Is false hope offered by civilian rule in war-torn Sudanese state?

It later withdrew from that position, however, after Umma's general secretariat said the council failed to hold a legitimate meeting before it took that decision.

Whatever the politics, Gezira State has suffered heavily during the war, its people living in terror since the RSF seized control of it in December 2023.

The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that RSF attacks on its warehouses led to the suspension of humanitarian relief operations in the area.

According to reports, the looted food could have sustained 1.5 million people for a month.

Essential aid required for 20,000 children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers suffering from malnutrition was also taken.

Ongoing atrocities

There have been reports of barbaric violence including murder, rape, and looting perpetrated by the RSF since December.

This triggered a secondary wave of displacement, with 600,000 having left by the end of January 2024.

The resistance committees of Wad Madani, the capital of Gezira State, reported that roughly 400 people had been killed by the RSF there since its incursion.

In late March, the RSF intercepted a passenger bus leaving the village of al-Duma near Wad al-Haddad, heading to Sennar province. It opened fire on the bus, plundered belongings, and killed several passengers.

The RSF then chased those who managed to escape to nearby villages. Some of the injured were taken to Sennar Hospital, but the fate of many travellers is unknown.

Two days before, the RSF invaded villages including al-Halaween, killing around 50 residents. Survivors fled to the Tambol area.

Around the same time, CNN published a report detailing forced conscription by the RSF in Gezira State, with food used as a weapon, withheld from the hungry to coerce people to join the ranks.

It features accounts from over 13 witnesses and pointed to the recruitment of more than 50 children to fight as part of the RSF.

Taqaddum and RSF

Observers say the new administration in Gezira is a key step forward in implementing a wider agreement between the Taqaddum coalition and the RSF.

Signed by Hemedti and Hamdok in January in Addis Ababa, it sets out a path to normality via the formation of regional civil administrations, but it had looked stalled.

One area of the agreement that still required progress was the opening of humanitarian corridors and the release of detainees held by the RSF.

Some leading Taqaddum members publicly welcomed the establishment of the Gezira State civil administration as a sign of progress.

Suleiman Sandal Haqar, head of the Justice and Equality Movement, expressed his support on social media, calling it a crucial step toward a future federal system for Sudan.

Backing has not been unanimous, however. Taqaddum's official spokesman, Alaeddine Naqd, kept a cautious distance, describing it as a decision for local residents.

That may have been distancing Taqaddum not from civil administration but from the idea's originator, the RSF, owing to accusations of war crimes against it.

Distorting the truth

The composition of the civil administration seems to suggest that the body will turn a blind eye to RSF abuses, with some already justifying the RSF's conduct.

This includes the portrayal of Sudanese suffering as simply the effect of war. This makes a mockery of what people have been through at the hands of the RSF.

Although the move towards civilian rule may be a source of hope after such a bleak year, excusing war crimes is not the kind of behaviour befitting a group with national governance aspirations.

Rather than distorting human rights abuses, fabricating events, shifting blame, and justifying their biased stance, these would-be council memers should unequivocally condemn all violations, regardless of the perpetrator. 

The actions of the RSF since the onset of this war have mirrored its past practices when, as the Janjaweed militia, its fighters would burn villages, poison water supplies, and destroy whole herds of livestock.  

This shows that past efforts by the Sudanese state to incorporate groups like the RSF were ill-judged, even if these groups claim to be upholding law and order.

Basic empathy

Yet Taqaddum's efforts to deflect political criticism through complaints, personal interventions, and attempts to marginalise dissenting voices have gone as far as character assassination and spreading falsehoods.

The first step now should be for civilian groups to reassess their political allegiances and disassociate themselves from the RSF, on account of it having inflicted immense pain and suffering on the Sudanese people.

Groups purportedly advocating for democracy and civil governance take a political gamble by offering tacit support to, or even embracing, such a militia.

If those who aspire to government fail to show even basic empathy for their people they aspire to govern, how can they expect to do so in any democratic system?

False narratives will not deceive a long-suffering population that has seen first-hand what has happened to their country.