First Darfur rebel denies charges before Hague court

THE HAGUE, Monday

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors said today Sudanese Darfur rebel leader Bahr Idriss Abu Garda deliberately ordered the killing of 12 African Union peacekeepers, leaving civilians unprotected.

Mr Abu Garda, 46, is the first Darfur rebel to appear before the ICC. He appeared voluntarily for a hearing to determine whether he should face trial on three war crimes charges over the attack on an AU peacekeeping base in September 2007.

Two other rebels have also been accused of involvement in the attack. Mr Abu Garda, chairman of the United Resistance Front, has denied the charges. He is not yet in custody.

Deputy prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said the peacekeepers were sent to protect civilians from killings and rapes, to monitor peace and deliver aid, but were murdered by combined rebel forces under Mr Abu Garda’s control, in part for their equipment.

They were executed

“They murdered peacekeepers, who were not killed accidentally. Nor were they killed in crossfire. Most of them were shot at close range. They were executed,” Ms Bensouda told the three-judge chamber.

The AU peacekeepers, now a joint AU-UN force, have been unable to end fighting between government and rebel troops since hostilities erupted in 2003. The UN says up to 300,000 people have been killed, but Khartoum says 9,000 people have died.

Mr Abu Garda, wearing a grey suit and eyeglasses, is charged with murder, intentionally directing attacks against a peacekeeping mission and pillaging of vehicles, computers, phones, ammunition, money and military clothes and boots.

“A confirmation of charges hearing is not a trial, neither a mini trial nor a trial before a trial,” Presiding Judge Sylvia Steiner said, adding it is used to distinguish cases that should or should not go to trial.

Defence lawyer Karim Khan has not yet made his opening statement to the court.

Prosecutor Bensouda said about 1,000 rebels stormed the peacekeeping camp in 30 vehicles in the early evening using machine guns and rocket propelled grenades. The attack continued into the early morning.

She added that Ms Abu Garda’s forces had just split from Darfur’s rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and they needed equipment and recognition as a fully fledged rebel force.

“International peacekeepers must be protected by more than just weapons and armour. They must be sheltered by all the power of international law,” Ms Bensouda said.

Mr Abu Garda will only be detained if the court decides there is enough evidence for a trial. The court will have 60 days from the end of the hearing on October 29 to hand down a ruling.

Mr Abu Garda was born in the small North Darfur village of Nana, close to a strategic crossing point into Chad.

Harsh desert frontiers

At his first hearing in The Hague, he told the court he was born on New Year’s Day, 1963, making him 46 -- a relative veteran among Darfur’s insurgents.

His family is part of the area’s influential Zaghawa group that has thrived in the harsh desert frontiers of Sudan and Chad.

The Zaghawa clashed with Arab herders over grazing lands for decades before the Darfur conflict and are also known as canny traders.

Fellow rebels say Abu Garda is a university graduate with a family who spent some time in Khartoum before the Darfur conflict.

Mr Abu Garda became an early member of JEM, a force closely linked with his Zaghawa Kobe sub-group. He quickly became an influential figure, in time becoming secretary of JEM’s Darfur section and one of seven vice-presidents.

Mr Abu Garda has said he was dismissed by JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim on September 25, 2007, at the height of a bitter split within the movement’s governing elite.

JEM accused him of plotting to overthrow Mr Ibrahim, a charge he denies. ICC court papers say he formed a rival military splinter group some time between late September and early October.

The bloody attack on the African Union’s Haskanita base took place on September 29, 2007.

His condolences

Abu Garda officially announced the founding of the JEM Collective Leadership in early October 2007, lambasting Mr Ibrahim for concentrating power in his close family, damaging peace talks and conspiring against other leaders.

After a series of alliances with other groups, Mr Abu Garda became leader of the insurgent United Resistance Front.

Abu Garda has regularly denied having anything to do with the Haskanita attack.

The official launch document of his breakaway JEM Collective Leadership included a passage condemning the assault, passing his condolences to the peacekeepers’ families and promising to cooperate with any investigation. (Reuters)