SUMMARY
SARC (Sudanese Awakening Revolutionary Council) was an armed rebel and political group established on 4 January 2014. SARC officially claimed to seek the establishment of a civil and democratic state under the rule of law and accused the Government of Sudan of privileging non-Arab tribes, particularly in North Darfur. SARC reconciled with the government in 2015 and supported it during the year’s elections. However, the conflict between it and the government returned, after SARC perceived the national disarmament campaign launched in 2017 to be directly targeted against it.
SARC was based in North Darfur; the territorial homeland of its leader, Musa Hilal. In March 2014, SARC established control over the towns of Saraf Omra, Kutum, Kabkabiyah, and Alwaha in North Darfur and instituted a SARC Council comprised of native leaders and members from differing tribes to perform administrative and judicial functions in these areas. For example, a tax system with various fees for vehicles traveling in their areas of control was implemented. SARC also profited greatly from its control over the artisan gold mining industry in Jabal Amer, northwest of Kabkabiyah. In 2016, the UN Panel of Experts reportedly estimated that SARC earned $54 million a year from this. However, SARC lost control of this lucrative area after government forces pushed them out as part of the disarmament campaign in 2017.
The majority of SARC members were from the Arab Mahamid tribe, which was a sub-category of the Rizeigat Abbala tribe that dominated North Darfur. Most had also been members of the Janjaweed pro-government militia before they were integrated into the Sudanese government Border Guards force, from which they defected to join SARC in 2014. After SARC reconciled with the government in 2015, these troops reintegrated into the Border Guards but re-defected in 2017. Although this was unconfirmed, SARC reportedly had 8,000 members in 2017.
Musa Hilal was the leader of SARC; he came from Mustariaha in North Darfur and was chief of the Arab Mahamid tribe. In the 1990s, Hilal became involved in and then led Tajamu al Arabi, otherwise known as the Arab Gathering. The organization subscribed to an Arab supremacist ideology rooted in the vision of Libyan Colonel Gaddafi, of an Arab belt across Africa. Hilal was also the most prominent leader of the Janjaweed, who were infamous for their perpetration of violence against civilians in Darfur particularly during the mid-2000s (see for more information Janjaweed – Civilians. Hilal then became commander of the Border Guards in North Darfur in 2008, after the Janjaweed fighters were integrated into these government forces. In addition, Hilal joined the Government of Sudan as a special advisor to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and became a member of parliament for the ruling National Congress Party. However, his personal rivalries and dissatisfaction with the compensation for his services to the government caused him to relinquish these political positions and create SARC as a group to represent the interests of the Darfuri Arabs in 2014. Accordingly, many of the Border Guard troops under his command defected to Hilal and SARC. After negotiations with the government in 2015, Musa Hilal and his troops returned to the government Border Guard forces with Hilal publicly endorsing the re-election of incumbent President Omar al-Bashir. However, Hilal perceived the national disarmament campaign in 2017 to be personally aimed at undermining him and his control over North Darfur and he defected again. On 27 November 2017, Musa Hilal was arrested and imprisoned in Khartoum by the Government of Sudan following clashes between SARC and government forces.
On 24 February 2015, SARC signed a memorandum of understanding with SPLM/A – North, which was a member of the SRF alliance group. In this memorandum, they criticized the government for inciting ethnic divisions and declared their intent to cooperate to remove them. SLM/A leader Abdel Wahid Mohamed Nur, whose group was also in the SRF alliance, publicly endorsed this sign of unity as well. Nonetheless, SARC did not actively fight alongside any other groups.
