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here.
May
17, 2013 (KHARTOUM) - A new report argues that the Sudanese
government’s struggle for control of Darfur’s gold resources, rather
than inter-tribal conflicts is behind the recent surge in violence in
the war-torn western region.
- UNAMID
forces from Rwanda patrol in a new area for families displaced by the
fighting over goldmines between Abbala and Beni Hussein at the outskirts
of El Sereif, North Darfur on 13 May 2013. (photo Albert González
Farran/UNAMID)
The report, titled Darfur’s Gold
Rush: State-Sponsored Atrocities 10 Years after the Genocide, has cast
doubt on official rhetoric from Khartoum that tribal rivalries are to
blame for rising instability.
It found that the Sudanese
government is complicit in a violent power play for control of North
Darfur’s lucrative gold mines, as part of its heightened economic
interest in the region and an ongoing campaign of “state-sponsored
atrocity”.
According to the report released earlier this month by
the US-based Enough Project, Arab Abbala tribesmen are being armed by
Khartoum as part of a bid to wrest control of gold fields in Jebel Amer
from the Beni Hussein tribe, who are the traditional custodians of the
area.
“While we do not have documented evidence that the
government of Sudan ordered the Abbala offensive, it’s clear that the
historically state-aligned tribe, with ties to the janjaweed, was not
acting without at least tacit government consent”, researchers noted.
VIOLENCE ESCALATES
The escalation of violence since January 2013 has plunged the region into the worst humanitarian crisis in recent years.
The
UN estimates that some 150,000 people have been displaced following a
spate of attacks by armed Abbala militias, elements of which include the
notorious janjaweed forces, which hit the headlines 10 years ago for
brutal atrocities allegedly committed at the behest of the Sudanese
government.
The report argues that Khartoum has again reprised the
role of Abbala militia as a “tool of state repression”, suggesting the
government is employing the same “paralleling tactics” it used during
the height of the conflict in 2003-04.
“For over a decade, the
government of Sudan has pursued a strategy of economic plunder of the
periphery through violence and forcible demographic change”, the report
said.
A sedentary farming and cattle-rearing Arab community, the
Beni Hussein have historically been exempted from attack by
state-sponsored militias. However, the recent discovery of gold reserves
in their home area, and intense economic pressure on the Sudanese
government following South Sudan’s secession and the subsequent loss of
oil revenues, has fundamentally altered that dynamic, the report said.
GOLD BOOM
Jebel
Amer last year produced a third of Sudan’s gold, despite the absence of
major mining operations or foreign direct investment.
Satellite
imagery included in the report shows evidence of the presence of
commercial mining equipment, as well as the transformation of a
relatively desolate area into a thriving mining outpost within a few
months.
Darfuri sources interviewed for the report also suggested
that North Darfur governor Osman Yosuf Kibir was interested in securing a
stake in the mines. However, due to the Beni Hussein’s control of the
permit process, Kibir was only able to obtain licences for less than 20
mining sites, even though he owns the pumps needed to operate far more.
Researchers
from the Enough Project say that during the height of the latest round
of violence, Abbala militia leaders spoke publicly on Sudanese radio,
bragging about their position within the state security forces and in
many instances used state-supplied vehicles and weapons to conduct
attacks.
Reports suggest that Abbala militiamen from across Darfur
collected at least 4,000 horses, 2,500 camels, and 130 government-owned
vehicles to carry out the attacks.
During a second wave of
clashes in late February, hundreds of armed Abbala militiamen attacked
al-Sref Beni Hussein, where over 60,000 displaced people had sought
refuge in the aftermath of the first wave of attacks.
Internally
displaced people interviewed by Amnesty International following the
attack, said that armed men arrived on 150 camels and 200 horses, as
well as more than 40 four-wheel drive vehicles to attack the town,
leaving 53 dead and 66 injured, most of whom were civilians, including
women and children.
“A scattered power base in Khartoum means that
the Sudanese government no longer speaks with one voice. Instead,
middle men and profiteers within the ruling party have gained influence
and control. These elements see clear economic benefit from intense
periods of violence, particularly in places along Sudan’s marginalised
periphery”, the report said, which draws on extensive interviews with
sources in Darfur, Khartoum and the diaspora community.
As part of
six key recommendations, the Enough Project calls on the US and the
international community to provide further support to democratic forces
within Sudan and apply pressure to the Sudanese government to grant
humanitarian agencies unfettered access to all areas of Darfur.
It
also calls on the United States and other partners to exert pressure to
ensure that those responsible for human rights abuses during the latest
wave of violence are held accountable.
The Enough Project says
reconciliation pledges made between the Beni Hussein and Abbala tribes
must be honoured and that the international donor community should work
to promote Darfur’s economic growth through sustainable and
self-sufficient development.
It says companies in the gold supply
chain should add Sudan to their list of countries identified as
high-risk originating points for gold and that jewellers and gold
exchanges “should conduct additional due diligence on gold coming out
of Sudan to avoid engaging in the conflict gold trade”.
(ST)
