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Sudan - 4th Civil War - 2024

The terms “Arab” and “non-Arab” are slippery labels in many regions in Sudan. Both communities are Black and Muslim and have inter-married for centuries. The labels mostly denote communal ways of life. “Arabs” are traditionally pastoralists and camel herders, while “non-Arabs” are sedentary farmers.

The RSF are in control of most of Darfur, several areas in Kordofan, and a large part of Khartoum state. The eastern, northern, and central parts of the country are in control of the army.

Hemedti and al-Burhan were both partaking in – and derailing – mediation efforts to buy time for their military operations. On December 9, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the eight-nation East African bloc, released a statement saying Hemedti and army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan would meet face to face in two weeks. But Hemedti went to Uganda the day before he was supposed to meet al-Burhan for ceasefire talks in Djibouti. IGAD postponed the talks for “technical reasons”.

On 02 January 2024, Hemedti met with Sudan’s former prime minister and the leader of a newly formed civilian bloc, the Coordination of Civil Democratic Forces (Taqaddum), Abdallah Hamdok, in Ethiopia. Taqaddum announced it also invited al-Burhan to meet at another date, but there has been no information about whether that invitation has been accepted.

The Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on 16 January 2024 a “freeze of dealings” with the Intergovernmental Authority for Development in East Africa (IGAD) due to what it described as violations committed by the organization, which invited the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti,” to attend its summit. According to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ali Al-Sadiq, informed the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Djibouti, Mahmoud Ali Youssef, who chairs the IGAD Ministerial Council, given that his country is the chair of the current IGAD session, of the decision of the Government of Sudan to stop engaging and freeze dealing with (IGAD) regarding the current crisis in Sudan.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry attributed its decision to what it said were violations committed by the organization by including the situation in Sudan on the agenda of the 42nd Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government of IGAD, scheduled to be held in Uganda on January 18, 2024, without consulting Sudan. The ministry said that it informed IGAD of its objection to “the militia leader’s invitation to attend the emergency summit venue in Kampala, in a dangerous precedent in the history of IGAD and regional and international organizations, which Sudan considers a violation of its sovereignty as well as a serious violation of the IGAD charters and the rules governing the work of international and regional organizations.”

The army seemed to be cracking down on people from regions where its rivals, the RSF, have some support, accusing them of being RSF “sleeper cells”. The people taken in these dragnets across the country have been subjected to enforced disappearances and often torture, and little to no evidence against them is ever presented. The security forces were mainly targeting people who originate from Kordofan in southern Sudan or Darfur in the west, which are seen as RSF strongholds. In some regions, civilians belonging to nomadic “Arab” tribes may be more vulnerable because the RSF recruits heavily from their communities.

Even army soldiers have been killed if anyone suspects that they have loyalties to the RSF. In Kordofan, most army battalions are made up of local “non-Arab” Nubians and local “Arabs”. There are broad perceptions that “Arab” army officers secretly support the RSF, raising fears that the military could fracture along ethnic lines. This month, the army reportedly executed 10 soldiers from nomadic “Arab” tribes in Dilling, South Kordofan, accusing them of collaborating with the RSF.

Amid the escalating violence, a 29 October 2024 report by the UN Independent Fact-Finding Mission reveals widespread sexual violence by RSF forces, particularly in Greater Khartoum, Darfur and Geziera States. The acts amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the investigation. “The sheer scale of sexual violence we have documented in Sudan is staggering,” said Mohamed Chande Othman, Chair of the Fact-Finding Mission. “The situation faced by vulnerable civilians, in particular women and girls of all ages, is deeply alarming and needs urgent address.”

Escalating violence and new atrocities in Sudan have pushed the humanitarian crisis to unprecedented levels, with displacement now exceeding 11 million people amid reports of mass killings and systematic-sexual violence across multiple regions, UN officials said on 29 October 2024. “The situation in Sudan is catastrophic. There is simply no other way to put it. Hunger disease and sexual violence are rampant. For the people of Sudan, this is a living nightmare,” warned Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The conflict, which erupted in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and their former partners turned rivals for power, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), has now displaced 11 million inside the country. After more than 18 months of war, 3.1 million are sheltering beyond its borders, IOM said.