TAREG
HASSAN YAGOUB ELMALIK

Background and Work

Tareg Hassan Yagoub Elmalik was one of the founding members of the Darfur Bar Association, established in 1995 at a time when Darfur faced escalating violence and displacement. The association provided legal aid to victims of human rights violations across the region. In 2020 it received the Democracy Award in recognition of its sustained work supporting survivors of atrocities.

Tareg also served on the steering committee of the Sudanese Bar Association, the national body representing Sudan's legal profession. His practice focused on representing individuals and communities targeted by armed groups and state forces. He built cases that documented patterns of violence and sought accountability through Sudan's courts.

In the years preceding his death, Tareg was part of a legal team that filed cases against the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group implicated in widespread abuses in Darfur. The cases centered on attacks against the Krinding camp for internally displaced persons in El Geneina on 16 January 2021 and 28 April 2022. Witnesses described systematic violence, forced displacement, and killings. The lawyers named RSF commanders and documented evidence for prosecution.

Death Threats and the Outbreak of Armed Conflict

On 15 April 2023, armed conflict erupted in Khartoum between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. The violence spread rapidly to Darfur, where RSF units and allied militias had an established presence. El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, became a focal point of fighting and atrocities against civilians.

By May 2023, the Darfur Bar Association announced that its members had received death threats from militia members. Lawyers involved in cases against the RSF were named specifically. Despite the threats, Tareg and his colleagues continued their work. On 11 May 2023, the warring parties signed the Jeddah Declaration of Commitment to Protect the Civilians of Sudan, recognizing obligations under international humanitarian law. Compliance on the ground was non-existent.

The Killing

On 17 June 2023, Abd Elrazeg Adam Mohammed, a 28-year-old human rights defender and member of the Darfur Network of Monitors, was killed in El Geneina along with his parents and four brothers. The following day, 18 June, Tareg Hassan Yagoub Elmalik was killed in his house in El Geneina. He was 50 years old, married, and the father of four children.

Also on 18 June, El Sadeg Mohammed Ahmed Haroun, another lawyer and member of the Darfur Bar Association who had worked on the cases against the RSF, was killed in El Geneina. The three killings occurred within a 48-hour period. All three men had documented RSF abuses and filed legal actions seeking accountability.

Context and Pattern of Violence

The killings of Tareg, Abd Elrazeg, and El Sadeg were part of a broader pattern of violence targeting human rights defenders in West Darfur. In the weeks preceding their deaths, three other defenders—Mohammed Ahmed Kudia, Khamis Arabab, and Khidir Sulieman Abdelmageed—were also killed in El Geneina. The legal profession and documentation networks became explicit targets as the conflict intensified.

Human rights defenders in Darfur face threats from multiple armed actors. The Rapid Support Forces, accused in numerous cases filed by Darfur Bar Association lawyers, operate with impunity. Militia groups aligned with the RSF have conducted targeted killings, mass displacement, and systematic violence against specific ethnic communities in West Darfur. Lawyers and monitors who document these abuses are systematically silenced.

International Response

International organizations condemned the killings and called for investigations. The Jeddah Declaration, signed by the warring parties in May 2023, has not been implemented. No investigations into the deaths of the three lawyers have been announced. The Darfur Bar Association continues to operate under severe threat, with many members displaced or in hiding.

Tareg Hassan Yagoub Elmalik spent his career defending those whom armed groups sought to erase. He documented atrocities, named perpetrators, and built legal cases in a system that offered little protection to those who challenged impunity. He was killed for that work. His files remain.