SLM TRIAL BEGINS FOR DEADLY MARCH CONFRONTATION IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001134

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER, AF S/E NATSIOS, AND AF/SPG
NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY
ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/21/2012
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM SU
SUBJECT: SLM TRIAL BEGINS FOR DEADLY MARCH CONFRONTATION IN
KHARTOUM

REF: A. KHARTOUM 00466


B. KHARTOUM 00484

C. KHARTOUM 00524

D. KHARTOUM 01063

Classified By: CDA Alberto Fernandez, Reason: Sections 1.4 (b) and (d)

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Trial of SLM Members Begins
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1. (C) The trial of five members of the Sudan Liberation
Movement (SLM) involved in the Spring confrontation with
Sudanese security services in Khartoum began July 2. SLM
Legal Advisor Abdulaziz Sam told Poloff on July 19 that the
five are accused of killing three policemen and wounding six
after a traffic dispute escalated into the March 24 assault
by Sudanese security services on an SLM residence and the
party headquarters in the Omdurman neighborhood of the
capital (Refs. A, B, and C). The attack left nine SLM
partisans dead and over 50 wounded, in addition the police
casualties. During pre-trial motions on July 18, Sam
reported that the presiding judge had asked the prosecutor
for direct evidence linking the SLM defendants to the
charges, which he was unable to provide. Police witnesses
are scheduled to testify at the trial on July 22. The judge
will then determine if there is sufficient evidence for the
case to proceed.

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Case Against Security Services Stalled
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2. (C) The criminal case against the security services for
the related deaths of nine SLM members is stalled at the
order of Minister of Justice Mohammed Ali Al Mardi, according
to Sam. The Khartoum prosecutor had intended to try both
cases "in parallel" and had objected to Al Mardi's decision.
Four of the SLM defendants were guards of party Secretary
General Mustafa Tirab. The SLM maintains that they arrived
in Omdurman after the police had begun shelling the SLM
residence with gunfire and grenades, under the pretext of
arresting someone involved in a minor traffic accident in
front of the house. Sam said that none of the four were
armed. The fifth defendant was an invalid living in the
residence, which housed previously injured SLM fighters.

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Commission Favors SLM Position
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3. (C) After the March 24 attack, the Presidency had
established a commission comprised of prominent jurists to
investigate the circumstances of the incident. Sam claimed
that the commission chairman, Sudan People's Liberation
Movement (SPLM) member and human rights lawyer Ghazi
Suleiman, had told Senior Assistant to the President and SLM
leader Minni Minawi that the report was "positive" for the
SLM. At the behest of the National Congress Party (NCP),the
report has not been released. According to Sam, President
Bashir wanted to address the situation outside of public
view. After the trial began, Bashir had even called Minawi
to complain that a "political matter" was being handled
through the judiciary. Minawi had explained that the trial
was against the SLM--not the police--and had requested that
the baseless charges be dismissed. Bashir did not respond to
Minawi's clarification on the nature of the trial or his
request for dismissal of the charges.

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Threat of Civil Suit?
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4. (C) Given the stalled criminal case against the police,
Poloff asked about the viability of a civil suit. Sam
explained that civil cases were rare in Sudan because of
prohibitive court fees and that most settlements were instead
awarded through criminal cases. However, Sam said the SLM
would consider announcing the possibility of filing a civil
case in order to pressure the Government to release the five
defendants. "It could be politically helpful," he explained.

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Addressing the DPA's Legal Status Would Strengthen SLM
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5. (C) Many of the problems facing the SLM and the

KHARTOUM 00001134 002 OF 002


Transitional Darfur Regional Authority (TDRA) stem from their
quasi-legal status within the Government of National Unity
(GNU),according to Sam. As a step toward incorporating the
Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) and the TDRA into the national
legal framework, he is developing a bylaw for the TDRA to
specify its internal structures (Ref. D). The draft bylaw
delineates the role and powers of the Senior Assistant to the
President, including on security, reconstruction and
development, and foreign relations. The bylaw will be
reviewed by the three Darfur state governors and then passed
within the TDRA by the end of July. Sam did not anticipate
objections to any of the key provisions of the bylaw from the
governors, who he said "were trying to be cooperative now."
Poloff reiterated the USG's interest in supporting the
integration of the DPA and the TDRA into the national interim
constitution by facilitating cooperation between the SLM and
the SPLM and providing technical assistance through the
National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI).
FERNANDEZ