Parallel government in RSF controlled area postponed

18 November 2024

On Tuesday, Kenya hosted military and civilian forces to announce and sign the founding charter to form a parallel government in areas controlled by the Rapid Support Forces –-only to announce its postponement for three days. 

Several armed movements in Darfur and political parties have been in talks to establish a parallel government in areas controlled by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), with their support and involvement in the consultations.

The announcement of the forces supporting the government formation follows the split within the Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces of Taqaddum (meaning “progress”).  Key members, led by the head of the coordination and former Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, rejected the idea of forming a parallel government. Instead, they announced a new civil political alliance last week named Somoud (meaning “resilience”).

Representatives from various political parties, armed movements, and civil administrations, along with dozens of other individuals, gathered today at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi. The groups present included the second commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Abdul Rahim Dagalo, and a number of civilian actors and men from the civil administrations.

The delay was requested until 21 November to allow additional members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) under Abdel Aziz-Al-Hilu to attend.

Al-Hilu, centre stage

Abdel Aziz’s presence at the celebration venue was notable as he delivered the keynote speech, emphasizing the significance of the event in Sudan’s political history and its role in achieving lasting peace. Al-Hilu emphasised the uniqueness of the event, highlighting its absence of international mediators and its focus on fostering peace among Sudanese themselves.

“The war in Sudan is a natural result of the conflict between the center and the periphery,” Al-Hilu said. “Because the centre has monopolised power, prestige and social superiority, while the periphery is deprived of everything.” Al-Hilu accused the Khartoum elite of condemning the country’s rich ethnic and cultural diversity instead of embracing it. 

The leader of the popular movement accused the ruling elite in Khartoum of igniting wars in the country’s outskirts, spending 82% of the state budget, and using race, color, and religon to sustain armed conflict. “The cards of religion, tribe, and ethnicity are just obstacles used by the ruling elite in Khartoum to exclude those outside the circle, and we want to put an end to this matter starting today.”

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the army-controlled Port Sudan government described the Nairobi event as a “propaganda act,” and stated on Tuesday that all parties collaborating with the RSF in the political charter are complicit in the atrocities committed against the Sudanese people, including instances of human rights violations and suppression of dissent.

RSF target White Nile in brutal attack

While a proposed civilian government under the RSF-controlled areas of Sudan is being developed in Nairobi, the RSF are targeting civilian areas in the Al-Gutaina district of White Nile State. According to the Emergency Lawyers, pro-bono advocates who support the conflict-affected, the RSF targeted unarmed civilians in Al-Kadaris and Al-Khalwat, killing over 200 people, including women and children.

Eyewitnesses described corpses left unburied in the streets and fleeing civilians being shot at while attempting to cross the Nile. Communications remain cut off, making it difficult to determine the full scale of the atrocities. 

“They [the RSF]  did not even spare those who tried to escape via Nile boats,” Khalil Mohammed Al-Sadiq, a resident of Al-Qatana and a retired army officer, told Ayin. “But rather pursued them in the middle of the river, killed them and threw their bodies into the Nile, and others drowned. Some citizens were able to cross to the villages of Sheikh Al-Siddiq located west of the White Nile, but there are still hundreds of missing people whose fate is still unknown.”