FORMER DARFUR CEASEFIRE REPS AFRAID FOR LIVES AS

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 001388 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR A/S FRAZER, S/E WILLIAMSON, AND AF/SPG NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/30/2018 TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL PREF PHUM KPKO UNSC AU SU SUBJECT: FORMER DARFUR CEASEFIRE REPS AFRAID FOR LIVES AS ICC PROCEEDS REF: A. KHARTOUM 1328 ¶B. KHARTOUM 1377 Classified By: CDA Alberto M. Fernandez, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d ) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Claiming that the International Criminal Court is using information they collected in their previous duties, ex-representatives of the Ceasefire Commission (CFC) fear GoS reprisal, including detention, unexplained disappearances, and targeted assassinations. Contacts alleged that the GoS fears expert eyewitnesses more than reports, photographs, or material evidence, and will attempt to eliminate the CFC representatives' testimony through any means. Ex-CFC representatives requested special consideration from the USG for immigrant visas or asylum. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) On September 7 and 10, poloff met Abdul Majid Hassan (JEM/Peace Wing) and Mohammed Adam Abdulla (former SLM/AW incorporated into SLA/Free Will). On September 8, poloff met three JEM Abu Reisha representatives led by Ahmad Yahia Madieo. (Note: All of these groups are "declaration of commitment" groups that signed the DPA after SLM/MM. These representatives acknowledged that there are elements within their movements controlled by the GoS, but emphasized their independence from and frustration with the GoS. End Note.) ¶3. (C) Hassan opened the September 10 meeting claiming that CFC observers were being put in jail and were mysteriously disappearing. Although not able to provide specific names, these CFC representatives claimed that one of their previous colleagues has just disappeared during the last week of August. Hassan and his colleagues stated that their work as CFC monitors was used by ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo in building a case against President Bashir. They said that in addition to the reports they helped the African Union prepare, they have been prominently featured in a number of documentaries and television features on Darfur that accuse the Government of Sudan of committing genocide. Hassan delivered two recordings to poloff, an hour-long BBC Panorama feature from November 2004, and the widely publicized documentary "The Devil Came on Horseback," from June 2007 focusing on the experience of American military observer Brian Steidle. Hassan noted that these documentaries include footage of him and his colleagues, and more importantly, that their work helped inform these productions. Hassan noted that he is still in communication with a number of journalists and former military observers such as Steidle. ¶4. (C) JEM/Abu Reisha's Hassan, also a former CFC observer, separately told poloff that he is concerned that the GoS will turn against him and his colleagues as the ICC investigations continue. "The GoS sees us as a virus and does not want peace with us or with Darfur as a whole," noted Hassan. Hassan added that the AU's ceasefire commission was "the only mechanism investigating what was really happening in Darfur," and expressed great frustration at UNAMID's inability to restart the commission. According to Hassan, UNAMID has been a bigger disappointment than AMIS "especially as the GoS has been able to totally prevent it from doing its job." ¶5. (C) COMMENT: Although all of these contacts were concerned about their personal safety, the Abu Reisha representatives were less alarmist than their other former CFC representatives. Hassan was not able to deliver specific information regarding names and numbers of disappearing former CFC representatives, and his claims may be more a form of generalized fear than reference to specific detentions or assassinations. Several of the representatives mentioned that if the pressure on them continues, that they will retreat to the field in Darfur and join other movements such as SLM/Unity and JEM. Nonetheless, these reports are troubling and signal another complicating factor with the ongoing ICC investigations. They track closely with other reports Post has received (reftels) of increased scrutiny and harassment by the GOS of international NGOs that the regime suspects may have provided information to the ICC, including searches of files containing eyewitness accounts of violence and sexual abuse. As the ICC proceeds, it may not endanger just the stability of Sudan as a whole, but specific individuals who have cooperated with the international community in the past. END COMMENT. FERNANDEZ