Four IDPs killed and sixteen injured by Sudanese authorities in Zalengei, Central Darfur

(3 March 2014) Four internally displaced persons (IDPs) were killed and sixteen injured, including eight children, by Sudanese authorities during a peaceful demonstration in Zalengei, Central Darfur.

On 15 February the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) in Zalengei, Central Darfur conducted a three day workshop on social peace for local administrators and civil society. The workshop was held in the Faculty of Languages Hall at Zalengei University, and attended by Mohamed Chambas, head of the joint peacekeeping mission, UNAMID, the Central Darfur Governor Yousif Tibin, and the head of the former rebel group, the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), El Tijani Sisse. El Tijani Sisse is also the chairperson of the DRA.

The workshop was boycotted by many of the IDPs in Hamadiya IDP camp in Zalengei, who were invited to participate. They boycotted the workshop on the basis that the security situation continues to deteriorate in Zalengei and throughout Darfur. The IDPs drafted a memorandum condemning the workshop, stating that social peace could not be addressed while atrocities continue to take place.

At the conclusion of the workshop on 17 February, IDPs from Hamadiya camp marched in a peaceful procession from the camp to Zalengei town to submit the memorandum to the DRA. As they were marching to the Hall where the workshop was being held, members of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) and police ordered the IDPs to turn back.

An eyewitness reported that a police officer received an order from the NISS and shot live ammunition into the crowd of IDPs. Two IDPs were instantly killed. Eighteen were injured by gunshot wounds and barbed wire while fleeing the scene, including eight children. Two of the injured IDPs died from their gun-shot injuries the following day.

The names of the IDPs killed are below.

1. Muhammad Ali Yagoub, (m.), 31 years of age, farmer. Mr. Yagoub is a member of the Fur ethnic group.
2. Muhammad Ibrahim Karkab, (m.), 37 years of age, trader. Mr. Karkab is a member of the Fur ethnic group.
3. Halima Abakar Ali, (f.), 68 years of age, farmer. Ms. Ali was seriously injured and died from her injuries on 18 February 2014.
4. Noura Bakhit Ibrahim, (f.), 38 years of age, member of the Fur ethnic group.  Injuries sustained from gunshot wounds. Ms. Ibrahim died of her injuries on 18 February.

The names of the injured IDPs are below.

1. Madiha Hussein Ibrahim, (f.), 8 years of age. Injuries sustained from barbed wire.
2. Manei Yagoub Adam, (m.), 4 years of age. Injuries sustained from barbed wire.
3. Dar Alnaeim Salih Aham, (f.), 14 years of age, member of the Fur tribe. Injuries sustained from gunshot wounds.
4. Jawheer Suleiman Idriss, (f.), 14 years of age, student, member of the Fur tribe. Injuries sustained from barbed wire.
5. Halima Muhammad Ali, (f.), 16 years of age, member of the Fur tribe. Injuries sustained from gunshot wounds.
6. Enam Ismaeil Abdulrahman, (f.), 9 years of age. Injuries sustained from gunshot wounds.
7. Idriss Hassan Ismaeil, (m.), 9 years of age, member of the Fur ethnic group. Injuries sustained from gunshot wounds.
8. Shadia Adam Ismaeil, (f.), 16 years of age, member of the Fur ethnic group.
9. Adam Hamid Idriss Ali, (m.), 18 years of age, injuries sustained from gunshot wounds.
10. Rumana Yagoub Dawod, (f.), 20 years of age, member of the Fur ethnic group. Injuries sustained from barbed wire.
11. Yagoub Adam Yahya, (m.), 22 years of age, trader. Mr. Yahya is a member of the Fur ethnic group.
12. Samia Sidig Haroun Adam, (f.), 22 years of age, member of the Fur ethnic group. Injuries sustained from barbed wire.
13. Fiten Muhammad Othman, (f.), 22 years of age. Injuries sustained from gunshot wounds.
14. Kaltoum Muhammad Jouma Karkab, (f.), 30 years of age, member of the Maasalit ethnic group. Injuries sustained from barbed wire.
15. Haja Dawod Mahmoud, (f.), 33 years of age, teacher. Injuries sustained from barbed wire.
16. Halima Abdallah Muhammad, (f.), 31 years of age. Injuries sustained from gunshot wounds.

ACJPS condemns the excessive use of force by the GoS against IDPs. ACJPS calls on the GoS to:

• Order an independent and impartial investigation into the events of 17 February, and ensure that the findings are published within a clear timeframe and individuals are held accountable for abuses.
• Unequivocally and publicly condemn the excessive use of force by the police and the NISS;
• Protect the injured victims of these recent incidents from further violence or reprisals and ensure they have access to appropriate medical services.

Background

The DRA is a regional governance body established following the signature of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DPDD) in 2011 between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the former rebel group LJM. It replaced the former Transitional Darfur Regional Authority, established by the 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement.

The DPDD is controversial amongst Darfur’s IDP population. It has been criticised for not representing the views of all displaced groups, and of being the result of negotiations that were not inclusive. Little political progress has been made in efforts to resolve the Darfur conflict and funding streams have been reoriented away from humanitarian and emergency relief and towards development aid. The UN has reported that over 300,000 were displaced from January – May 2013 alone. This figure is higher than the combined number of displaced from 2009 – 2012.

The GoS has repeatedly used excessive use of force to quell demonstrations in Darfur. Shortly before the outbreak of the September 2013 demonstrations that culminated in the deaths of over 170 demonstrators nationwide, two children and one adult were killed by the police at a protest outside the South Darfur governments’ offices in Nyala. The protest called for increased security in the region following a militia attack within Nyala. In 2012 and 2013 student militias and armed forces were deployed to violently disperse demonstrations held by Darfuri students on university campuses in White Nile, Al Jazeera, and El Fashir. Darfuri student association leaders have been subjected to arbitrary arrest and torture and ill-treatment.

The findings of a committee established to investigate the deaths of twelve demonstrators, including ten children, following anti-regime demonstrations in Nyala in July 2012 have never been made public.

Under the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, security forces may only use lethal force when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.

Contact: Osman Hummaida, Executive Director, African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS)

Phone: +44 7956 095738 (UK)

E-mail: osman@acjps.org

This post is also available in: Arabic