For all involved it was an unprecedented series of events. A foreign journalist in Darfur, present as a special envoy by the government of Slovenia had been captured after months living rough with the rebel militias. Now he was shackled in a courthouse, awaiting trial on charges of espionage and ‘bad-mouthing’ the government of Sudan.
Tomo Kriznar, a prominent human rights activist and passionate advocate for the voiceless of Sudan, had spent a month in a North Darfur prison, defending himself against accusations that hung heavy over the heads of the national and international media in Sudan.
Tomo’s story was one of righteous misadventure. He had started in Chad, meeting with rebel leaders not represented in the Abuja peace talks. He then drifted across the border that divided Chad from Sudan, and into what he considered a ‘liberated area’.
In Darfur, Tomo met with senior representatives of the Mini Minawi rebel leadership (the only rebel group to sign the Darfur Peace Agreement), and in the afterglow of the Abuja signing began a journey into the rebel heartland in an effort, "to photograph the everyday life and basic humanitarian situation in SLA controlled land."
As fighting escalated between rival groups, Tomo ventured to the opposing rebel side of Commander Abdul Wahid. After several months ensconced in rebel territory, he sought a passage back west through Chad. Unfortunately, his plans for retreat led him through African Union forces and into the hands of Sudanese military intelligence.
With more than 5,000 photos cached and an invalid visa, Tomo, despite his protestations, was paraded as a spy threatening the stability of the country. Incredibly, these same charges were levelled at Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Paul Salopek, who was arrested by Government-allied militias in Darfur less than one month later.
Tomo received a two year custodial sentence, and though this was subsequently quashed after international pressure extracted a Presidential pardon, it was nevertheless a stern warning from the judiciary to dissenting journalists to turn their heads, even as the violence in Darfur continues.
Credible estimates put the death toll in Darfur at close to 400,000 people, including conflict-related deaths and those who have perished through disease and displacement. Such a figure jars heavily with President Bashir’s most recent assessment that less than 10,000 people had been killed in Darfur. Bashir’s figure is symptomatic of Khartoum’s desire to lie about the true extent of the country’s