World keeps mum as Sudan’s feared paramilitary force unleashes a reign of terror on non-Arabs in West Darfur

Are all human lives equal? If so, then 2023 has not just been about wars in Ukraine and Gaza. In the hues and cries of conflicts that are a priority to the Euro-centric world, we have ‘forgotten’ to look at what is happening on the other side of the Red Sea — south of the Sahara desert – Sudan. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary force and a rebranded name for the notorious Janjaweed militia known for the horrible Darfur genocide, has been wreaking havoc on the country marred by ethnic conflicts, military dictatorship, political turmoil, destituteness and hunger. The new wave of crisis started in the month of April, when war broke out in the Sudanese capital Khartoum between the Sudanese army and the RSF, who fell out over a plan to ‘integrate’ their troops as part of ‘transition to democracy’. As per DTM Sudan (Monthly Displacement Overview), until the end of 2023, 5.8 million people have been internally displaced, while more than 1.5 million people have left the country. The UN data states that over 7 million people have been displaced! Starting in October, as the tide of war turned in favour of the RSF once more, the paramilitary force started to haunt the Darfur region again. One might remember the bloodshed that Janjaweed caused in Darfur in the 2000s, beginning in 2003, in which 300,000 people died. This was targeted at the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the region’s non-Arab population. To put it in blatant terms, the devil has returned! Think again: On 8 November, 2023, in Ardamata, a suburb of El Geneina, the capital of Sudan’s West Darfur region, the RSF killed more than 1,000 people, and it did not even hit our headlines! The non-Arab tribe of Masalit has become the primary prey of the RSF’s Arab jingoism. By using a divide-and-rule tactic to set tribes against one another, former president Omar al-Bashir increased ethnic tensions. Bashir tasked armed Arab tribal groups in 2003 to put down a primarily non-Arab uprising that had its roots in protests against Darfur’s political and economic marginalisation. And apparently, the Jinn has not been bottled yet and is plundering even more. By 16 June, the RSF had already executed Khamis Abubbakr, the governor of West Darfur. He was kidnapped and assassinated shortly after he told the Saudi television network Al-Hadath that the killings in his region were “genocide”. It is not that the international community has not condemned this carnage; the European Union has warned of the danger of “another genocide,” and the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner has been “extremely alarmed” by the Ardamata killings. But these have largely gone unheard to check the outrage of the RSF or its allied militias. The US and Saudi Arabia have led negotiations to end the conflict, but these efforts have failed, and prior commitments to protect civilians have not been followed. The situation is grim; one can find a number of horrifying stories, reading the experiences of thousands who have fled for neighbouring Chad and found refuge in overcrowded camps. We read about a woman who shares how some “heavily armed men” attacked her village and forced her to flee, leaving her seven children behind amid brutal violence. Or a 34-year-old who had a harsh trek for four days carrying her eight-year-old son on her back with no provisions. But as one looks upon the non-Arab tribes of West Darfur, including Masalits, one can’t help wondering whether these ideas hold any relevance for the international community. If all lives are equal, how can we be mum to this open genocide? The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948, has criminalised genocide and obligated state parties to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition decades before, to which Sudan is also a party. It is noted that the Sudanese army might not be able to protect its citizens and has also historically been the cause of their trauma by breeding Arab-militia Janjaweed which later became the RSF, only to be bitten back by them. Also, non-Arab groups have also taken some endeavours which are clearly not very able to ensure security. But why does the international community not look as worried about it as it does when it comes to people dying in Gaza or the toll the Russia-Ukraine war is causing? Are some lives more important when they profoundly affect the interests of big powers? Or, the overt ethnic conflict in Sudan — which belongs to the coup belt of Africa and has had political and ethnic conflicts almost throughout its post-independence era — is not a newsworthy element for the media houses globally in their eagerness to catch eyeballs. The author still awaits an answer. Hope has risen as the RSF said on Tuesday, “Its arms are wide open to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire through talks with the Sudanese army.” The move was followed when a pro-civilian group, the Taqadum Civilian Coalition, and the RSF, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, signed the Addis Ababa Declaration, inviting the Sudanese army to follow suit. However, it is still unclear whether the army would accept it. According to reports, the agreement includes commitments to build safe passageways and repatriate millions of displaced people to their homes. But how far it will be helpful to the Masalit people is yet to be concluded. To this realist anarchy of international order, Masalits only have sorrows, sufferings, and wounds to show. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the Latest News , Trending News , Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. 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