Rhino: Al-Jinainah: The governor of West Darfur, Al-Tijani Al-Taher Karshoum revealed in his first appearance after the war events in Sudan and West Darfur state in particular, the real reasons for the outbreak of war in West Darfur, despite the efforts and initiatives that he tried to avoid, during his assumption of the position of deputy governor. In his statement he accused the army forces of standing behind the transition of the battles, and the start of the clashes in West Darfur.

In a press meeting with a media delegation in Al-Junaynah city, the governor called for an independent commission of inquiry to investigate the real figures on the numbers of dead and displaced, lying at the same time the report of the “United Nations”, that 12,000 people were killed because of the war in the state, and describing it unrealistic.

Attempts to avoid war:

“Karshoum” revealed that the government of West Darfur state, during his period as the deputy governor, was concentrate in not moving the conflict from Khartoum to West Darfur, by virtue of its reality and different circumstances from the rest of the states, whether in terms of security fragility, complex tribal structure, and renewed conflicts between some components there.

The governor of West Darfur stated that they arranged for the initiative of “No for War”, which aimed to mobilize the components of society in the state, from “civil administrations, imams, preachers and others” southern of Al-Junaynah Hospital, and then head in a demonstration towards the neighborhoods of the city and then to the city market to announce their rejection of the war (9) days after its outbreak, on April 24.

“Karshoum” said: that the government of state demanded both “the army and rapid support”, to adhere to their positions and avoid any move that can lead to clashes, and he added: “In the first nine days of the war, the two parties committed to their positions, and the army was present in the north of Al-Junaynah city, while the Rapid Support is in the south”.

How did the war started in the state?

The governor of West Darfur state revealed that before the launch of the initiative of “No for War” from south of Al-Junainah Hospital as it was scheduled on April 24, by half on an hour they witnessed armed vehicles consisting of 12 armed vehicles moved from “Ardemtna”, towards Rapid Support headquarters, then the clashes began. So he said: “this period was the beginning of the war which was quickly spreading to the rest of the neighborhoods of “Al-Junainah city” to last for a long time”.

Two agreements to stop the war:

The governor referred that despite of the war, West Darfur state has witnessed many efforts from local administrations, as well as various and continuous initiatives for long periods to end the war. And the success of the initiative that was called “The Mother” has helped in signing two agreements to stop the war between the two parties, which contributed to calming the situation and addressing the problem, he added: “The “The Mother’s initiative” and “initiatives of the community of Al-Junianah” requested him to take charge of the administration of the state after the killing of the former governor “Khamis Abdullah Abker”, and after his acceptance of taking the responsibility, his main focus was to maintain security and stability and restoring life to its nature in the state. He also added: “For this, we have developed a solid security plan in coordination with the existing forces – especially Rapid Support Forces – and the plan included the “Al-Junainah city” and the rest of the state localities, and we strengthened the plan with the support of community committees in the locality of Al-Junainah and the rest of the localities, and the plan contributed obviously in achieving security and stability.

Karshoum stressed that the priority of the citizen is security, “what made us in the state focus on providing security mainly, and as the result of these effortsthe processes of stability and development and the rest of the services are carried out. The Security Committee in Al-Junainah city developed a tight plan that works to provide security in all the localities of West Darfur, where the locations of security fragility were identified, and realctions were placed, in addition to the presence of mobile forces formed by the Rapid Support Forces and the police forces that returned to work in the state, in order to intervene quickly during the occurrence of any problem, in addition to the support force. They are forces that contribute to maintaining security with a collective effort.” He continued: “We have made decisions to fight negative phenomena, including alcohol, drugs and carrying weapons in markets and in public places. Where those decisions were implemented by the joint forces”. In addition to spreading security movement and a curfew in the evening, considering that the night movement represents a “security threat.” The community was also moved through sectors, including “civil administration, imams, preachers and notables”, to manage a dialogue with the community in different regions, on how to maintain security and stability and the plan achieved good results, because it is supported by the whole society because the society wants to achieve security and stability.

UN report:

The governor of West Darfur state questioned a UN report that spoke of the deaths of 12,000 people in the state, calling it inaccurate, and he said that thousands could not die in West Darfur. At the same time, deaths are due to the state’s wars, whether tribal, or between the military and rapid support.

Karshoum considered the UN report exaggerated, stressing that the said number is not true and added: “I think it is not based on reality, so in West Darfur we have been demanding independent commissions of inquiry to investigate the dead and forced displacement”, he also stressed the importance of talking about the situation in the state being credible. Referring to the presence of organizations and volunteers who contributed to raising the bodies, he added: “The dead represent all the spectrums of society, if an independent committee comes, it can reach the real number of victims”

Karshoum considers that the reports of organizations can be based on truthful or false information, stressing that his mandate did not place any restrictions on the movements of international organizations, as evidenced by their current existence, and said: “Therefore, if the reports are based on the information of these organizations in the state, they are reports based on fact, but if the information of the reports from outside the state, I think it will be untrue and inaccurate”

Diagnosis and dialogues:

Concerning to the real motives of the war, he said: (l”If we want to talk about the war in West Darfur, an independent body is needed to investigate the war. As for us, the tribal conflict in West Darfur and all states of Darfur is an old and renewed conflict. We believe that tribal conflicts in Darfur are “contrived” conflicts, and we knew from our ancestors that society was coexistent and coherent, as well as in the recent era we did not know tribalism and racism in Darfur, so the conflict needs the people of Darfur and the government of Sudan with its institutions to study, in order to develop solutions to the fabricated conflicts. For us in the state of West Darfur, we seek to address all the problems that have occurred in society, because of our conviction that there is no choice but to accept each other, while developing radical solutions to the problems of society to establish a better future for generations without racism and restitality. We are now working on it with multiple parties, and now the states are working to develop solutions to the tribal conflict that has occurred, and all previous conflicts in order to avoid them in the future. “Efforts are continuing to put an end to this conflict, through continuous dialogues with many parties.

The recovery journey:

The governor of West Darfur State considered that his mandate has recovered significantly compared to the conditions it has experienced in advance, noting that the daughters and people of West Darfur have all worked to achieve peaceful coexistence between the state’s communities, and to fight hate speech and regionality. She stressed their determination to maintain security and stability, and to achieve peaceful coexistence between the various components of society. He said that Al-Junainah recovered thanks to the people of the state who agreed to save it from collapse, through the efforts of workers in civil service institutions and youth initiatives, to achieve the continuation of health, water and electricity services despite the lack of possibilities and the cessation of central support. He added: “After the success of the security plan, we went towards services – especially health, water and electricity – because it was completely stopped, and with this situation we worked with the sons and daughters of the state – especially those in the institutions – and all of whom worked day and night to return the necessary services, namely health, electricity and water, because they represent the priority for society”. He continued: (Within 9 months, we did not receive a “medicine fuse” as support from federal institutions, and yet society assumed its responsibility through popular uprisings and the contributions of the good people to go well. The community benefited from the experience of “Events of Al-Junainah”, so rapid treatments took place in the “Ardamta” area, after the battle between the army and the rapid support, which contributed to the stability of the security situation, and the restoration of electricity, water and health services.

Karshoum revealed a voluntary return of refugees from the Chadian region of Adri, praising the Chadian authorities’ reception of Sudanese refugees from all states of Darfur, where they were provided with food assistance to them. He said: (Now there is a voluntary return to the revival of the city of Al-Junainah and for the administrative units in the regions of “Morni” and “Krengque”, a continuous return that will contribute to the stability of returnees, and alleviate their suffering due to negative asylum releases”, he revealed that the reasons for their return was considered as an indicate to security stability in West Darfur. He stressed that the Chadian authorities opened their border with West Darfur, so goods and goods entered through the road. He added that when the war started in Khartoum, they were “concerned” about closing the eastern road, because they were the farthest away from Khartoum, we would now feed the states of Greater Darfur – even in Kordofan – with goods, fuel, and all goods.

“Karshoum” explained that they launched an appeal for all organizations working in the humanitarian field and added: “It was very difficult, and the mandate was in need of assistance, and indeed, humanitarian organizations responded, whether international organizations or United Nations organizations, and provided great assistance to the community, especially food aid, health, water and shelter materials”, and he said: “But it did not cover the need because everyone in the state needed assistance because of the outbreak of war, in addition to the fact that large numbers of displaced people, were not included by the umbrella of UN assistance”.