The return of the Janjaweed

Ali Ahmed writes… The return of the Janjaweed

Since the earliest days of the glorious December Revolution and till now, the description and definition of “The Janjaweed” has been incorrectly used to describe the Rapid Support Forces. The media propaganda machine of the Muslim Brotherhood “Al-Kizan” has played a major and intentional role in passing on this mistake, and has been keen with all dedication and sincerity on consolidating this image in the minds of the youth of the revolution.

Especially since the majority, if not all of them – by virtue of their age and limited political experience – did not live through the formation of the Janjaweed militias in the year of 2003, which were founded by “Al-Kizan” with the outbreak of the war in Darfur. “Al-Kizan” succeeded in consolidating this definition and attaching it to Rapid Support Forces, and it is now established as an indisputable fact, especially among the youth as well as common people, even thought, when the “Janjaweed” militia was established, “Hemedti” was still a young boy.

Perhaps this is an opportunity, with the appearance of “Musa Hilal,” the true leader of the “Janjaweed” militia yesterday, to better inform the deceived youth of the truth about this notorious militia and its origins. It was established in the year of 2003 -as previously mentioned- by a decision from the ousted president and under the direct supervision of his first vice president at the time, “Ali Othman Taha”. The matter of its establishment was entrusted to the Military Intelligence, specifically to Lt. Gen. “Awad Ibn Auf” as well as Lt. Gen. “Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa Al-Dabi”, and assisting them in matters of arming and supervising is; “Ahmed Haroun”, the fugitive wanted by the Criminal Court on charges of committing war crimes and genocide, with ground assistance from “Ali Koshayb”, who has surrendered himself to the International Criminal Court “ICC”, and is now under trial.

“Musa Hilal” was at the time imprisoned in the city of Port Sudan, after being convicted of theft and premeditated murder, when he was the leader of a gang (bandit), heading a small armed group of members of his tribe, as he was the son of the tribe leader and his successor.

The man would not have been released from prison had it not been for the outbreak of war in the Darfur in 2003. When the army was unable to defeat the rebels, it thought about assembling the bandits on a racial basis “Arabs against non-Arab”. Thus, “Musa Hilal” was released under direct orders from Al-Bashir’s deputy and commander of the Shadow Brigades, “Ali Osman Mohammed Taha,” where he managed to play on Hilal’s Arab -as well as criminal- sensibilities, instructing him that his Arab component was being targeted by the “non-Arab” rebellion. He informed “Hilal” that his punishment would be dropped and he would receive significant financial privileges in order to confront the rebellion. Therefore, “Hilal” accepted and was then appointed founding president and leader of the “Janjaweed” militia.

Under his leadership, the “Janjaweed” militia later committed gruesome crimes and atrocities. They used to burn villages, kill children, rape women, and bury people alive -under the cover of army aviation – without showing a hint of mercy or compassion, as “Hilal” was -and very much still is- callous, amoral, possessing no religious and human values.

Only a year following the establishment of the “Janjaweed” militia by “Musa Hilal,” and in August of the year 2004, the Security Council demanded that the Sudanese government disarm the “Janjaweed” militia and track down those involved in crimes of killing, looting and rape. The name “Musa Hilal” appeared at the top of the list of those who carried out ethnic cleansing operations in Darfur – May the curse of Allah be upon him. Because of the aforementioned information, the United States government described him as the leader of the “Janjaweed” militia.

At that time, “Hemedti,” the commander of the Rapid Support Forces, was not a participant in the militia, but he later joined the Border Guards in 2007 – that is, after the massacres and genocide in Darfur. At that time, they were Regular Forces, and elements of the “Janjaweed” militia were integrated into them as a deception tactic to the international community. Which led to Hemedti’s rebellion and his subsequent departure from under Al-Kizan authority in 2007.

The Military and Security Services negotiated with Hemedti to return with his group, and he stipulated that his forces become full-fledged regular government forces, not a militia, with military ranks and a law to govern it. The Rapid Support Forces were then established in 2014, affiliated with the Security and Intelligence Service, during the 43rd session of the fourth legislative session of the National Council ” Al-Kizani Parliament,” which took place on the 18th of January 2017, the Rapid Support Law was passed and the Force was subordinated to the army directly under the President of the Republic.

The rest is a fairly known story, where Hemedti and his forces sided with the people’s revolution in December 2018. He made an effective and significant contribution to isolating the ousted former president and bringing down their criminal regime, therefore, they projected their disappointments on him and called him a “Janjaweed.”