Statement on the situation in Sudan - Update July 2023 Behind the Negotiating Stages: Genocide in Darfur News continues to reach us from different parts of Sudan through our partner organisation Bana Group for Peace and Development. Amidst the fighting between the Sudanese military (SAF) and the militia RSF, the women of Bana Groupo for Peace and Development are doing their utmost to bring themselves and their families to safety, and to ensure basic services in their communities. In Sudan, at least 2.56 million people are now displaced, of whom 1.67 million are internally displaced (as of 21 June 2023, source: International Organization for Migration (IOM)). However, leaving one's home town or country is still mostly impossible for the most vulnerable people in the population. From the state of West Darfur, however, there is radio silence. The last news we received from there was at the end of April - from a desperate Bana member who fled the town of El-Geneina with her young son to save her life. Since the end of April, the town has been under siege by the RSF, with residents terrorised by arson, rape and murder, and vital infrastructure gradually razed to the ground. The RSF supporters are predominantly self-described "Arab" ethnic groups, and are now pursuing the goal of displacing "African" populations in West Darfur. While the international community focuses on courting Hemedti (RSF) and Burhan (SAF) in inconsequential negotiations, a genocide is taking place in Darfur. Even representatives of Sudanese government institutions now speak of an ethnic cleansing campaign (https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/6/17/ethnic-cleansing-in-west-darfur) that goes beyond the events of 2003 in its atrocity. 2003 marks the beginning of the Darfur conflict, which led to the deaths of at least 300,000 people - and subsequently resulted in arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court against the then President Omar Al-Bashir and associates on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. This historical conflict line is largely overlooked in the reporting by focusing on ceasefire efforts between SAF and RSF. This is all the more astonishing because in North Darfur and East Darfur, the unprecedented initiatives of the local government and civilian groups already achieved an agreement in the first days of the war, resulting in a functioning (!) ceasefire between the RSF and SAF. The ceasefire lasted for several weeks. However, it was broken again at the end of May. A total of at least 2,800 civilians have died since the outbreak of fighting (see Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project on Sudan, but the number of unreported cases is probably much higher. It also does not include deaths that were not directly caused by the fighting parties but are indirectly due to the conflict - for example, in the town of El-Geneina, around 700 people have died since the beginning of the war in April this year due to the collapse of medical services: According to reports, all dialysis patients in the town have now died due to the lack of dialysis. Cut off from electricity and mobile phone networks, only sparse photos, videos and news from there reach the outside world; the extent of the catastrophe can be guessed at from satellite images, on which massive destruction and fires can be seen. Members of the Masalit ethnic group are identified, terrorised and murdered on the basis of their skin colour, and in some cases journalists, lawyers and activists are targeted - in the cities of El-Geneina and Kutum as well as countless villages. Most recently, the governor of West Darfur - himself a Masalit - was executed by the RSF shortly after he spoke of genocide to international media. It is feared that the ethnic dimension of the conflict will spread to other parts of the country. El-Geneina is not the only town currently under militia siege. Zalingei in Central Darfur and El Obeid in the state of North Kordofan are also under siege and, as in El-Geneina, a humanitarian catastrophe is looming. In this conflict, women in particular endure humiliation, rape and indescribable cruelty. Witness accounts clearly show that rape is systematically used as a weapon of war. The Sudanese military has no hesitation in endangering civilians through airstrikes on residential areas and barricades itself in shacks in West Darfur instead of protecting them. And yet it is clear that the racist bloodshed in West Darfur and crimes against humanity are predominantly committed by the RSF. Yet the international community is reluctant to clearly name the militia responsible. The dramatic plight of civilians in Sudan shocks us. We are concerned, especially for our partner organisation and for the activists in Sudanese civil society. They have been courageously campaigning for a civilian democratic government and against violence for years, despite repression. We stand in solidarity with them, support them as much as we can and try to continue to make their voices heard. Their central and most urgent demands remain: an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire between the warring parties and the establishment of humanitarian corridors within and out of the cities unhindered access for humanitarian and medical organisations from within and outside the country, as well as medical and food supplies the cessation of all political legitimacy and support - military, intelligence, financial or otherwise - to the two warring parties in Sudan. Media and international recognition of the civilian reports of genocide and rape as a weapon of war by the RSF in Darfur Donate for emergency support of particularly vulnerable groups in Sudan! More about our cooperation with the women of Bana in the framework of the Civil Peace Service ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Statement on the situation in Sudan - End of April 2023 We are shocked and appalled by the military escalation in Sudan. We are concerned for the people in Sudan, especially for our partner organisations and for the activists in Sudanese civil society. Despite repression, they have been courageously campaigning for a civilian democratic government and against violence for years. We stand in solidarity with them, support them as much as we can and try to make their voices heard. Their central and most urgent demands are: an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire between the warring parties and the establishment of humanitarian corridors within and out of the cities. unhindered access for humanitarian and medical organisations from within and outside the country, as well as medical and food supplies the cessation of all political legitimacy and support - military, intelligence, financial or otherwise - to the two warring parties in Sudan What happened On the morning of 15 April 2023, news reached us from our partner organisation Bana Group for Peace and Development and our coordinator Fetlework Seifu in Khartoum. They reported that there was fighting on the streets in their neighbourhood. It quickly became clear that this fighting was taking place throughout the city. For months, the situation between the two generals had been tense. In autumn 2021, they had stopped the democratisation process in Sudan for the time being with a joint coup. The point of contention was the integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the Sudanese Army (SAF). Now this power struggle is being fought out with open violence. SAF and RSF are fighting each other with all means at their disposal, with tanks and fighter jets, even in the capital in the middle of residential areas and without regard for civilians. For a week now, they have been practically locked in their homes: our Sudan coordinator in Khartoum as well as the staff of our partner organisation Bana with their families and millions of others. Supplies are scarce in many places. There are also reports from many parts of the country about fighting, people fleeing, dead and injured. The situation is becoming more disastrous every day and as of today, the 7th day of fighting, there is still no prospect of an end or even a pause. A second peace expert from KURVE Wustrow was already out of the country at the time and has since returned to Germany. Cooperation with our partners within the framework of the Civil Peace Service (ZFD). But it is not only the catastrophic dimension of fighting, death and suffering that is shocking, but also what is being destroyed beyond that: the hopes and perspectives, the years of work for peace and democracy, the aspirations of hundreds of thousands of committed people in Sudan for political change and participation. After all, the revolution on the streets, which was largely carried by women, led to the fall of Al-Bashir's decades-long military dictatorship in 2019. Since then, the demonstrations have never stopped. Activists have been committed to political participation, transition to democracy and peace in Sudan. Women are well organised in civil society, but hardly present at the political decision-making levels. Our partner organisation Bana Network for Peace and Development, a network of activists from different parts of the country, is particularly committed to the participation of women and marginalised people and has worked intensively towards a participatory process of political change. Despite major challenges, there has been progress and hopeful developments. Background The acceptance of the coup in October 2021, which deposed the interim president Hamdok and destroyed major achievements of the democracy movement, eroded confidence in the democracy process facilitated by the UN mission UNITAMS as well as the regional network of East African states IGAD and the African Union. The state was now headed by two men who had themselves led decades of fighting against parts of their own population and had committed crimes against humanity and genocide. This war is not a civil war, because the vast majority of Sudanese do not support either party. They hold both al-Bashir's regime and SAF and RSF, including their supporters abroad, responsible for the decades-long genocidal war in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile and for breaking the road to democracy in 2021. They see them as responsible for the militarisation of cities and the country and the killing of peaceful protesters, including the Khartoum massacre on 3 June 2019. They are also convinced that in a country where almost 80% of the state budget goes to defence, the corruption of the SAF and RSF is a major reason why so many millions of Sudanese* live in poverty. The vast majority of Sudanese want above all an end to the war and finally civilian control over the state. The democracy movement warned against trusting the men at the head of SAF and RSF. They were right. KURVE Wustrow expresses its pain at this outbreak of violence, at the loss of lives, of gains and of perspectives. We stand in solidarity with Sudanese civil society, which continues to stand for nonviolence and its demands for an end to hostilities, disbandment of the paramilitaries and reform of the military, accountability and a civilian democratically elected government for Sudan. We stand in solidarity with the innocent victims of this violence, with all those who are suffering fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, who have lost people, and with all those whose work and commitment are suffering a new serious setback and whose hopes lie in ruins. Demonstrations in several cities, organised by Sudanese in exile: Berlin: Stop the war in Sudan now! Fri 28 April 2023 from 3pm. In front of the Foreign Office. https://www.facebook.com/SudanUprisingGermany Donate for emergency support of particularly vulnerable groups in Sudan! More about our cooperation with the women of Bana in the framework of the Civil Peace Service