23.10.2024
Eastern Al-Jazeera is Not a Playground for Killing and War Crimes Against Civilians*
*Yasir Arman*
What is happening in Eastern Al-Jazeera and other areas before, indicates that the war is no longer just between the two armed parties, but now involves tribes and communites, from Al-Fashir to Tambul in Eastern Al-Jazeera. These are war massacres primarily against civilians and we must not take sides like we are merely supporting Sudan’s leading football clubs Hilal or Merrikh. The current phase of the war is destroying the social fabric and will lead to alignment on tribal and communal basis. It is no longer about a “new agenda” or a war against the “remnants”; it is turning into a war of everyone against everyone—a devilish plan that individuals like Amseeb, Oshi, Al-Majdi, Al-Inserafi, and Al-Rabee Abd Al-Monem, among others, have been pushing for forcefully.
Eastern Al-Jazeera is a land where all Sudanese from diverse backgrounds have lived for a long time, with tribes inheriting it generation after generation. How can you justify destroying these people; firing upon civilians, displacing thousands, and eliminating opportunities for life under any pretext? We must speak out clearly and the regional and international communities, along with the UN and its agencies should break their fast and not remain silent. They must advocate for the civilians and their protection. This war is turning before our eyes into a tribal and ethnic conflict that tears apart the precious social fabric rather than building a new society.
All armed forces from both sides must withdraw from Tambul as well as the villages and towns of Eastern Al-Jazeera and conduct their war far from civilians. The appointed Governor of Al-Jazeera by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Kikel, who defected last week has neither been elected to represent the people of Eastern Al-Jazeera, nor nominated by them as a delegate into the rank and file of the RSF. Neither has his return to the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) happened through elections in which the residents of Eastern Al-Jazeera cast their votes. In both cases, the civilians in Eastern Al-Jazeera have no responsiblility in actions. What is happening is war crimes against civilians as has occurred in other regions.
Who among us can believe that Khartoum, with its more than ten million residents and its reflection of Sudan’s diversity and state memory, could disappear in an instant, leaving behind memories of killing, sexual abuse, looting, and the displacement of its inhabitants as marks of wounds in this war for power! This war is entering a new and critical phase, threatening the lives of millions of civilians in more than ten cities and areas, especially in the next three months. In Al-Fashir, Al-Obeid, Dilling, Kadugli, Babanoosa, Kosti, Al-Managil, Sennar, Al-Faw, and Al-Gadarif, civilians are threatened by infantry weapons, artillery, armor, and airstrikes. The catastrophe is expanding, and the civilian forces have not developed their mechanisms or united fully as a third party and a critical mass against the war. The political and civil movements must not dissolve between the conflicting parties nor be used to serve the war agenda of either party.
*23 October 2024*