General information
Part of Conflict: Sudan: Government
Date of first stated goals of incompatibility: 2014-01-04
Comment on date of first stated goal of incompatibility: The former Janjaweed leader Musa Hilal, who recently had defected from the ruling National Congress Party, announced in a press release on 4 January 2014, that he had established a new political movement called the Sudanese Awakening Revolutionary Council (SARC). The aim of SARC was to establish a civil and democratic state under the rule of law. Hilal accused the government, and especially the local administration in North Darfur, of benefiting non-Arab tribes. Hilal himself belongs to the Arab Mahameed clan in North Darfur. Hilal stated that if the government would not respond to his demands all options for action were open.
Date of first use of armed force: 2014-02-28
Comment on date of first use of armed force: On 28 February 2014 SARC attacked the government’s paramilitary forces called the Central Reserve Forces in the North Darfur State. There were around 50 fatalities in this clash and SARC warned the population to stay away from their operations area.
First Battle Related Death: 2014-02-28
Comment on First Battle Related Death: On 28 February 2014 SARC attacked the government’s paramilitary forces called the Central Reserve Forces in the North Darfur State. There were around 50 fatalities in this clash and SARC warned the population to stay away from their operations area.
Date when dyad reached 25 battle releated deaths: 2014-02-28
Comment on date when dyad reached 25 battle related deaths: On 28 February 2014 SARC attacked the government’s paramilitary forces called the Central Reserve Forces in the North Darfur State. There were around 50 fatalities in this clash and SARC warned the population to stay away from their operations area.
Conflict issues
Conflict Goal Issues: Sudanese Awakening Revolutionary Council (SARC) was an Arab Mahamid rebel group fighting against the Sudanese government. The group emerged in 2014, vowing to protect the “human rights, power and wealth sharing, development and settling down of nomadic tribes”. The group was characterized by its shared Arab Mahamid ethnicity and cooperated with other Sudanese rebel groups such as SPLM/A-North and the SRF alliance, criticizing the Sudanese government’s treatment of national ethnic and tribal groups. During the year of its emergence, SARC pronounced several conflict goal issues, calling for the protection of human rights of the Sudanese people, particularly the children, for economic reform to promote equal wealth distribution, and for rule of law to be implemented to provide security for the people. SARC also accused the government of corruption, calling for democratic reform in the country, and for the ousting of local administrations in North Darfur. The group also stated its intentions to resolve issues through diplomatic dialogue, hinting at the establishment of executive power-sharing, and called for the legal recognition of Arab militias present in Sudan.
As the conflict progressed, only two aforementioned conflict goal issues were explicitly reiterated, as SARC reemphasized its intentions to carry out economic reform to more evenly distribute the country’s wealth: “the ongoing wars are now fabricated for the purpose of a divide-and-rule policy of which the ruling elite in Khartoum is the ultimate beneficiary rather than the people of Sudan.”. The group also called for further military reform, although this was aimed toward national militias, as SARC called for militia leaders to cease their cooperation and support from the government. Several new issues were also raised by the group, as SARC stated its opposition to national elections, although this position was amended five days later to instead support sitting President Omar Al-Bashir. Soon after the elections, SARC also called for the group to be recognized as a national political party. The group also called for the disbandment of pro-government militias and for the protection of the civil rights of Sudanese tribal groups.
The main conflict goal issues of SARC were the issues of the Sudanese military structure, particularly on the presence and influence of various militias, as well as economic reform to promote equal wealth distribution. These issues were continuously referenced throughout the conflict and were heavily emphasized by the group.
Conflict Dynamics Issues: Throughout the conflict, SARC stated two conflict dynamics issues, calling for international assistance in providing humanitarian aid and reducing the prevalence of child soldiers being used in Sudan during 2014, and accusing the government of Sudan of conducting an operation of ethnic cleansing against smaller ethnic groups in Darfur. As no issues were stated continuously, no main conflict dynamics issue was attributed to SARC.
Conflict Resolution Issues: During 2014, SARC called for the government to compensate civilians who had been affected by the fighting and heavily emphasized its intentions to resolve the conflict through dialogue, stating that these should be held in a neutral country, although the group also expressed its readiness to continue fighting, stating “that all options are open if the government refuses to respond to their demands.”
In 2017, SARC reemphasized its calls for negotiations, stating that “dialogue is the only genuine way out for the country from the current crisis it is witnessing.” During this year, the group also stated its resistance to planned disarmament programs which the government intended to carry out against the group. The main conflict resolution issue of SARC was the issue of negotiations, as this issue was continuously raised throughout the conflict and heavily emphasized.
Type of conflict issues: The coded conflict issues for this group are: Conflict Goal Issues: Childrens rights, Civil rights, Corruption, CPS: Democracy, Disband para-military forces, Economic reforms, Executive power-sharing, Hold elections, Human rights, Opposition to elections, Oust local executive, Recognition as a political party, Restructure military forces, Rule of law
Conflict Dynamics Issues: Collective targeting: ethnic, IFI: Humanitarian aid
Conflict Resolution Issues: Call for negotiations, Compensation/restoration, DDR issues, Structure of negotiationsF
Annual information
This section contains annual information systematically collected by the UCDP.
2014
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 111 |
| Best | 111 |
| Low | 73 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of Sudan): n/a
Side B (SARC): n/a
2017
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 52 |
| Best | 45 |
| Low | 45 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of Sudan): n/a
Side B (SARC): n/a
2018
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 1 |
| Best | 1 |
| Low | 1 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of Sudan): n/a
Side B (SARC): n/a
2019
| Estimated Fatalities | |
|---|---|
| High | 0 |
| Best | 0 |
| Low | 0 |
Secondary Warring Support:
Side A (Government of Sudan): n/a
Side B (SARC): n/a
Dyad Archive
This section contains annual information no longer systematically collected by the UCDP.
2014 Dyad Archive
Comment on Active: The activity of SARC was concentrated to the North Darfur state of Sudan in 2014. Most of the clashes took place from late February through March. As a result of SARC’s clashes with the government during this period, over 50 000 people were displaced, especially from the Saraf Umra district in North Darfur. In mid-March Hilal announced that he and SARC had established their own administration in North Darfur, dismissing the commissioner appointed by Khartoum.
Negotiations: NO
Victory: NO
Terminated: YES
Type of termination: No or Low Activity
Date of termination: 2014-12-31
Comment on Termination: The dyad is terminated due to low activity in 2015. Hence, the last date of 2014 is coded as the date of termination.
2017 Dyad Archive
Comment on Active: A national disarmament campaign in Sudan in 2017, triggered brief clashes between the government and SARC in North Darfur.
Negotiations: NO
Victory: NO
Terminated: YES
Type of termination: No or Low Activity
Date of termination: 2017-12-31
Comment on Termination: After his troops contested a government disarmament campaign, the leader of SARC - Musa Hilal - was imprisoned in late 2017 by the Sudanese government, and violence diminished. Therefore, the conflict was terminated at the end of 2017 as violence did not reach 25 deaths in 2018.
2018 Dyad Archive
Negotiations: NO
Victory: NO
Terminated: YES
Type of termination: Not terminated
Date of termination: 2017-12-31
2019 Dyad Archive
Terminated: NO
