Khartoum’s Bombing of Children in the Nuba Mountains—Human Rights Watch reports on another grim and impending fourth anniversary

Eric Reeves

7 May 2015

Human Rights Watch today released a terribly revealing account of the lives of children in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan, and how the relentless and indiscriminate aerial bombardment by Khartoum’s National Islamic Front/National Congress Party has produced over the past four years ​death and maiming, hunger and disease (“Bombing Campaign’s Heavy Toll on Children: Dying From Attacks, Hunger, Disease”—see below).

As grim as the report is, it makes considerable sense of a declaration by Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein in a meeting of senior regime military and security officials on July 1, 2014 (the minutes of the meeting were leaked and have been authoritatively vetted to establish their authenticity, as have the minutes of a similar meeting on August 31, 2014). Hussein has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for multiple crimes against humanity in the Darfur genocide:

“We won’t stop the war on Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Our National Dialogue initiative is just a maneuver to provide us with political cover for a continuation of the war against the rebellion.

“We have instructed the Air Force to bomb any place, whether it is a school, hospital, or a nongovernmental humanitarian organization operating in rebel-controlled areas without permission from the government. Such presence is offensive and should be destroyed.” (“Meeting of President Bashir with Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) Generals” | Khartoum, 1 July 2014) 

Copyright 2015 Eric Reeves

Read Human Rights Watch  full article: Sudan: Bombing Campaign’s Heavy Toll on Children here.