Staff Writer
On Tuesday, the governor of Darfur demanded an international probe into the abuse of locals in the area, which saw some of the worst combat in Sudan’s continuing conflict.
Mini Arko Minawi pleaded with the UN Security Council to allow the ICC to look into “crimes and assassinations” that occurred in the western region over the previous two months.
Fighting broke out in mid-April between the military, under the direction of Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, under the command of Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo.
Official calls for an international investigation into the brutality against Darfur residents
According to Health Minister Haitham Mohammed Ibrahim, more over 3,000 people were murdered and over 6,000 others were injured in the fight, which ended months of hostilities between competing generals. More than 2.2 million people were compelled to leave their homes in search of safety in neighboring countries and other parts of Sudan.
Khartoum, the country’s capital, has been the focal point of the conflict, which has also expanded to other parts of Africa, notably Darfur. According to U.N. authorities, the violence in Darfur has recently taken on an ethnic component.
Volker Perthes, the U.N. representative in Sudan, issued a warning earlier this month that RSF assaults and those of affiliated Arab militias could constitute crimes against humanity.
According to Minawi, “excessive force” has been applied against locals in various parts of the area, including Genena, the seat of the province of West Darfur.
He made reference to the murderous conflict in the early 2000s in a video he shared on his social media sites on Monday, saying, “What is happening in Darfur right now is no less than what had happened in 2003.”
He described the “assassinations” of the region’s political and communal leaders, including the governor of West Darfur, as well as the killing of civilians, the rape of women, the looting and burning of property, and the looting and burning of homes.
When ethnic Africans rose against the Arab-dominated administration in Khartoum, they brought about a genocide in Darfur.
The former regime of Omar al-Bashir was charged of retaliating by arming local Janjaweed nomadic Arab tribes, who attacked people. Over the previous 20 years, the Janjaweed, who eventually transformed into the RSF, have been held accountable for numerous homicides, rapes, and other atrocities committed in Darfur.
Residents and activists claim that during the ongoing conflict, the RSF and other Arab militias have regularly attacked the city, particularly regions where the non-Arab Masalit group resides. Numerous cities, villages, and relocation camps were burned down and looted.
Numerous women were reportedly raped both inside and outside of homes while attempting to flee the conflict in Darfur, according to activists. The RSF was accused of being responsible for almost all rape cases even though it was repeatedly contacted for comment.
