Pro-Government Militias

Pro-Government Militia Website

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

Deng, Luka B. 2002. “The Sudan Famine of 1998. Unfolding the Global Dimension.” IDS Bulletin 33(4): 28-38

Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD

Evidence