Sudan: The second genocide in Darfur and the dispute over gold trafficking
It is vital for the international workers' and youth movements to denounce the genocide in Sudan and all of its perpetrators and accomplices
Introduction:
Africa has experienced countless genocides, and behind them there are always the interests of companies from imperialist countries. The French in Algeria, the Italians in Ethiopia, the Belgians in Rwanda and Congo, the Germans in Namibia and Tanzania, the British in Kenya, etc. In Darfur, Sudan, near the border with Chad, the non-Arab African population experienced a first genocide in 2003, and for two and a half years now, the Black Masalit, Fur, and Zaghawa ethnic groups have been experiencing a new genocide similar to that of 2003.
The first genocide, in 2003, was carried out by the Janjaweed (lit. “armed horsemen”), who, under the government of dictator Al Bashir, gained the status of regular forces and from which emerged the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) of the supposed general Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo. In 2003, it is estimated that between 300,000 and 500,000 people were murdered!
A reactionary civil war
In Sudan, there are two bourgeois factions at war with each other, supported by imperialist and regional powers. Both the Sudanese Armed Forces (the country’s official institution) and the Rapid Support Forces militias are the protagonists of today’s greatest military tragedy. Those who are horrified by the war in Ukraine or the genocide in Palestine will be even more appalled by the Sudanese genocide.
Identifying the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces as the perpetrators and those responsible for a reactionary civil war places us in the opposite camp to those who, at the beginning of the war, claimed that the Sudanese Armed Forces, as the official institution of the state, were more progressive than Hemedti’s militias. In this war, due to imperialist and regional power interests, there is no progressive side. All are genocidal.
A new cycle of genocide
El Fasher was the only major city controlled by the Sudanese Armed Forces in the Darfur region. This city was the site of the Zamzam refugee camp, with 500,000 people living in subhuman conditions.
The fall of El Fasher on Sunday, October 26, consummated the RSF militias’ control of the entire Darfur region. Military battles result in deaths, but in the case of El Fasher, we are talking about the execution of at least 2,000 people in a few hours. For the militias, it was not enough to win; they also needed to humiliate, and this is the justification for the mass executions.
Over the past two years, a new genocide has been taking place throughout the Darfur region. According to the BBC, “More than 150,000 people have died in the conflict across the country, and about 12 million have fled their homes in what the United Nations has called the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.” [1]
The Sudanese Doctors’ Network states that: “The massacres the world is witnessing today are an extension of what happened in el-Fasher more than a year and a half ago, when more than 14,000 civilians were killed through bombing, starvation, and extrajudicial executions” and, furthermore, it is a: “deliberate and systematic campaign of murder and extermination.”[2]
Ethnic cleansing and enslavement of the non-white Arab population
We cannot understand the Sudanese process without understanding the strategy of US, Chinese, Russian, and regional imperialism in terms of ethnic cleansing of the border region with Chad and within the Sahel region. In addition, we need to understand that Sudanese of Arab origin seek to capture black Sudanese to turn them into falangayat (slaves).
Ethnic cleansing and territorial cleansing
Darfur is divided into East Darfur, South Darfur, Central Darfur, West Darfur, and North Darfur. The conquest of El Fasher means total control of the entire region called Darfur.
Darfur, as a whole, borders South Sudan (which gained independence in 2011), the Central African Republic, Chad, Libya, and the northern part of Sudan itself. Thus, the fall of El Fasher, the last regional capital, brings about the consolidation of the region and the possibility of a new division of Sudan and the creation of an autonomous state.
Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad, Sudan: the route for trafficking gold, diamonds, and uranium
There is a huge flow of contraband raw materials, especially gold, through the Sahel region. In the article “Sudan: Overshadowed War, Imperialism, and Workers’ Solidarity,” published on the International Workers League website, we stated that: “Sudan’s location is important because it is a major transit route for gold and diamond smuggling from Mali, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, and other countries to the United Arab Emirates.” In that text, we also showed, according to Interpol data, the entire route of gold and diamonds from various African countries, especially to the United Arab Emirates.
Thus, by controlling Darfur, the RSF militias form a direct bridge between the countries of the Sahel and the Red Sea. As they already control part of northern Sudan, with the fall of El Fasher, the connection between the main Sahel states and the United Arab Emirates is consolidated.
Enslavement of the black Sudanese population by Arab Sudanese
The massacres in Darfur in 2003 were carried out by the Janjaweed on horseback. Today, in the Zamzam refugee camp, paramilitaries attack with pickup trucks equipped with machine guns, artillery, and drones. The purpose of the attack was to hunt for falangayat (slaves). The RSF militiamen, of Arab origin, derisively call the black populations of the region falangayat.
Zamzam is one of the largest camps in the world and is home to the most vulnerable populations in terms of food, water, and health. One child dies every two hours from dehydration, hunger, curable diseases, bullets, or the blade of an axe.
In this camp with 500,000 refugees, in just one night, the RSF killed more than 2,000 people. For three days and three nights, the camp was attacked by RSF forces, turning it into one of the largest massacres since the city of Geneima, the capital of West Darfur, was taken in 2023, where between 10,000 and 15,000 people were murdered.
The “falangayat” men are forced to serve in the RSF, work in the gold mines of Hemedeti’s family, or traffic raw materials. The “falangayat” women are forced to serve as sex slaves for RSF soldiers.
Warring forces and who finances them
Across Africa, are currently experiencing numerous armed conflicts, including in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Nigeria, Libya, Somalia, the Sahel, Cabo Delgado (in Mozambique), as well as two very important conflicts outside of Africa, in Palestine and Ukraine. These military conflicts are the greatest expressions of the trend toward imbalance and the intensification of class struggle. In Africa today, in addition to the just mentioned armed conflicts, there are also significant mass outbreaks of popular anger in Kenya, Ghana, Mozambique, Angola, Madagascar, and Morocco.
Therefore, any discussion of the conflict in Sudan must begin by taking into account the trend toward imbalance and the intensification of class struggle on the continent.
The current capitalist crisis imposes greater attacks on the living standards of the masses. For example, countries with armed conflicts, countries generally referred to as low-income (and therefore with a low quality of life), now have to invest in military spending, even if their budget is reduced. This process is one of the most important reasons for the decline in living standards and hunger in these countries.
The second element is that, when managing loans for military spending and political support, national wealth is handed over. A clear example is the protection of Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic. Pressured by the militarist groups that controlled 70% of his country’s territory, Touadéra made an agreement with the former Wagner Group, managed to defeat the local groups, stabilized himself as a government, and, in return, allowed the Russians to take over the extraction, transport, and marketing of diamonds.
The increase in military spending
This trend toward imbalance and worsening of the situation, in the case of Sudan, shows that there has been a huge increase in military spending. This is due to the size of the disputed area, the number of soldiers involved, and the increase in military technology. And who is financing all this? What interests are at stake?
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are the two sides in conflict. Let’s look at the interests that drive these two forces, in general, and against workers and the poor.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are commanded by General Abdel Fattah al-Burham, who is also the country’s president. With the fall of dictator al-Bashir, al-Burham’s group inherited the military apparatus that supported the former dictator, including 200 companies controlled by the military. Egypt is another ally of the Sudanese Armed Forces. This support is because both countries are against the construction of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. China is on the side of the Sudanese Armed Forces because it has important material interests in the country, especially in the oil, petrochemical, and military industries. Saudi Arabia is another important ally. On the one hand, it does not want conflict in Sudan, as it is building the NEOM smart city project on the other side of the Red Sea. Its other motive is to ensure the enforcement of the law passed by the Sudanese parliament that allows Saudi Arabia to lease one million acres of fertile land in Setit and Upper Atbara for 99 years.
The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are commanded by a militiaman who calls himself a general. Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo’s RSF has Russia as its major ally. The Russian state’s relationship with Hemedti originated through the joint actions of the former Wagner Group and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militias. As these are militia groups, these relationships are obviously not transparent; they are relationships for committing crimes, exploitation, trafficking, and illegally trading gold. This relationship gained strength after the Wagner Group began operations in the Central African Republic and extended its tentacles into the Sahel, particularly in Mali and Burkina Faso.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has a long history of collaboration with Hemedti. It was the UAE that created and funded a development bank in Darfur after the genocide perpetrated in the region by the then Janjaweed militia, which allowed Hemedti to buy regional support. In return, the UAE became a partner in gold mining in the region. Ethiopia is another ally of Hemedti insofar as al-Burham and the Sudanese Armed Forces, together with Egypt, are against the construction of the Ethiopian Renaissance Dam; Hemedti sides with Ethiopia to weaken al-Burham.
The quartet negotiations
The US, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates are part of the Quartet group. In the Quartet, we note the absence of Chinese and Russian imperialism, which, as we saw above, have major regional interests. The presence of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is explained by the fact that each has its own interests in Sudan and, for this reason, each supports one side.
The novelty is the presence of the United States, proposing to be the moderator. In fact, the US will send an American business delegation to visit the country, which is rich in minerals. It is not a pacifist gesture, it is a gesture to conquer new sources of minerals.
International workers’ and youth movements must be aware of and denounce this slaughter
A campaign is needed to denounce the genocide in Sudan and the role of its accomplices, in particular the US, the European Union, Russia, and China, but it is also necessary to denounce the regional powers of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The vanguard of workers and youth need to be aware of this process and better understand the role of imperialism and regional powers, whose governments support one or the other side in the war in order to take advantage of natural resources and raw materials.
We must pay special attention to Sudanese in the diaspora, and we salute our comrades in the International Socialist League in England for their work to this end.
