RSF commander in Central Darfur threatens Zalingei displaced
Four examples of incitement against Darfur civilians
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) published a video August 4th inciting violence against the residents of the displaced camps around Zalingei, Central Darfur.
The video, published by official RSF accounts, shows a 3-minute speech by General Ali Yagoub Jibril, commander of the RSF forces in Central Darfur, who said that the army’s 21st Division withdrew from Zalingei and is “present among the displaced, they withdrew all their forces inside the IDP camps.”
This statement fits with a pattern of rhetoric characterizing civilian populations as legitimate military targets, as a way of justifying horrific attacks against them, as happened in Al Jeneina, Mornei, Sirba, and elsewhere.
As with most instances of incitement, this one is implicit rather than direct. The Rapid Support Forces have attacked the camps around Zalingei before, and they may do so again. Because of the former war in Darfur, there are several large camps around Zalingei, pre-dating the current conflict. The residents belong to ethnic groups historically targeted by the RSF, in particular the Fur.
In the rest of the video, Jibril ranted against SAF Assistant Commander-in-Chief Yasser Al Atta, after which he called the 21st Division “Yasser Al Atta’s division,” and again reiterated that they are “among the IDPs.”
The caption on the video when it was shared by the RSF media team highlighted the same claim: “The coup forces are sheltering in the camps for the displaced.”
Note that there is no independent confirmation that the SAF garrison in Zalingei has fallen, though the RSF have taken control of the town itself.
While it’s possible there could be some armed individuals in the Zalingei camps, the 21st Division headquarters itself remains in the hands of the army. Commander Jibril’s message is therefore not only incendiary, it’s also disinformation.
Yesterday the army spokesperson responded to Jibril’s video, denying that RSF had taken full control of Zalingei. He said, “Today the rebels made a big lie by claiming they controlled all Central Darfur, but this is not true. We have there an infantry division in Zalingei…and they are fulfilling their duties.”
Jibril’s message was triggered by earlier reports that the 21st Infantry Division and the Mustafa Tambour forces had attacked an RSF position at a school in Zalingei. Tambour is a commander of a faction of the Sudan Liberation Army who has allied with SAF against RSF, unlike most other SLA factions that have stayed neutral. Tambour’s brother was killed allegedly by RSF in a road ambush in mid-July.
Tambour claimed July 31, “Our forces participated with the army in the battles during the past two days in Zalingei, which led to the killing of 27, the wounding of 41, and the capture of 14 members of the Rapid Support militia,” he said.
Jibril, the RSF commander, denied that this was true.
Another example of incitement
Another example of incitement against Darfur civilians by the RSF is this audio recording by Mohamad Hamdan Dagalo, also called “Hemedti.”
In the recording June 20th, the RSF commander-in-chief offered excuses for the RSF-led violence against non-Arab tribe in the capital Al Jeneina and surrounding villages, saying the “sons of the tribes” (Masalit, Bargo etc) were given weapons and military identification numbers by the Sudan army.
“We have ample evidence of the SAF recruiting tribesmen and indiscriminately distributing military cards in a malicious plan to incite tribal warfare throughout Darfur, with Al Jeneina being the initial target.”
This is a statement excusing and encouraging violations against members of those tribes writ large. By saying the tribesmen were armed by SAF military intelligence, Hemedti equated them to SAF combatants—which is the same as saying it is justifiable to kill them.
Hemedti also referred repeatedly to the existence of a “tribal war” in Al Jeneina, which is an oft-repeated RSF talking point to deny RSF’s direct and indirect involvement in the killing of civilians. Although Hemedti said he “made intensive efforts to calm the situation in Al Jeneina,” there is no evidence of that, and in fact this statement suggests the opposite, namely, that he used incendiary language and made outrageous claims in an effort to deflect blame.
Targeting the Erenga
Hemedti’s audio message followed similar claims in an audio message the day before by General Abdelrahman Juma Barakallah, the RSF West Darfur Sector Commander. He accused the military intelligence of distributing about 2,500 weapons to the tribes that the RSF are targeting in West Darfur: “They distributed 1,000 weapons to the Erenga and 1,500 to the Masalit. There’s evidence of that and everybody knows that.”
Note that the Erenga are the tribe targeted in the Sirba massacre last week.
Although Barakallah claimed he tried to calm the situation, his speech repeatedly emphasized grievances and injustices allegedly perpetrated against “the Arabs,” as a way of justifying the violence perpetrated by the RSF and their allied militiamen.
Like Hemedti, the RSF commander in West Darfur characterized the conflict in Al Jeneina as a “tribal” one. But as Al Jazeera reported after interviewing victims who had fled to Eastern Chad, “nearly every refugee we interviewed along the border said uniformed RSF members were fighting with [i.e. alongside] the Arab militias.”
Other witness accounts likewise confirm this, including reporting by Channel 4, Human Rights Watch, Sky News, and others, as well as testimonies on social media.
Incitement by West Darfur leaders
I’ll share one last example of incitement. I already wrote about it on social media on July 9th, but in light of the Sirba massacre last week, I feel it is worth reiterating.
The video shows a statement by several Arab leaders in West Darfur accusing “certain tribes” of receiving support from the military intelligence. At the time, I commented:
A statement by the Emir of the Ta'isha and Emir of the Rizeigat Mahamid, inciting violence against the Masalit tribe and calling on all their tribesmen to join the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). These are leaders of the Arab militias in West Darfur loyal to the RSF, which are not distinct from the RSF in any meaningful way but often are called "allied" or "affiliated" militias. Together with Hemedti, they declared a "tribal war" against the Masalit, as justification for burning their villages, pillaging their homes, killing their men, and raping their women. Although we can accurately say such violence is "ethnic" in character, this is not some primordial tribal conflict rooted in time immemorial but a new and fresh one dating to April 15, 2023, which utilizes an apparatus of the state, namely, the RSF, and is carried out for financial and political gain both locally and nationally, with transnational security implications as well.
When I shared this, some commented that the video did not amount to incitement against the Masalit. My reply, then as now, is that incitement is rarely direct, it is usually implicit, as in this case. Equating enemy tribes broadly to SAF combatants, as in this case, is the same as saying it is justifiable to kill them.
However, I’ll acknowledge that not everyone views the Arab militias in West Darfur as being as closely intertwined with the RSF; some well-informed analysts view them as fully or partly independent actors. This is my subjective analysis, reflecting the close political, military, and ideological affinities between RSF and these local groups.
Finally, it’s worth noting that most incitement occurs offline, not in pre-recorded videos. These are the more manicured, polished examples of propaganda coming from the RSF. What kind of things are being said when the cameras are off?
In brief
We published a thread on Twitter yesterday about fighting in central Omdurman.
We published a brief update on the Sudan War Monitor project yesterday.
Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued a joint statement on atrocities in Darfur, condemning “killings based on ethnicity and widespread sexual violence by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias.”
UNICEF said that 14 million Sudanese children need humanitarian support. Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban said, “At least 435 children have been reported killed in the conflict, and at least 2,025 children injured. That is an average of one child killed or injured every hour since the war began. We know that this is an underestimate, and the true toll is likely to be far higher.”