Darfur dips into anarchy
By Alfred Taban, The Khartoum Monitor
Oct 14, 2005 — Darfur has descended into total anarchy with many areas now no go areas even for the people of Darfur themselves. In Tawilah, thousands of displaced people have been put on flight again and over 2,500 are now spending their nights in makeshift camps, as a result of violent attacks. In Tina, about 40 African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) forces were abducted, although most of them have been set free and in southern Darfur at least 34 displaced persons were massacred in their camp at Aro Sharow and in the village of Gosmeina.
What is happening in Darfur? To understand what is happening one has to see what is at stake in Darfur. The coming into National Unity Government (NUG) of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), the death of Dr John Garang, the former leader of the SPLM and the culture of impunity in Darfur have had profound changes in Darfur.
The SPLM entry into government has convinced the rebel movements in Darfur that the time for peace in Darfur is at hand and those that were not part of the Abuja talks have been juggling and jostling for a place in Abuja.
Many of the attacks in the Tina area, including the seizure of the AMIS hostages have been staged by a splinter group of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). This group headed by Muhammad Salih has been largely left out of the peace talks.
The talks that started in the middle of the year commenced without this group. Thus the failure by the AU to involve all the fighting forces has angered some groups in Darfur who are now worried that with the involvement of the SPLM in government in Khartoum and in the peace talks in Abuja, they are going to be left out in the cold.
By hitting targets in Darfur, these splinter groups are sending a clear message, that they do have a presence in the field and cannot be ignored. They must not be ignored, they must have a seat in Abuja. JEM in particular has felt very vulnerable.
The two governments in Khartoum and N’djamena have had very bad ties with JEM, which is largely drawn from the Zagawa tribe straddling the borders of the two countries.
The government in Khartoum thinks that JEM is a creation of its opponent for power in Khartoum, Dr Hassan al-Turabi, while in Ndjamena, JEM is also considered hostile to Idriss Deby, although Deby is himself a Zagawa.
Whatever the case, JEM does represent a large part of Darfur, and with both its wings must be fully represented in Abuja.
The other problem is the death of Dr Garang. The death of Dr Garang has greatly affected the other movement, Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) because the chairman of the movement, Abd al-Wahid al-Nur, was very close to Dr Garang, who supplied it with military, logistical, and political support.
The death of Dr Garang has weakened al-Nur’s position which the secretary-general of the SLM, Mani Minawi, is trying to exploit, to improve his chances and those of his Zagawa people in the peace talks.
The mainstream SLM support however, still comes from the Fur tribe to which al-Nur belongs to. The government has been trying exploit this and the other rivalry in JEM but thus is a short sighted move and the negotiators in Abuja must reconcile the groups rather than take sides.
The international community is however largely responsible for what is taking place in Darfur. The security council has passed so many resolutions calling for the disarming and prosecution of those committing atrocities. But not a single person has been prosecuted despite the increase in the level of violence.
The cease-fire, signed on the 8 April last year in N’djamena which the AU is supposed to monitor has been violated more than 200 times but nobody has been held for the abuses.
It is hence not surprising that the Janjawid went on a killing spree in Aro Sharow, sure that nobody would do anything to them.
The international community has done nothing to punish and restrain the government and its allies the Janjawid. The resolution of the problem in Darfur requires that the Security Council implements its own resolutions, deals firmly and effectively with human rights violators, whoever they are, and include all armed groups in Darfur in the peace talks in Darfur.
The people in Darfur want peace but they also want justice, as only justice will bring true peace in Darfur.