Pro-Government Militias
Arab Pastoralists (Sudan)
Basic Group Information
| Name assigned by coder: | no |
| PGM ID Number: | 433 |
| Country: | Sudan |
| Date formed: | Jan. 1, 1975 |
| Accuracy of date formed: | decade |
| Details of Formation: | In the context of the economic crisis in the late 1970s, the central government began to subcontract impoverished Arab pastoralists (Deng 2002). |
| Date dissolved: | Unknown |
| Accuracy of date dissolved: | day |
| Details of Termination: | he Arab pastoralists were still a pro-government group in 2014. |
| Termination Type(s): | not terminated |
Former and Successor Group Information
| Predecessor group(s): | none |
| Successor group(s): | none |
| Private Military Company? | no |
| Former Group? | yes |
| Former Armed Group? | unclear |
| Former Rebel Group? | no |
| Former Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
| PGM Becomes Rebel Group? | no |
| Successor Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
Government Relation, Support, and Training
| Government Relation: | informal (type 1) |
| Created by the Government?: | no | Main Creating Government Institution: | none |
| Government Link(s): | state (institution) |
| If link to party, name of party: | None |
| Training and Equipment: | yes |
| Shared Information and Joint Operations: | yes |
| Shared Personnel: | no |
| Type(s) of Material Support: | domestic government |
| State Sponsor(s): | none |
| Other Connection(s): |
Group Characteristics
| Membership: | ethnic; religious; village/rural |
| Primary Membership: | ethnic |
| Alternative Primary Membership: | no information |
| Location: | Darfur, Gogrial, Aweil |
| Force Strength: | [unknown, 30000] |
| Target(s): | civilians; rebels, insurgents, or other armed group; ethnic group; peasants |
| Purpose(s): | self-defense and security; intimidation of ethnic/religious groups; fight insurgents |
Ethnic Characteristics
| Ethnic Target(s): | Dinka (Sudan); Fur (Sudan) |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Targeting: | given |
| Ethnic Membership: | Other Arab groups (Sudan) |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Membership: | inferred |
| Ethnic Purpose: | Dinka (Sudan); Fur (Sudan) |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Purpose: | given |
Other Information
| Other Information: | Arab Pastoralists are from the ethnic group Rizeigat, a subgroup of the Arab Baggara. Major tribal groups are the Rizaygat or Rizaigat a Baggara clan. The Arab pastoralists are a nomadic/semi-nomadic group worried about access to land for their animals and originally armed in order to fight against farmers. Darfur’s residents often equate the Arab Pastoralists with the Janjaweed government allied militia. Although there is some overlapping membership, news sources assert some separation between both groups. |
New Variables from Meta-Analysis
Purpose
| Purpose: | In the late 1970s, the Arab pastoralists’ main purpose was to act as a local self-provisioning protection force for the oilfields. Successive national governments later used the Arab pastoralists as a counter-insurgency force during the 1980s. (Deng 2002) |
| Relative Benefit(s) of PGM Use | unknown |
Treatment of Civilians
| Treatment of Civilians: | Arab pastoralists regularly burn farm villages, execute farmers, demand huge sums of extortion money and seize land. In 1987, Arab pastoralists, in collaboration with the police, burnt more than 1,000 allegedly unarmed Dinka tribesmen who had sought refuge at a police station. |
| Type(s) of Violence against Civilians: | killing |
Reasons for Membership
| PGM Members Coerced? | no |
| PGM Members Paid? | unclear |
| Reasons for Membership: | Many Arab Pastoralists faced a subsistence crisis, which they sought to mitigate by engaging in raiding and allying with the central government. (Deng 2002) |
| PGM Members Killed? | no information |
PGM Size
| Size: | A news source from 2004 says that Arab pastoralists have a militia with 30,000 members. |
Weapons and Training
| Weapons and Training: | Arab pastoralists are armed with Kalashnikov rifles. They receive weapons from the government of Sudan. |
Organisation
| Organisation: | Arab Pastoralists cooperate with the police and with Border Guards militia which is affiliated to the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). They were allied to successive national governments of Sudan. |
Reference(s) for Meta-Analysis
Evidence
- Examine the evidence for this coding.