The Khartoum War Exposes the Plans of the Conflict Parties Since 2019
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The Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, accused the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of dispersing the General Commands sit-in on June 3, 2019. Al-Burhans accusations were in response to allegations by the RSFs leader and his deputy, who had accused him of being involved in planning, orchestrating, and executing the dispersal of the sit-ins using various government forces, in addition to security and military agencies affiliated with the dissolved National Congress Party.
Statements from the head of the Independent Investigation Committee into the dispersal of the sit-in, Nabil Adeeb, were widely circulated on the Qatari Al Jazeera channel. In these statements, Adeeb called on Al-Burhan to provide any information he had regarding the RSFs involvement in the dispersal of the sit-in. He added that all evidence related to the investigation had been securely preserved and had not been tampered with thus far. The committee is expected to submit its final report to the next civilian prime minister.
This marks the first time that Al-Burhan directly accused the RSF of involvement in the dispersal of the sit-in and the killing of peaceful protesters. Previously, he had vehemently denied any involvement in the crime and attributed it to a third party.
Since the dispersal of the General Commands sit-in, which human rights activists described as a heinous massacre, its nature and the gruesome events that unfolded there have contradicted its legal classification. This event is considered one of the crimes against humanity, according to the definitions in the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court adopted on July 17, 1998.
At the time of the sit-in dispersal, the current parties exchanging accusations (the April War parties) held the highest levels of responsibility. This was through their roles as president and vice president of the Military Council, which assumed responsibility for all government forces following the overthrow of the National Congress Party regime in April 2019.
At that time, a member of the Sovereign Council and the second-ranking military officer, Lieutenant General Shams al-Din al-Kabbashi, publicly acknowledged at a press conference following the crime the responsibility of the Military Council, the army, the police, the RSF, the Sudanese judiciary, and the public prosecutors office for planning and executing the crime.
Legal expert and leader of the Freedom and Change Alliance, Al-Muaz Hadra, stated in remarks reported by Radio Dabanga that Al-Burhans accusation of the RSFs involvement in the dispersal of the General Commands sit-in is a significant personal admission that could incriminate the army chief. He called on the investigation committee into the sit-in dispersal to file criminal charges against Al-Burhan and others, as this admission is almost sufficient evidence.
Hadra explained that Al-Burhan was the head of the Military Council at the time of the crime and represents the highest authority in the state. Furthermore, the crime was committed under his watchful eye. He denied any connection between the military leadership, the RSF, and the dispersal of the sit-in on multiple occasions, questioning why Al-Burhan remained silent about this information over the past four years. Did he provide this information to the investigation committee established for this purpose?
Political analyst and journalist Wael Mahjoub, in an article published on several platforms, noted that one of the confirmed reasons for the outbreak of this war, with all its accompanying heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity, is the prevalence of a culture of impunity, the erosion of justice values, and the protections enjoyed by the perpetrators at the highest levels of power. This has been the case since the infamous era of the Salvation regime and during the reign of its security committee. These crimes, their precedents, and the crimes of this ongoing war fall under the category of crimes that do not expire under the statute of limitations.
It seems that the continuation of the conflict between the two parties may reveal more secrets and details about the events that occurred after April 11, 2019, the date of the fall of Omar al-Bashirs regime.
