Chemical Weapons and the chagrined SAF

Dr. Al-Waleed Adam Madibou 

“When innocents are targeted, the very essence of our humanity is violated. Silence is not neutrality, its complicity.” 

     — Kofi Annan 

The aftermath of the chemical weapons massacre is unlike anything prior. Its a watershed moment in the conscience of the world and in the heart of every Sudanese. When deadly gases are unleashed upon unarmed civilians, silence is no longer an option, and discussions regarding “parties to the conflict” loses merit and credibility… Such is an unjustifiable crime, a catastrophe that starkly reveals the utter collapse of the State, particularly the Army, which failed to protect the people and instead became an instrument of war and mass murder. 

What took place is not merely a military transgression, but a documented war crime, according to medical reports and field testimonies from regions such as Darfur, Khartoum, and Omdurman, where the Air Force used weapons suspected of containing toxic gases in densely populated civilian neighborhoods. Such were not, by any sense of the word, accidental strikes, but deliberate attacks against the civilian population, thus constituting crimes against humanity. 

The international community, particularly the United Nations and African Union, can no longer be satisfied with mere statements of concern. Silence in regards to the use of internationally prohibited chemical weapons is complicity. An urgent international investigation is required, and those responsible for committing such crimes must be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC), including Sudanese military leaders suspected of direct involvement or of covering them up. Moreover, imposing a no-fly zone over civilian areas, even temporarily, has become an urgent humanitarian necessity in order to protect the remaining innocent lives from the threat of government warplanes. 

The Army is no longer a national entity, but a disguised militia, composed of remnants of Islamist alliances, officers tied to tribal and regional interests, in addition to corrupt power centers that emerged during the decades undethe rule of the ousted regime. This Army is no more than an instrument of internal terror, used to intimidate the Sudanese people, not to protect them. For the use of internationally prohibited chemical weapons is merely the culmination of a long history of moral decay: From the bombing of hospitals and bakeries, to the massacres in El-Geneina, Kutum, and Kreinik, then to the ethnic cleansing campaigns in West Darfur —all documented with audio and video evidence. 

The truth has become clear to all: Sudan has no future with a conventional army that monopolizes weapons and kills its own people. What is needed is the complete dismantling of this institution, not its reform, and the creation of a new national army from scratch, under civilian leadership, with a defensive doctrine that protects citizens, not kills them. Hence, any discussions in regards to “gradual reform” is simply entertaining an illusion and a path that has proven its failure. Those who committed massacres cannot be tolerated. Murderers cannot be given another chance. Justice is the starting point, and accountability is a prerequisite for peace. 

Rasha Awad wrote an article titled “The Egyptian Army in Sudan,” in which she emphasized that the Sudanese Army has never been a national army, but rather a tool subservient to Egypt since its inception, serving Egyptian interests in Sudan and completely subject to Egyptian hegemony. Which, in turn, makes the Army’s structure hostile to any independent national project and explains the actions of its leaders in relinquishing Sudanese territory, national principles, and natural resources. 

In conclusion, Sudan does not need a new settlement that recycles generals and criminals, but rather a decisive break with the Military State and the militias of political Islam. Every delay in the aforementioned break means more bloodshed and more civilians who will fall under the rubble of their homes due to chemical attacks or aerial bombardment. 

Attacks using internationally prohibited chemical weapons don’t constitute a mere crime, but a bloody call that compels us to thwart the old regime and write a new constitution with new tools and establish institutions free from military and religious contamination.