Glimmer of hope in Machakos
Peace is not an elusive goal say Sudanese protagonists seeking to present their respective cases as convincingly as possible at the negotiating table in Kenya, writes Gamal Nkrumah
The crucial point has come for the Sudanese peace process. Peace talks in Kenya between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the country's largest armed opposition group, are progressing slowly -- slower than originally scheduled, but not much slower than anticipated by most observers.
The protagonists temporarily broke off the talks on Wednesday to take stock. When they return next week to the negotiating table they will focus discussion on the status of three regions, technically in northern Sudan, that the SPLA says are politically marginalised, economically disadvantaged and underdeveloped. The three regions are the Nuba Mountains in southern Kordofan, the Abeyei region in western Kordofan, and the Angassana region in the southern Blue Nile. The SPLA claims considerable grassroots support in all these peripheral areas.
The Sudanese talks, the fifth round of peace talks held so far, are taking place under the auspices of the Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD), a regional organisation consisting of seven East African countries, including Sudan.
Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir declared that the current round of peace talks could lead to a comprehensive peace deal in two months. The Sudanese government and the SPLA had hoped to sign a peace deal before 30 June when a temporary cease-fire agreement signed between the two protagonists expires.
However, remarks by Sudan's Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail were far more subdued. Ismail, who is currently touring Canada and the United States, warned that the Sudanese government and the SPLA would, "probably miss the 30 June deadline for reaching a peace agreement". Ismail cited three major problems as delaying factors -- the distribution of power; the distribution of wealth; and the "bigger problem" of merging the Sudanese government army with the SPLA.
The last issue in particular threatens to derail the Machakos peace talks if it is not satisfactorily resolved. The merging of the Sudanese government forces and the SPLA might prove to be the biggest stumbling block to peace in Sudan. Both the Sudanese government and the SPLA are reluctant to let go of their unfettered command of their troops since any merging of their forces would inevitably entail giving up their autonomy. But the complex process of merging former warring opponents into one army has been successfully implemented before in trouble spots across the African continent. South Africa is a case in point. The apartheid South African Defence Force was merged with Umkhuntu we Sizwe, the armed wing of the African National Congress in a fairly smooth process after the collapse of the apartheid regime.
But for every success, there will always be failures. Much depends on the political will of the Sudanese government and the SPLA. For his part, the Sudanese president is taking the plunge. "President Al-Bashir has reiterated his government's commitment to achieving a comprehensive peace, backing up the development process and providing services to the entire country," Presidential Peace Process Adviser Ghazi Salaheddin told reporters in Nairobi. Salaheddin cited recent meetings between Al- Bashir and Garang in Kampala, Uganda and Nairobi, Kenya, as proof of the seriousness with which the Sudanese leadership views the talks and rapprochement with the SPLA.
The problem, however, remains that other Sudanese opposition parties fear they would be left out in the cold. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the umbrella opposition organisation grouping the SPLA and other mainly northern Sudanese opposition parties, is not directly involved in the talks even though it has dispatched a delegation to Machakos, the Kenyan town where the Sudanese peace talks are being held. Furthermore, human rights organisations warn that the Sudanese protagonists are so keen to come to an agreement on power- sharing and wealth-sharing, they have overlooked important aspects of human rights violations. Indeed, human rights have not featured prominently in Machakos.
"The main problem is that conflict happens as a result of injustice. The peace talks in Machakos focus on borders, power-sharing and wealth-sharing. While these are important and have to be ironed out, it is also vitally important to tackle human rights issues head on," Liz Hogdkin of Amnesty International told Al- Ahram Weekly.
"Politicians ignore problems of human rights to their own peril. Human rights violations are the basis of many conflicts, including Sudan's. We are concerned that peace would not last if human rights concerns are not tackled more forcefully at Machakos," Hogdkin said.
Amnesty International called on the facilitators and participants in the Sudanese peace process to place human rights at the heart of any future agreement. Hogdkin said that even though the Machakos Protocol mentions guaranteeing human rights in a peace agreement between both parties to the Sudanese civil war, in practice much remains to be done. Hogdkin pointed out, for instance, that thousands of women and children have been abducted by government-allied forces, but also by armed opposition groups. "Both parties to the peace protocol must commit to protect human life, as well as the dignity and security of all Sudanese," she said.
A recently released Amnesty International report indicated that both the Sudanese government and the SPLA "have used ethnicity and religion as incentives to assemble armed forces for the war, intensifying tensions between people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds in Sudan". The Amnesty report pointed out that armed forces representing all sides are responsible for horrendous attacks and the maiming of civilians, including rape and other forms of sexual violence, primarily against women.
Farouk Abu Eissa, the head of the Cairo-based Arab Lawyers Union and official spokesman for the NDA concurred, stressing Sudanese police brutality and atrocities. "The Sudanese security and police forces are responsible for torturing political opponents, human rights activists and persons suspected of disagreeing with the central authorities. Government opponents and anti- government protesters have been shot at with live ammunition, imprisoned and tortured," Abu Eissa told the Weekly. The curtailment of press freedom is another major concern for human rights organisations. A case in point is the arrest last week of Nhial Bol, the managing editor of the Sudanese English-language daily Khartoum Monitor. Bol was charged with inciting religious discord and the paper was ordered closed for two months.
The timing of the Machakos talks is extremely crucial since it coincides with a scheduled meeting of Sudanese opposition parties in Cairo next week. Among the parties expected to participate are the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the largest northern-based opposition group within the NDA; the SPLA; and the Umma Party. The leaders of all three parties, Mohamed Othman Al-Mirghani, John Garang and Sadig Al-Mahdi, said they plan to attend the Cairo meeting.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 22 - 28 May 2003 (Issue No. 639)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/639/re9.htm