, the government recruited the Janjaweed into to the army and the police force and violations of ceasefire and atrocities continues.
3. Last Friday …… the Security Council adopted a resolution giving Sudan government 30 days to disarm the Janjaweed and prosecute their leaders alternatively, the Security Council might consider unspecified sanctions against the government.
4. In response to the Security Council’s resolution the government promised to send 12000 policemen to maintain peace however, report from Sudan confirm that the government is recruiting and training another group of militias named “the army of Mohammad” to fight foreign troops that might be send to Sudan.

Conclusion
Darfur’s problem is the creation of a false ideology that distorted people’s reality. The ideology is created and promoted by power elite to maintain the status quo. There is an urgent need to resolve the current crises in Darfur immediately alternatively, millions of people might die however, as long as proponents of the Islamist/Arabist ideology have the power and resource to promote their ideology of jihad and heavenly paradise there is always the possibility of brainwashing some and a new chapter of destruction will be written somewhere else. To resolve the immediate crisis in Darfur the international community has to exert pressure on the government to act as per Chad agreement and immediately:-

1. refrain from any recruitment operations,
2. refrain from any military action, and any reconnaissance operations,
3. disengage and refrain from any deployment, movement or action which could extend the territory under its control or which could lead to resumption of hostilities,
4. stop any laying of mines, mark and sign post any danger areas and mine fields,
5. refrain from supplying or acquiring arms and ammunitions,
6. refrain from any act of violence or any other abuse on civilians populations,
7. stop any act of sabotage,
8. stop any restriction on the movement of goods and people,
9. stop any form of hostile act, including hostile propaganda,
10. ensure humanitarian access,
11. refrain from any military activity which, from the opinion of ceasefire commission or the joint commission, could endanger the ceasefire

Furthermore, to execute the Security Council resolution immediately on or before the stated time frame.

أقامت جامعة غرب استراليا بمدينة بيرث يوم الخميس 26أغسطس2004 الساعة الواحدة ظهراً ندوة عن مأساة دارفور تحدثت فيها الاستاذة نازك عبد الباقي عثمان من مجموعة التضامن مع أفريقيا والشرق والاوسط بغرب استراليا، وسوف نقوم في الايام التالية بنشر الورقة التي ساهمت بها.

وقعنا ..
وكما قالت الجندرية .. اضعف الايمان ..
عسي ولعل بربي .. ان يجدي نفعاً ..

ها أنا أوقع يا سيدي .. وأتمنى لو أن توقيعي يسع أركان الدنيا الاربعة..

لك ودي ولدارفور الحبيبة وما حوت انحناءاتي وسلامي ..


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لكم الود

بالتضامن مع الاتحاد الاشتراكي بغرب استراليا تقييم مجموعة التضامن مع أفريقيا والشرق والاوسط بغرب استراليا يوماً للتضامن مع أقليم دارفور بغرب السودان وذلك في يوم السبت 18 سبتمبر2004

وسنوافيكم بالتفاصيل لاحقاً