Janjaweed

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section appears to contradict itself. Please help fix this problem.

A Janjaweed miltiaman mounted

The Janjaweed (Arabic: جنجويد; variously transliterated Janjawid, Janjawed, Jingaweit, Jinjaweed, Janjawiid, Janjiwid, Janjaweit, etc.– thought to mean "a man with a gun on a horse", "devil on horseback", or "a man on a horse") is a blanket term used to describe mostly armed gunmen in Darfur, western Sudan, and now eastern Chad.^[1] Using the United Nations definition, the Janjaweed comprised nomadic Arabic-speaking African tribes (i.e. Black Arabs, or Afro-Arabs), the core of whom are from Abbala (camel herder) background with significant Lambo recruitment from the Baggara (cattle herder) people. They have been at odds with Darfur's sedentary population in the past. They are currently in conflict with Darfur rebel groups — the Sudan Liberation Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement. Since 2003 they have been one of the main players in the Darfur conflict, which has pitted the largely nomadic Sudanese against the sedentary Sudanese population of the region in a battle over resource and land allocation.^[2] Some interviews suggest that they are acting as paid mercenaries on behalf of the government of Sudan.

1 Etymology
2 History
3 Janjaweed's commanders
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Etymology

The name Janjaweed is often believed to mean something in a dialect of Western Sudan.^[3] Generically meaning ‘hordes’ in colloquial Arab, there is no evidence for etymological connection between Janjaweed and ‘jinn’ (spirit), ‘jim’ (‘G’ as in G3 rifle), ‘jawad’ (horse) or 'ganja,' a Sanskrit vernacular for marijuana. The Janjaweed are the successor to an earlier Arab tribal militia, the Murahilin (literally “nomads”), which had existed for many years beforehand.^[4]

The term is instead a derivative of the Persian word, jang, "war", and jangawee, "warrior."^{[citation needed]} The term was adopted by the Mahdists in Sudan along with the idea of the Mahdi — a lingering tradition of the old Rustamid Ibadi dynasty of Tunisia who hailed from a Persian background^{[citation needed]}. The Ismaili Shia Fatimids dynasty, who conquered the Rustamids, inherited the term and carried it to Egypt, thence Sudan^{[citation needed]}. The Mahdists showed a strong Shia ideological imprint^{[citation needed]}, although they were Sunnis in their belief. The term "janjaweed" is an Arabicized version of Jangawee, which stood for "faith warriors" among the old Shia communities of North Africa in the medieval times^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] History

War in Darfur


Timeline
International response
AMIS
Combatants
SLM
JEM
Janjaweed
Other articles
History of Darfur
Bibliography
This box: view • talk • edit

The Janjaweed are armed partisans drawn from Darfurian and Arabic-speaking tribes that became notorious for massacre, rape and forced displacement in 1990 and 2001-2005. The Janjaweed first emerged in 1988 after Chadian President Hissène Habré, backed by France and the United States, defeated the Libyan army, thereby ending Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi’s territorial designs on Chad. Libya’s Chadian protégé, Acheickh Ibn Omer Saeed, retreated with his partisan forces to Darfur, where they were hosted by Sheikh Musa Hilal, the newly-elevated chief of the Mahamid Rizeigat Arabic speaking African tribes of north Darfur. Hilal’s tribesmen had earlier smuggled Libyan weapons to Ibn Omer’s forces. A French-Chadian incursion destroyed Ibn Omer’s camp, but his weapons remained with his Mahamid hosts.

Throughout the 1990s, the Janjaweed were a combination of Chadian and Darfurian "Arab" partisans, tolerated by the Sudan Government, pursuing local agendas of controlling land. The majority of Darfur’s Arabs, the Baggara confederation, were and remain uninvolved in the war. In 1999-2000, faced with threats of insurgencies in Western and Northern Darfur, Khartoum’s security armed the Janjaweed forces. When the insurgency escalated in February 2003, spearheaded by the Sudan Liberation Movement, and the Justice and Equality Movement, the Sudanese Government responded by using the Janjaweed as its main counter-insurgency force. Protracting the forces to attack and recover the rebel held areas of Darfur, the Janjaweed conducted a scorched earth campaign of mass atrocity targeting civilians in the region of Darfur. As of October, 2007, only the United States' government has declared the Janjaweed killings in Darfur to be genocide, since they have killed an estimated 200,000-400,000 civilians in the last three years.^[5]^[6] The U.S. State Department and others in 2004 named leading Janjaweed commanders including Musa Hilal as suspected genocide criminals. The UN Security Council called for the Janjaweed to be disarmed.

By early 2006, many Janjaweed had been absorbed into the Sudan Armed Forces including the Popular Defence Forces and Border Guards. Meanwhile, the Janjaweed expanded to include some Arab-speaking tribes in eastern Darfur, not historically associated with the original Janjaweed. Chadian "Arabs" were also increasingly active in seeking to reestablish a political base in Chad, as part of the Unified Forces for a Democratic Change (FUC) coalition.

Musa Hilal, who heads a small but powerful Darfurian "Arab" tribe,^[7] is suspected by the US State Department of being a leader of the Janjaweed.^[8] The New Yorker quotes him: " I am a tribal leader. ... The government call to arms is carried out through the tribal leaders."^[9] He admits recruiting, but denies being in the military chain of command, according to Human Rights Watch.^[10]

[edit] Janjaweed's commanders

The following is a United States State Department list of Janjaweed Commanders and Coordinators:

Sheikh Musa Hilal: Janjaweed coordinator and Buffalo Brigade (Liwa el Jamous) commander
Hamid Dawai: Janjaweed Brigader, Terbeba-Arara-Beida area leader. Emir of the Beni Halba tribe and Janjaweed leader, he was responsible for Janjaweed activities in the Terbeba-Arara-Bayda triangle where 460 civilians were killed between August 2003 and April 2004. He has residences in Geneina and Bayda, Sudan.
Abdullah Mustafa Abu Shineibat: Habila and Foro Burunga area. Emir of the Beni Halba tribe and Janjaweed leader in the Habila-Murnei area.
Omada Saef: Geneina and Misterei area. Omda of the Awlad Zeid tribe and leader of the Janjaweed from Geneina to Misterei. He has a residence in Geneina.
Omar Babbush: Habila and Foro Burunga area. Omda of the Misseriya tribe and leader of the Janjaweed from Habila to Foro Burunga. He has a residence in Foro Burunga.
Ahmed Dekheir: Murnei area. He is the omda of the Ma’alia tribe and leader of the Janjaweed in Murnei.
Ahmed Abu Kamasha: Kailek area

The following is a United States Congress list of Janjaweed's Coordination and Command Council:^[11]

Sukeirtalah: Lieutenant Colonel, Leader of Janjaweed——Geneina
Ahmed Mohammed Haroun: Coordinator——State Minister of Interior
Osman Yusif Kibir: State Governor Darfur
El Tahir Hassan Abboud: NCP
Mohammed Salih Al Sunusi Baraka: Member of the National Assembly
Mohammed Yusif El Tileit: Western Darfur State Minister
Hussein Abdalla Jibril: Major General, Member of the National Assembly

The following is a United States Congress list of Janjaweed Field Command:

Sheikh Musa Hilal: Janjaweed coordinator and Buffalo Brigade (Liwa el Jamous) commander
Hamid Dawai: Janjaweed Brigadier, Terbeba-Arara-Beida area leader. Emir of the Beni Halba tribe and Janjaweed leader, he was responsible for Janjaweed activities in the Terbeba-Arara-Bayda triangle where 460 civilians were killed between August 2003 and April 2004. He has residences in Geneina and Bayda, Sudan.
Abdel Wahid: Janjaweed Brigadier, Kebkabiya area
Mohammed Ibrahim Ginesto: Janjaweed Brigadier
Hussein Tangos: Janjaweed Major
Omer Baabas: Janjaweed Major^[12]