taft2012
03-23-2013, 02:42 PM
We got a long long long way to go still
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mohamed-salim-sudan-war-criminal-1759679
Chatting casually on his doorstep about supporting West Brom, his broad grin hides the sickening past of a war criminal.
Mohamed Salim’s identity can be unmasked today after the Mirror tracked him down to a leafy street in Birmingham where he lives off benefits.
He said he is not supervised by the authorities and does not report to police.
This is despite a confession that he shot dead so many civilians in his home country of Sudan that he lost count.
Salim, 27, has not been kicked out as a court ruled it would infringe his human rights.
But furious MPs said action must be taken to try to deport the killer.
Speaking outside his home, Salim said: “My life here is normal. I much prefer it in England than in Sudan.
"I came here because I listened to friends who said it was good to live here and claim asylum here. I don’t pay to live in this house.”
Salim belonged to the brutal Janjaweed militia when he was paid the equivalent of £50 a day by the Sudanese government to take part in the genocide in Darfur which began in 2003.
He arrived in the UK in 2006 which is when he gave an anonymous interview to BBC’s Newsnight programme.
In the interview, which brought him to the attention of the Border Agency’s war crimes unit, he said: “Whenever we go into a village and find resistance we kill everyone.
"Sometimes they said ‘wipe out an entire village’. And we shoot to kill.
“Most were civilians. Most were women. Innocent people running out and being killed including children. There are many rapes.”
<figure class="inline-image clearfix ">http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1759450.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/African%20war%20criminal-1759450.jpg<figcaption>How he was: Interview with BBC in 2006</figcaption></figure>Courtesy of the National Asylum Support Service – a government agency attached (http://www.debatepolicy.com/#) to the Home Office – Salim lives rent free in a large, semi-detached house.
He is jobless because of the conditions of his asylum and NASS (http://www.debatepolicy.com/#) hands him £160 a month of taxpayers’ money.
Salim told the Mirror he enjoys living in Britain where there are “more opportunities” than in Sudan.
He uses his bus pass to attend college (http://www.debatepolicy.com/#) several times a week, where he learns English for free.
The Border Agency said he is subject to strict monitoring but the killer said he “reports to nobody”.
He added that he does not check in at a police station and has no contact with the Home Office.
Salim said: “I have a normal life. Sometimes I go to bars in Birmingham to watch the football.
"I support West Brom. I love watching them on TV but I can’t afford to go. It’s too expensive.”
He also changed his story about the killings, adding: “Why do you think I left Sudan?
"It’s because I hated it there and didn’t want to be in Janjaweed any more.
“I didn’t do anything with Janjaweed. I never killed people in my life.
“I fired my gun into the air to not kill. The militia men had come to my village and said, ‘If you don’t come, we’ll kill you and your family’.”
<figure class="inline-image clearfix portrait">http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1759452.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Ex%20Sudanese%20Janjaweed%20Fighter%20Mohamed%20Is sa%20Salim%20-1759452.jpg<figcaption>In touch: Using his mobile</figcaption></figure>Phil Harris
One of his neighbours in the Birmingham suburb said: “I have children and I don’t like the idea of them walking past his house.
“He shouldn’t be housed in a family area like this.”
Our evidence has been passed to Labour MP Michael McCann, the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity.
Mr McCann said: “The Daily Mirror has uncovered a serious case which requires the immediate attention of the Home Secretary.”
Last year an immigration court in Birmingham ruled that although they found him guilty of war crimes, he could not be deported because his human rights would be infringed if he returned to Sudan.
The court said he must be allowed to stay in Britain because his life could be at risk if he was sent back to his home country.
He was granted asylum under the Human Rights Act.
But this decision is being appealed by the Home Office whose lawyers have argued the Geneva Convention allows for war criminals to be refused asylum.
The tribunal heard that Salim had joined in sick attacks at various villages. But he said he was forced to be a member of Janjaweed and told the court that after three years as a soldier he escaped while on patrol in 2006.
Salim, who had previously boasted of taking part in the burning and looting of 30 villages, told the tribunal he travelled to the UK via Libya, Italy and France.
<figure class="inline-image clearfix portrait">http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1759449.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/x%20Sudanese%20Janjaweed%20Fighter%20Mohamed%20Iss a%20Salim%20-1759449.jpg<figcaption>Stroll: He goes for a walk in Birmingham</figcaption></figure>Phil Harris
Mr McCann said: “The police have to investigate and gather evidence about alleged war crimes or allegations of genocide in the same way as they would any other crime.
"Based on the evidence the Mirror has uncovered Mr Salim is either a war criminal and should be facing criminal charges, or is a liar and he should be deported back to Sudan.
“What is certain is that whatever version of events is correct he should not be roaming around freely in our country at the British taxpayers’ expense.”
More than 300,000 civilians were murdered by the Sudanese government and their henchmen during the conflict.
Africans settlers were killed by the Arab government in a horrific war of ethnic cleansing.
Immigration lawyer Jovanka Savic, who works with the Aegis Trust, a charity that combats war crimes, said: “People living here who have committed crimes abroad must be prosecuted.
"And there are laws in place which mean we can do this.”
The Border Agency said: “We cannot comment on individual cases. His stay in the UK is subject to ongoing litigation.”
<figure class="inline-image clearfix portrait"></figure><figure class="inline-image clearfix portrait"></figure>
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mohamed-salim-sudan-war-criminal-1759679
Chatting casually on his doorstep about supporting West Brom, his broad grin hides the sickening past of a war criminal.
Mohamed Salim’s identity can be unmasked today after the Mirror tracked him down to a leafy street in Birmingham where he lives off benefits.
He said he is not supervised by the authorities and does not report to police.
This is despite a confession that he shot dead so many civilians in his home country of Sudan that he lost count.
Salim, 27, has not been kicked out as a court ruled it would infringe his human rights.
But furious MPs said action must be taken to try to deport the killer.
Speaking outside his home, Salim said: “My life here is normal. I much prefer it in England than in Sudan.
"I came here because I listened to friends who said it was good to live here and claim asylum here. I don’t pay to live in this house.”
Salim belonged to the brutal Janjaweed militia when he was paid the equivalent of £50 a day by the Sudanese government to take part in the genocide in Darfur which began in 2003.
He arrived in the UK in 2006 which is when he gave an anonymous interview to BBC’s Newsnight programme.
In the interview, which brought him to the attention of the Border Agency’s war crimes unit, he said: “Whenever we go into a village and find resistance we kill everyone.
"Sometimes they said ‘wipe out an entire village’. And we shoot to kill.
“Most were civilians. Most were women. Innocent people running out and being killed including children. There are many rapes.”
<figure class="inline-image clearfix ">http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1759450.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/African%20war%20criminal-1759450.jpg<figcaption>How he was: Interview with BBC in 2006</figcaption></figure>Courtesy of the National Asylum Support Service – a government agency attached (http://www.debatepolicy.com/#) to the Home Office – Salim lives rent free in a large, semi-detached house.
He is jobless because of the conditions of his asylum and NASS (http://www.debatepolicy.com/#) hands him £160 a month of taxpayers’ money.
Salim told the Mirror he enjoys living in Britain where there are “more opportunities” than in Sudan.
He uses his bus pass to attend college (http://www.debatepolicy.com/#) several times a week, where he learns English for free.
The Border Agency said he is subject to strict monitoring but the killer said he “reports to nobody”.
He added that he does not check in at a police station and has no contact with the Home Office.
Salim said: “I have a normal life. Sometimes I go to bars in Birmingham to watch the football.
"I support West Brom. I love watching them on TV but I can’t afford to go. It’s too expensive.”
He also changed his story about the killings, adding: “Why do you think I left Sudan?
"It’s because I hated it there and didn’t want to be in Janjaweed any more.
“I didn’t do anything with Janjaweed. I never killed people in my life.
“I fired my gun into the air to not kill. The militia men had come to my village and said, ‘If you don’t come, we’ll kill you and your family’.”
<figure class="inline-image clearfix portrait">http://i4.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1759452.ece/ALTERNATES/s615b/Ex%20Sudanese%20Janjaweed%20Fighter%20Mohamed%20Is sa%20Salim%20-1759452.jpg<figcaption>In touch: Using his mobile</figcaption></figure>Phil Harris
One of his neighbours in the Birmingham suburb said: “I have children and I don’t like the idea of them walking past his house.
“He shouldn’t be housed in a family area like this.”
Our evidence has been passed to Labour MP Michael McCann, the chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity.
Mr McCann said: “The Daily Mirror has uncovered a serious case which requires the immediate attention of the Home Secretary.”
Last year an immigration court in Birmingham ruled that although they found him guilty of war crimes, he could not be deported because his human rights would be infringed if he returned to Sudan.
The court said he must be allowed to stay in Britain because his life could be at risk if he was sent back to his home country.
He was granted asylum under the Human Rights Act.
But this decision is being appealed by the Home Office whose lawyers have argued the Geneva Convention allows for war criminals to be refused asylum.
The tribunal heard that Salim had joined in sick attacks at various villages. But he said he was forced to be a member of Janjaweed and told the court that after three years as a soldier he escaped while on patrol in 2006.
Salim, who had previously boasted of taking part in the burning and looting of 30 villages, told the tribunal he travelled to the UK via Libya, Italy and France.
<figure class="inline-image clearfix portrait">http://i3.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article1759449.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/x%20Sudanese%20Janjaweed%20Fighter%20Mohamed%20Iss a%20Salim%20-1759449.jpg<figcaption>Stroll: He goes for a walk in Birmingham</figcaption></figure>Phil Harris
Mr McCann said: “The police have to investigate and gather evidence about alleged war crimes or allegations of genocide in the same way as they would any other crime.
"Based on the evidence the Mirror has uncovered Mr Salim is either a war criminal and should be facing criminal charges, or is a liar and he should be deported back to Sudan.
“What is certain is that whatever version of events is correct he should not be roaming around freely in our country at the British taxpayers’ expense.”
More than 300,000 civilians were murdered by the Sudanese government and their henchmen during the conflict.
Africans settlers were killed by the Arab government in a horrific war of ethnic cleansing.
Immigration lawyer Jovanka Savic, who works with the Aegis Trust, a charity that combats war crimes, said: “People living here who have committed crimes abroad must be prosecuted.
"And there are laws in place which mean we can do this.”
The Border Agency said: “We cannot comment on individual cases. His stay in the UK is subject to ongoing litigation.”
<figure class="inline-image clearfix portrait"></figure><figure class="inline-image clearfix portrait"></figure>