{"id":20100429,"date":"2024-09-13T14:06:13","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T12:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20100429"},"modified":"2024-09-15T12:09:42","modified_gmt":"2024-09-15T10:09:42","slug":"sudan-fighters-post-self-incriminating-videos-of-torture-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/sudan-fighters-post-self-incriminating-videos-of-torture-on-social-media","title":{"rendered":"Sudan fighters post \u2018self-incriminating videos of torture\u2019 on social media"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Video clips of prisoners taken by the warring Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) widely circulating on social media spark angry reactions. The Centre for Information Resilience has verified thousands of footages so far for future efforts to hold the perpetrators to account.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After scenes of beheadings disappeared from social media, other clips appeared, of RSF paramilitaries soldiers humiliating captured army soldiers and forcing them to repeat the RSF slogan \u201creadiness, speed, decisiveness,\u201d in an attempt to extract their admission of their defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It appears from the footage that the prisoners have no choice but to obey the orders of their captors or be killed, such as the case of First Lieutenant Mohamed Siddig, who refused to obey the orders of his captors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of the SAF commit the same practices against relatives of RSF paramilitaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat we are witnessing in the Sudanese war these days falls under the category of \u2018abnormal acts\u2019 that cannot be controlled,\u201d military expert Awad El Mamour told Radio Dabanga on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThousands of prisoners from the army, including SAF Inspector General Lt Gen Mubarak Kuti, held by the RSF are not visited by internation organisations,\u201d he said and noted that \u201cthe Sudanese army does not care about him either, and did not ask the Red Cross for instance to intervene to ensure his safety and human treatment by the RSF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTherefore, humanitarian organisations must intervene and request good treatment from the RSF for these people, without fear of the Islamists and the Balabesa*<\/em> crowd, labelling them as the humanitarian wing of the RSF, just as the Tagadom alliance is accused<\/a> of being the political backer of the paramilitary group,\u201d military expert Awad Mamur told Radio Dabanga.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese scenes are painful and sad to see because they are take place among Sudanese, and exceed the traditions the Sudanese nation is known for. These actions will inevitably create a rift in the fabric of Sudanese society that will be difficult to mend.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The military expert ruled out the possibility that \u201cthe leaders of both sides will condemn the acts of torturing prisoners, as both are using the same approach that aims to spread terror in the souls of the fighters of the enemy\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Gross violations\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawyer and human rights defender Moez Hadra strongly criticised the humiliation and torture of prisoners. \u201cIt is a gross violation of international humanitarian law, human rights principles, and the four Geneva Conventions of 1959 on the protection of civilians in times of war and the treatment of prisoners,\u201d he told Radio Dabanga yesterday. \u201cThe Sudanese Criminal Act also prohibits torture of military prisoners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hadra expressed his regret that \u201cboth belligerents continue to disregard all these laws,\u201d and added that \u201cthe violations of these laws were and are not limited to military prisoners abut also civilians. Soldiers from both sides continue to torture civilians who are moving from one area to another, and each side accuses them of supporting the enemy<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawyer further pointed to the detention of people on ethnic grounds<\/a>. \u201cThis phenomenon is leading Sudan to a more complex situation,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Fall of justice system\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He accused both the RSF and the army supported by Islamist brigades of committing war crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll these violations prompted Sudanese human rights groups, lawyers and others, to demand the intervention of the UN Human Rights Council and form a fact-finding committee<\/a>, as the Sudanese justice system has fallen horribly and did and still does not fulfil its legal duty,\u201d Hadra explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is widely believed that the judicial group currently residing in Port Sudan has become a tool in the hands of the army, who make them do whatever they want,\u201d he said and criticised the National Committee for the Investigation of War Crimes<\/a> as it \u201cit was formed by one of the parties to the war, and therefore cannot be neutral\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He further expected that international justice will lead to not escaping punishment. \u201cThe two parties to the war did not abide by international or domestic laws, nor even the Jeddah and Geneva agreements they signed. The role of international criminal justice is important here, because it only intervenes when domestic justice fails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe failure of the leaders of the warring parties to condemn these crimes confirms that they do not respect the laws,\u201d the lawyer stated. \u201cWe have not seen any investigation committees from either side that have brought violators to trial. Condemnations by RSF Commander Hemedti on social media are for propaganda purposes only.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Little fear\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two days ago, The Guardian posted an article on RSF paramilitaries posting \u201cself-incriminating videos of torture and arson\u201d on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a situation where abusers are filming themselves, giving us evidence of what\u2019s happening when we don\u2019t have much information generally,\u201d said Alessandro Accorsi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. \u201cThey can do that because they probably feel little fear of consequences and because the cost opportunity of inditement is far greater than the punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anouk Theunissen, from the Sudan Witness project<\/a> of the London-based Centre for Information Resilience, said they had collected and verified thousands of open sourced footage so far to provide information and data for future efforts to hold perpetrators to account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cameron Hudson<\/a>, senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC, on his X account yesterday expressed<\/a> a less optimistic view: \u201cIt\u2019s telling that a lack of fear of consequences is driving belligerents on both sides in the war in #Sudan<\/a> to post their abuses to social media. There really is no international community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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* Bal in <\/em>Sudanese colloquial language <\/em>reportedly <\/em>comes from the word \u2018balawit\u2019 which means an attack without mercy. <\/em>Balabesa (pl) is derived from the Sudanese expression <\/em>bal bas (<\/em>bal only) that came up during the war and is said about Islamists and others who are accused of supporting the continuation of the war. <\/em>During the December 2018 Revolution young protesters often chanted <\/em>\u2018el hal fi \u2018l bal\u2019 (the solution is in the <\/em>bal) that reportedly refers to a complete and neat solution.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n