Darfur Network for Human Rights is deeply outraged by the rising violence in West Darfur, which threatens the safety of civilians of Tendelti locality and internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the global community’s failure to value and protect innocent civilians; the reason for many displacements of civilians due to the killing of a famous man from Tendelti area. Despite the Rapid Support Forces RSF sponsoring many peace agreements between tribes that stipulated peaceful coexistence, these agreements were written on paper only. They did not stop human rights violations in many areas of West Darfur.

On March 23, 2023, at 2:00 am, in the locality of Tendelti, about 48 km from the state of West Darfur, Al-Geneina, a businessman was killed inside his house while his family was put under threat.  Mustafa Adam Yousif, surname (Teram), was murdered by two armed men with a gun (Kalashnikovs). The gunmen were dressed in civilian clothes; they jumped the fence to the house then they killed the businessman.

Eyewitnesses from Tendelti said, “on Thursday night, at 2:00 am, they heard gunshots inside the house of Mustafa Adam Youssef. Then they rushed to the house to see what was going on; On reaching the place, they found the businessman dead in a pool of blood and the man’s family was crying. At the scene, the father was among the eyewitnesses, and on seeing his Son, he got a heart attack and fell and died. Later, other community people started to gather up and make follow up on the perpetrators who were on the run. So the people found the perpetrators in the Ban Jadid area. On seeing the perpetrators, these were related to the militias group attacking the community, and they started to exchange fire (gunshots). Finally, the people were able to overcome, and they arrested the perpetrators and questioned them, and the perpetrators admitted to having killed the businessman. The community took these perpetrators (two gunmen) to the police station in Tendelti. At the police Station, the police officers refused to receive and arrest the perpetrators saying they didn’t have the manpower and authority to arrest these perpetrators because they feared the militias group would come to attack them. After the community people protested around the police station with much wrath, then they carried the perpetrators and threw them in front of the police station and did mob justice to them.

On the revenge towards the perpetrators the next day, March 24, 2023. at 8 am, in Tandelti locality, West Darfur state, El Geneina was attacked by Arab militias armed with G-3 weapons, some dressed in the uniform of the Rapid Support Forces and others in civilian clothes backed with (50) motorcycles (45) camels, and horses, and (8) four-wheel-drive Land Cruisers. They started by burning over 85 homes and looting the community people’s property and, shops, markets, such as sorghum, clothes, goats, cows, and money, among others; during the looting, they found a medical assistant in a clinic attending to sick women, and these kicked him from the back and shot him to death his name Abdullah Yahya Yaqoub (37 years old) who is a graduate of the Faculty of Health Sciences. And the wounded are Abdullah Abdul Rahman (32 years old), Isaac Abdullah (33 years old), and Wadi Abdul Rahman (43 years old) these were transferred to the Adera Hospital in Chad for treatment.

Later in the evening, in a press statement, Ammar Zain al-Abidin, rapporteur of the West Darfur State Security Committee, said the committee held an emergency meeting and decided to move joint forces to the location of the events. A security force deployment had calmed down the situation, he said. On Friday morning, two armed forces members were injured as security forces confronted two outlaws. Their condition is stable, however. He explained that the businessman had been shot inside his house in Tendelti, which led to his death. Further, he noted that the security and military services-imposed control over the situation after their deployment in several villages and their pursuit of unlawful groups, revealing the arrival of a delegation from the civil administrations to the town of “Tendalti” to calm the thoughts and mediate between the conflicting groups.

However, on 25 March 2023, the next Day after the press statement, Ammar Zain al-Abidin, rapporteur. Tandelti locality was attacked again for the third time by 12 armed men on horses, camels, and motorized vehicles, dressed in rapid support uniforms, and others in civilian clothes attacked (Azzazi village). This is 17 km from the city of Tandelti in the opposite direction. These armed men looted Allah Hassan Lungu, took his 10 cows, and Sharif Abkar Mohammed, took his 7 cows. After the third attack, the community people were forcefully displaced and started to move toward Chad but during their exodus, they attacked them again and the gunmen also assaulted and looted some money and phones from civilians during their exodus to Chad.

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One of the victims Ali Ahmed al-Nour; Youssef Al-Nour; was threatened with arms, and severely beaten on the head, and 50,000 Sudanese pounds were looted, he said. An insight by Zainab Ibrahim Muhammad (20 years old) on why she left her village (Azzazi village) she said her livestock was looted, her house was burned along with her clothes so she forcefully fled to the neighboring country of Chad West Darfur – in fear of another attack again by the Arab Militias. She further said that she is now a poor woman which 3 children and needs her accountability for justice. With the above rapid attacks by the Arab Militas on Tandelti Locality more than (30,000) families have been forcefully displaced as refugees to Chad Country. And since this displacement, no attention or help from the government of Sudan (the) or Chad has been made or any other organization support to them; they said

Darfur Network for Human Rights calls on:

• the government of Sudan to immediately allow all humanitarian actors and UNITAMS unfettered access to all West Darfur, El Geneina, Tendelti Administrative Unit, and to provide assistance in ending all violations of international human rights law (IHRL) and international humanitarian law (IHL) being committed by members of the Arab militias and allied militias in West Darfur.
• International, regional, and national organizations to establish investigations and make public reports on allegations of human rights violations by armed militias and RSF forces in the Tandelti locality. And also to provide emergency assistance and medical support, especially for women and children facing force displacement in the Tandelti locality.
• UN Security Council to expand the current UN arms embargo on Darfur to cover Sudan. This will prevent further violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws.

For more information, contact Mohammed Hassan, Executive Director, DNHR, at email: [email protected] and on Tel: (+256)752792112 (+249)924638036.