The continuing sit-in of defenseless Sudanese civilian citizens in Nertiti has indications that the remnants of the defunct regime still remain
الاعتصام المستمر للمواطنين المدنيين السودانيين العزل في نيرتيتي يشير إلى أن بقايا النظام البائد ما زالت باقية
The sit-in at Nertiti locality in Central Darfur State is based on citizenship rights to live in Freedom, peace and justice the slogans of the glorious December Revolution
اعتصام محلية نيرتيتي بولاية وسط دارفور يقوم علىحقوق المواطنة للعيش في الحرية والسلام والعدالة شعارات ثورة ديسمبر المجيدة
By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
This article comes against the background /backdrop of reports received from Nertiti locality in the State of Central Darfur region that citizens living there remained in a continuous sit-in in protest against the security situation which continued abjectly flawed and erroneous while officials in the region do not care about the violations of security and attacks on citizens.
According to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Public security is the function of governments which ensures the protection of citizens, persons in their territory, organizations, and institutions against threats to their well-being – and to the prosperity of their communities.[1]
To meet the increasing challenges in the public security area, responsible public institutions and organisations can tap into their own intelligence to successfully address possible threats in advance. They optimise their internal structures, use synergies, and carefully balance costs and benefits of their measures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_security
Nertiti means in the Fur tribal Language “the washed and clean piece of pure” in relation to the cleanliness and splendor of the place. The city of breathtaking nature has attracted the attention of the Sudanese and the whole world, with the peaceful sit-in of the people of the region who want it to be washed and clean of blood and flakes, and want to live in peace to cultivate and cultivate their lands.
The Nertiti is one of the largest localities and Towns in the west of Jebel Marra Massif, famous for its beautiful and charming natural scenery, and most of its inhabitants have been driven to become reluctant to cultivate reluctant due to fear from the attacks by unscrupulous criminals who are generally herders, but their suffering is more with the gunmen who prevent them from farming as they attack farmers and women working in the fields or out to collect fire wood for daily purpose of cooing . The herders used toterrorize them and sometimes rape them, which led them to seek refuge in the local authority and its police in the hope of protection, but without heeding.
Nertiti sit-in Darfur protesters call for action to end attacks on civilians by armed militias. Furthermore, the peaceful sit-in taking place in Nertiti County is demanding an end to the violence and punishment for the perpetrators.
Some of the women, with children on their backs, carry food on their heads to feed the protesters, who want the military governor removed from office and replaced by a civilian. They also want to see an end to attacks on civilians, the prosecution of perpetrators of violence and access to land taken from them by armed settlers, backed by the former regime of the génocidaire, the notorious fugitive criminalOmer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir. The sit-in in Nertiti began at the end of June 2020 and has grown steadily as more people join from other states in Darfur.
In the past four weeks, the Darfur Bar Association said it had registered 48 cases of violence against civilians in Nertiti and surrounding areas.
A delegation from the government in Khartoum visited the protest camp and has promised to address the issues. But protesters say they will not leave until the government acts on all their demands. “We will stay here even for a year if what we are looking for is not actually met,” said Abudlmukaram Adam, a protester and lawyer from Nertiti.
Genocide in Darfur reported by Amnesty International
Those Sudanese citizens who are currently protesting at Nertiti locality against the attacks perpetrated by criminal gangs, their predecessors and loved ones suffered from heinous crimes at the hands of the Janjaweed militias allied to the ousted NCP regime led by the deposed President Omer al-Bashir. The statistics of the atrocious crimes perpetrated by the former regime and recorded by the Amnesty International in 2016 are as follows: 3 Million Citizens have been made Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), 300000 people were killed and along with 171 villages in the Jebel Mara surroundings have been destroyed by burning.
Thus, the Sudanese civilian Citizens of the Nertiti countywho are now protesting have had been subjected to torture and displacement, and the killing of their close relatives andmembers of their families by the regime’s ruling the National Congress Party (NCP) regular Army, on the orders of its ousted leader Omar al-Bashir. The region of Darfur in the western Sudan also includes the county of Nertiti and Jebel Marra. The figures of atrocities reported by the Amnesty International have been shown above.
Among the demands are also the cessation of the use of motorbikes, the collection of unregulated weapons, the protection of the agricultural season, the recovery of livestock looted by armed militias, and the bringing of perpetrators against whom legal measures have been restricted to justice, as well as the opening of paths to bypass the frictions between herders and farmers.
And because the prevailing belief in the region and around it is that former regime officials still control the joints of local government, obstruct justice and detonate the security situation by various means, the most urgent requirement after imposing security was the dismissal of government officials.
The Nertiti sit-in in Darfur has taken place in what has been referred to as clean land seeking security – a statement made by the Amnesty International as early as the year 2016.
Nertiti locality or Nertiti town is one of the largest local towns in the west of the Massif Jabel Marra Mountain rangein the state of Central Darfur, which is located in western Sudan Region within the Five States of Darfur.
The five states in the former Darfur region/ Province are the State of North Darfur and its capital is the city of El Fasher and the State of South Darfur and its capital the city of Nyala and the State of West Darfur and its capital the city of El Geneina in the Dar Masalit and then the State of East Darfur and its capital the city of Al Daein and finally the State of Central Darfur and its capital the city of Zalingei. It is bounded to the north by North Darfur State, to the east by South Darfur State, and to the northwest by West Darfur State.
The foregoing statement: Burned land and Poisoned air by the Sudanese Government Forces to destroy Jebel Marra Massif in Darfur is what the Amnesty International has said as early as the year 2016. The foregoing statement attributed to Amnesty International seems as if being said today during the ongoing sit-in of Nertiti citizens who have tasted the bitterness of racial discrimination, ethnic cleansing, scorched earth policy and genocide since the year 2003 while the perpetrators of those heinous crimes such as Omer Hassan Ahmed al- Bashir -are still at large, awaiting arrest and their handover to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague in the Netherlands. It is Noteworthy that what happened to the people of Nertiti now is only an extension of the crimes that they suffered during the lean years of the tyranny rule of the evil Muslim Brotherhood Movement (MBM) over the past seventeen years.
Let us find out the underlying cause for the continuing Sit-in of the Sudanese citizens in the Nertiti locality.
According to the statements of Musaab Ahmed – who is one of the youths of the two sit-ins – says that they have decided to resort to a peaceful option, especially since the demands submitted to the authorities are “very legitimate”, because the Darfur community depends on agriculture and grazing and in the absence of security and the chaotic spread of weapons, it is difficult to practice these two professions.
In addition, Musaab says that there are assaults inside the locality by masked men wearing “Kadmool” – a costume from the common culture in Darfur, where men wear a cover that covers most of the features of the face and makes it hidden- in order to prevent the official from seeing thehidden criminals.
On July 4th 2020, the Darfur Bar Association prepared a preliminary report on the situation in Nertiti, during which it was warned that failure to respond to the demands of its people might lead to the development of the sit-in and the production of similar models in other regions.
The commission considered the Nertiti sit-in as a civilized behaviour in demanding rights, and a democratic practice that must be invested for a positive action, by taking the sit-in platform as the start of a preparatory project for a forum that discusses security and peace issues, and to produce solutions to the nation’s national issues and problems such as security and community peace issues.
According to the commission, “Since Eid al-Fitr the usual Festive time at the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan,48 incidents of attacks and crimes have occurred against the citizens of the region and its vicinity, criminal communications have been filed with each other and the police have refrained from recording most of them.
The report notes that the aggressor groups are nomadic herders, and that “there are two known families who practiced violations continuously and systematically, some of whose members committed serious crimes and were reported without being subject to accountability and criminal procedures, and that the practices of these individuals are protected by the regular agencies and local authorities.”
Nertiti sit-in in Darfur is a clean land seeking security
“The protesters are demanding the cessation of militia attacks and the dismissal of government officials,” Al-Jazeera Net reported
Musaab Ahmed – one of the youths in the sit-in – said that they decided to resort to a peaceful option, especially since the demands submitted to the authorities are “very legitimate”, because the Darfur community depends on agriculture and grazing and in the absence of security and the chaotic proliferation of weapons, it is difficult to practice these two professions.
In addition, he says, there are assaults inside the city by masked men wearing the head and face cover locally known as “Kadmool” – a term describing a turban-like costume from the common culture in Darfur, where men wear a cloth that covers most of the features of the face – in order to prevent the personal identity especially of the perpetrators of crimes from being identified and in a way keeps thecriminals hidden from being recognized.
On July 4, the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) prepared a preliminary report on the situation in Nertiti, in which it warned that failure to respond to the demands of the citizens may lead to the time extension of the sit-in and the production of similar models in other localities.
The commission considered the Nertiti sit-in a civilized behavior in demanding rights, and a democratic practice that must be invested for a positive action, by taking the sit-in platform as the start of a preparatory project for a forum that discusses security and peace issues, and to produce solutions to the nation’s national issues and problems such as security and community peace issues.
According to the report of the commission, “Since Eid al-Fitr which is the festive that follows the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, 48 incidents of attacks and crimes have occurred against the citizens of the locality and its vicinity, criminal communications have been filed with each other but the police have refrained from recording most of them.
The report notes that the aggressor groups are usually nomadic herders, and that “there are two known families who practice violations on a continuous and systematic basis, some of whom have committed grave crimes and have been reported without being subject to accountability and criminal procedures, and that the practices of these individuals are protected by the regular agencies and local authorities.”
Legitimate demands
Musab Ahmed – who is one of the youths of the two sit-ins – says that they have decided to resort to a peaceful option, especially since the demands submitted to the authorities are “very legitimate”, because the Darfur community depends on agriculture and grazing and in the absence of security and the chaotic spread of weapons, it is difficult to practice these two professions.
In addition, he says, there are assaults inside the city of masked men wearing “Kadmool” – a costume from the common culture in Darfur, where men wear a cover that covers most of the features of the face and makes it hidden- in order to prevent the official from seeing the hidden criminals.
On July 4th 2020, the Darfur Bar Association prepared a preliminary report on the situation in Nertiti, during which it was warned that failure to respond to the demands of its people might lead to the development of the sit-in and the production of similar models in other regions.
The commission considered the Nertiti sit-in as a civilized behaviour in demanding rights, and a democratic practice that must be invested for a positive action, by taking the sit-in platform as the start of a preparatory project for a forum that discusses security and peace issues, and to produce solutions to the nation’s national issues and problems such as security and community peace issues.
According to the commission, “Since Eid al-Fitr the usual Festive time at the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan,48 incidents of attacks and crimes have occurred against the citizens of the region and its vicinity, criminal communications have been filed with each other and the police have refrained from recording most of them.
The report notes that the aggressor groups are nomadic herders, and that “there are two known families who practiced violations continuously and systematically, some of whose members committed serious crimes and were reported without being subject to accountability and criminal procedures, and that the practices of these individuals are protected by the regular agencies and local authorities.”
In the face of the prolonged sit-in, which garnered unparalleled response and support from the Sudanese, and after convoys from the cities of Nyala and Zalingei in Darfur and elsewhere joined it, the Sudanese government found itself facing a situation that required its intervention, so Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok described the demands of the people of as Legitimate, then decided to send a high-level delegation to meet The sit-ins.
Indeed, the official delegation made their journey on Sunday evening, and then engaged in meetings with local officials for more than 8 hours, to be surprised after the protesters refused to address them coming, especially after seeing the military convoys that accompanied the Khartoum officials, and they chanted against the scene, stressing that their peaceful sit-in is not worthy of this crowd Security. The delegation was only locked back to the city of Nyala at night and then returned to Nertiti in the morning and addressed the protesters.
The media official at the sit-in headquarters, Muzammil Muhammad Ali, told Al-Jazeera Net that most of the demands related to development were agreed with the government delegation to postpone it until the peace agreement was signed, while the protesters met with some satisfaction – as Ali, second commander of the Rapid Support Force (RSF), Abdul Rahim Daglo who pledged to provide 120 vehicles to catch the fugitives. The armed forces contributed 40 vehicles as well as the formation of the Ministry of Interior joint forces to pursue the perpetrators.He further affirmed that “decisions were made to dismiss the local police director, its executive director and the intelligence official, in addition to removing the commander of the military in the region and removing one of the judges, in response to the demands of the sit-in.” However, he notes that the decision to break the sit-in has not been taken until it is confirmed that the demands are landed on the ground.
The media official at the sit-in indicated that the residents feared the repetition of the Tulus scenario in South DarfurState, which witnessed tribal clashes when joint forces returned to their positions days after being deployed to sponsor a tribal reconciliation agreement.
In contrast, Musab believes that “providing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) Commander with cars to confront the spoilers does not seem logical, especially if the attacks are often carried out by militias wearing uniforms,” and he considers that there is collusion by some government parties with tribal motives in most cases, as well as that there is no commitment to the decision to ban motorcycles, and warns that the important step now is the disarmament of the irregular forces by prompt decision of confiscation of all the arms and ammunition from the hands of the perpetrators.
The Member of the Sovereignty Council, Mohammed Al-Hassan Al-Ta’ashi, presented an official apology to the people of Nertiti, because the government delegation was late in reaching them until after 7 days of the sit-in, while Labour Minister Lina Al-Sheikh said that during their successive meetings since Sunday they discussed how to provide security for women working in the fields, and that the meetings will continue to reach a better reality.
For this reason of the prevailing insecurity in the Nertiti locality in the State of Central Darfur, we say that the continuing sit-in in Nertiti in the “clean land” that seeks prompt security from the Revolutionary Central Government of Sudan.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/sudan-growing-protests-insecurity-central-darfur-200707101621505.html
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=rm&ogbl#inbox/FMfcgxwJWhzZHKWhdCCjVPkbqGHRzqjv
In the circumstances, the Sudanese Government has been reported to have expressed its Full Solidarity with Nertiti Sit-in, on the 3rd of JULY 2020; according to Sudan News Agency (Khartoum).https://allafrica.com/stories/202007030811.html
Khartoum — The Transitional Government has expressed “full solidarity” with the sit-ins in Nertiti, affirming that their message is received and a government delegation is now, on its way to the town within 24 hour. https://suna-sd.net/en/single?id=674005
The Government Official Spokesman and the Culture and Information Minister, Faisal Mohammed Salih in a press statement described the demands raised by the sit-ins as” just and deserved to be studied by the government.https://suna-sd.net/en/single?id=674005
Faisal underlined that a government delegation leaves for Nertiti within two days to meet the masses and hear from them directly.
The Government Official Spokesman quoted by Radio Dabanga as saying “The delegation heading to Nertiti will carry the answers for all the questions raised by the citizens of Nertiti”
The minister, in the name of the government, apologized on the delay in reaching citizens and responding to their just demands, adding that, “Our message that we carry to Nertiti says to the citizen of Nertiti, your voice is heard and your message is received.”
On the sit-in of Nertiti, which entered its fifth day, the Minister described it as development in the movement of the people and a real expression for real problems.
Radio Dabanga said that the sit-in square in local city of Nertiti, west of Jebel Marra, in the state of Central Darfur, in front of the locality Headquarters, on its fifth day, witnessed more supportive delegations arrived from the neighboring localities in central and southern Darfur at a time when the protesters refused to receive the state security committee, which arrived yesterday in the city.
Al Jazeera’s Hiba Morgan reported from Khartoum, Sudan that there have been growing protests against insecurity in Central Darfur Town of Nertiti where villagers in are demanding Sudanese government to do more to protect them from militia attacks.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/sudan-growing-protests-insecurity-central-darfur-200707101621505.html
Om the other hand and according to Sudan Tribune Newspaper issue on the 6th of July 2020 that the Sudanese Government has sacked the local officials in Nertiti in response to protesters’ demand. The official who has been removed included local officials in the judicial and executive bodies of Nertiti in response to the demands of peaceful protesters who continued stage a sit-in in the Central Darfur STATE locality of Nertiti.https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article69560
John Lewis the American politician and civil rights leader, the U.S. Representative for Georgia’s 5th congressional district, serving in his 17th term in the House, having served since 1987, and is the dean of the Georgia congressional delegation and his district includes the northern three-fourths of Atlanta and as well as he a member of the Democratic Party and more famously as the civil rights leader, has been quoted as saying: “Before we went on any protest, whether it was sit-ins or the freedom rides or any march, we prepared ourselves, and we were disciplined. We were committed to the way of peace – the way of non-violence – the way of love – the way of life as the way of living”.https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/john_lewis_810337
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/