Sudan ruling party is not serious about peace in Darfur
By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
December 20, 200 — Observers strongly believe that the Qatari initiative is a ripe opportunity for achieving peace in Darfur since Doha has a good experience in solving conflicts. Experts in the Middle Eastern affairs said that the choice of Qatar was successful in view of Doha’s good relations with the countries in the region in addition to the snow-white track record of the Emir of Qatar in reading the events in the region accurately. The initiative has also been described by officials in the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) as being well suited for the purpose both in form and content since it includes all parties and actors in the Darfur crisis such as the Arab League, the African Union (AU), UN, US and EU. The initiative has also been commended for the efforts exerted by the Qatari envoy, minister of state for foreign affairs, Ahmed bin Abdallah al-Mahmoud to meet the Darfur armed movements, government of Sudan (GoS), the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Darfur, the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and Sudan’s neighbouring countries Chad, Egypt and Libya as well as France, UK and other Western political powers. There seems to be a glimmer of hope in the Doha initiative to contribute to open the deadlock, which haunted the Darfur crisis in spite of the many previous initiatives. It is also hoped to help the parties in the conflict to get out of the dilemma and to overcome the current hardship in the humanitarian situation for the people of Sudan in the Darfur region. If so, are there serious partners to engage in genuine negotiations leading to an honorable sustainable peace that is acceptable to all in Darfur? The simple answer is, sadly, a big NO! This bitter truth is based on what was shown by experience in dealing with the government of the National Congress Party (NCP). It proved itself as a rogue partner who does not want peace but likes the situation in Darfur to remain status quo as long as they have the Power (authority), Wealth (money) and Military might (force) and provided that the International Community (UN/AU) continues to be impotently unable to do something positive to change the situation in Darfur by forcing the regime to comply with the Resolutions issued by the United Nations Security council (UNSC). The verdict for the chief of the NCP regime, the embattled Field Marshal Omer al-Bashir, political analysts and observers alike spoke in muted tone saying that he is a moody individual who tends to the random use of improper words without taking into account his position as a head of state. A sample of such inappropriate vulgar rhetoric is the one Omar al-Bashir made in a statement, referring to the International Criminal Court (ICC): “Neither America nor Britain or France can shake a hair of us, we will not hand over to the ICC even a cat from which skin we could make a pair of shoes!” Al-Bashir did not realize by saying so he might have raised the ire of anger of the groups defending the rights of animals. With such statements he may be considered a “Cavalier at best, criminal at worst”, arrogant, disdainful, contemptuous and showing a lack of concern towards his fellow citizens’ plight in Darfur and elsewhere. Moreover, from experience and through dealing and interacting with the National Congress (NIF/NCP) regime over the years it has become clearly evident that any agreements concluded with it do not worth the paper it is written on. The regime resorts at all times to deception and prevarication to mislead partners at peace talks and during implementation of what has been agreed upon. The NCP regime to some appears stupid at best, criminal at worst. Many political analysts and observers wonder on how to strike a square deal with the regime that is addicted to lying and used to deception, prevarication, injustice, exclusion of others, breach of the covenants and conventions and non-implementation of agreements and treaties. Field Marshal Omer al-Bashir’s NCP regime is renowned for making vacuous empty promises to the Darfurians whenever the international community exerts pressure on him with threat of painful sanctions or when things become hotter. Moreover, the elements of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in Khartoum, are well known to set aside the non-implementation of the covenants and agreements that were achieved through negotiations witnessed by the international community and neighboring countries. A good example for that is the recurrent violation of ceasefire agreements it signed with the Darfur armed movements in N’Djamena, Abéché and in Addis Ababa in addition to the more recent unilateral unconditional ceasefire Omar al-Bashir announced and revoked it within 48 hours! This has undoubtedly reduced the credibility of the NCP regime which in reality non-existent. With regard to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) or Naivasha Agreement, East of Sudan Peace Agreement (EPA) and the infamous so-called Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) one could speak freely without any sense of embarrassment about amount of faltering and foot-dragging those covenants have faced and still continue to confront and suffer. The calamity of the elements in the National Congress Party (NCP) government in Khartoum is that they do not learn from the lessons and bitter experiences, which have led to the failure of their plans.
One of the harmful features of the NCP regime, among others, is its abject inability and the lack of free political will that is so urgently needed to engage wholeheartedly to solve the outstanding political problems in Sudan in general and in Darfur in particular. Worse of all is that they have become accustomed to say, in their rhetoric, the opposite to what they plan do with respect to the plight of the people of Sudan in Darfur. To prove the authenticity of this one will cite some examples which show the contradiction between their words and the evil deeds they practice as evidence. The beleaguered and seemingly unrepentant NCP president Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir has been quoted by the news media on July 23rd 2008 as saying in the wake of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing him of committing genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes during the five year conflict in the region of Darfur, that al-Bashir announced during a mass rally in El-Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, that his government was preparing for a peace conference where all the Sudanese political forces, all the Darfuri civil organisations and religious leaders and “even all our brothers in the (rebel) movements, signatories or non-signatories (of the Darfur Peace Agreement), will be invited to participate (in this conference) to achieve peace in Darfur, to achieve justice, security, tranquility and peaceful coexistence between people of Darfur.”Ironically, and contrarily to what al-Bashir had announced, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) ransacked the Kalma Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camp on 25th August 2008 where an estimated 32 people were killed, a figure that later rose to 37while 65 people including children and women were seriously injured with gunshot wounds attended by the independent humanitarian medical aid organisation, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) at their clinic on the day of the attack. Furthermore, following the May 10th 2008 surprise attack on Omdurman and Khartoum by rebels of Darfur’s Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) that had exposed the weakness of the NCP regime, al-Bashir excluded JEM from any peace talks. He explained that the rebel movement aimed at achieving regime change in Sudan. Al-Bashir had also been reported to have said that JEM was not part in the equation of Darfur or in the equation of the peaceful exchange of power “and so we have no reason to negotiate with the Justice and Equality (Movement).” This last remark indicates that the NCP regime has planned to pick and chose, by its own will, the partner to negotiate with from among the Darfur rebel movements other than Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). Many reasonable analysts strongly believe that position of the NCP will not lead to the desired sustainable peace in Darfur.
It may be a small consolation to learn from the news media on Friday 19th December 2008 that the government of Sudan (GoS) has expressed the hope that the Organisation of Arab League and the African Union to set a date for the next round of negotiations with the Darfur movements. Furthermore, al-Sammani al-Wasila, the Sudanese Minister of State for the Foreign Ministry has been quoted as saying that the government of Sudan has expressed its willingness to participate in the next round of peace talks with its delegation that has the mandate and full authority and appealed to all the warring factions to sit down to negotiate with “an open heart and a clear vision”! One would hope that this statement is sincere and not for local consumption or a prevarication which people are tired to hear before and has not lead to a positive outcome.
The Sudanese people in their unabated countrywide rebellions in the South, Abyei, North, Nuba Mountains, Ingessena, East, Kordofan and Darfur against the minority political elites, have hoped to build a New Sudanese State with Democratic Institutions, Rule of law, Equal rights and duties, Multicultural, Citizenship as the Only Sudanese Identity without bias to or prejudice against ethnicity, regional affiliation, religious belief, colour of skin, language, gender or any other affiliations. Observers reiterate the statement made by the rebel and veteran politician, Dr. Mansour Khalid of SPLA, that the time has come for the Sudanese ruling political elites, who addicted repeated failures of public governance, failure of justice and let down the people of Sudan for a half of a century to make room for the new generation homeland sons and daughters to carry the can that the meritocracy fizzled out to convey it to the desired goals for the achievement of its purpose. The NCP regime needs to stop hiding behind rhetoric and begin to accept the responsibility which the situation in Darfur demands. Let’s hope the National Congress Party finally has the courage to live up to their responsibility to provide greater protection for civilians who are in desperate situation and are menaced on a daily basis by its allied armed militias and the regular armed forces. Analysts wonder and ask: “Can the NCP regime face up to the responsibility which comes with political leadership and seriously engage, as a partner, in Peace Talks at the negotiating table for the resolution of the Darfur Crisis which has defied solution? That is a sixty-four dollar ($64) question that awaits an answer dictated by common sense!
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is the Deputy Chairman of the General Congress for Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). He can be reached at [email protected]