Defectors from the Sudanese regime explain their role in the Sudanese Government’s planning and execution of mass atrocities in Darfur, implicating members of the regime at the highest level.
This morning the Aegis Trust circulated this video. It is a powerful indictment of the Sudanese government, which, as we have known all along, was behind the massacres perpetrated against the Durfarians. It’s 20 minute length is worth the while. Below are sections describing the unfolding of this human rights atrocity, which still goes on. The excerpts are chilling. God bless George Clooney for his caring.
Everything that follows is from Aegis Trust:
In ‘Darfur Destroyed’ those who organised, financed and perpetrated atrocities in Darfur testify for the first time how their orders came directly from the Government of Sudan (GoS).
In doing so they provide powerful support to the anticipated International Criminal Court prosecution of President of Sudan Omar El-Bashir for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Darfur.
Among those interviewed are:
‘Suleiman’ Janjaweed Commander, 2003 -2007
‘Ali’ Janjaweed fighter, 2004-2005
‘Ahmed’ Senior officer, Sudanese Army Finance, 1999 -2008
‘Osman’ Sudanese Soldier, 2002 – 2003
‘Darfur Destroyed’ charts each phase of the crisis and reveals the responsibility of the GoS at each and every point.
1. The crisis erupts
A senior Janjaweed Commander discloses how, following the Sudanese Army’s failed campaign against Darfur’s rebels, the GoS armed, trained and funded groups of Arab militiamen to attack the region’s black Africans.
“I give you the weapons, the money, the horses, the camels, the uniforms, everything… We need only land. We don’t need the people here. We need only land”
(Vice President of Sudan Ali Osman in El Fashir in – as heard by ‘Suleiman’, Janjaweed Commander 2003 -2007)
2. Launching the Janjaweed
The same Janjaweed commander tells how intelligence collected on the ground was relayed to the headquarters of the Sudanese Army in Khartoum who gave direct orders and money to attack villages.
“I swear to God, a lot, a lot, a lot of people died”
(‘Ali’, Janjaweed fighter, speaking about the first attack in which he was involved)
3.Masking the Janjaweed
By 2004 the Janjaweed had become a liability for the GoS in its dealings with the international community. ‘Darfur Destroyed’ shows how the GoS attempted to mask the presence of the militia in Darfur by absorbing them into the Sudanese Army.
“This was all so the Government could say that these people are not Janjaweed, they are military.”
(‘Suleiman’, Janjaweed Commander 2003 – 2007)
4.Arming and paying the Janjaweed
A Sudanese Army Finance Officer explains how the GoS paid Janjaweed militiamen alongside its regular armed force.
“After we sent the names [of Janjaweed fighters to be paid], approval came from the Headquarters.”
(‘Ahmed’, Senior Sudanese Army Finance officer 1999 -2008)
5.Working together
A Janjaweed fighter reveals how, where the militia encountered resistance, the Sudanese Air Force would bomb villages in advance of the their attack.
Pilot: “We searched it, there’s nothing at all.”
Ground Command: “Anywhere you pass through, burn it so they don’t come back… Leave nothing, you don’t want any surprises.”
Recording of a Sudanese bomber pilot talking to Ground Command (Feb, 2004)
6.Rape
Janjaweed fighters of all levels explain how the Sudanese Army, with the tacit acceptance of the GoS, use rape as a tactic by which to terrorise, displace and torture black African women in Darfur. A defector from the Sudanese Army tells how soldiers would be shot by their superiors for refusing to rape woman and girls, some as young as 11 years old.
“Raping is an order… They want the children to be different in colour, to be like them”
(‘Osman’, Sudanese Soldier 2002 – 2003)
7. Bribing the killers to go on
‘Darfur Destroyed’ reveals how, in 2005, many Janjaweed Commanders became frustrated with the war in Darfur. As a result President of Sudan Omar El-Bashir, sent 4 billion Sudanese Pounds to bribe the Commanders to keep up their attacks on Darfur’s civilians.
8. Time for justice
Finally in ‘Darfur Destroyed’ a Senior Janjaweed Commander declares for the first time that he is prepared to testify against the Sudanese Government and calls upon the international community to arrest those responsible for Darfur’s suffering.
“The Sudanese Government can never say that they did not make genocide there … all of [them are] war criminals”
‘Suleiman’ Janjaweed Commander, 2003 – 2007
Strange how the phrase “Eyes Wide Shut” is becoming our norm throughout the world. The problem is that when governments perceive this way, like our own government’s perspective on Darfur for the past eight years, it condones the behavior that these silence breakers are talking about.
