Dancing with a wounded pride

It is time that south Sudanese remain vigilant and focused

By Dr Justin Ambago Ramba, MD.

July 25, 2008 — Just one look into our immediate surrounding, one will realize that the whole world politics is starting a totally new phase. Things are changing at a faster pace than it was some five years back. Indeed if you still have your mind set at the cold war era, then you are probably too medieval in a way and anything prior to 9/11 or pre- Iraq invasion is completely an outdated politics. In short the globalization which many conservatives resisted early in the turn of the century has become a reality and absolute sovereignty of state is not a thing to count much on, these days.

South Sudanese fought fierce liberation wars for almost half a century and the UN Security Council was busy discussing Atomic bombs, nuclear weapons or star wars. The international community’s priority was entire none favouring to any body living in the sub-Saharan Africa. Worse still, no one wanted even to hear about places like south Sudan and the kind.

Now we are in a different era. This is an era where, a serving head of state is about to be brought to trial. What a change? This in itself means a lot, especially to the down trodden, neglected, discriminated and marginalized people of the world and in particular those living under rogue regimes of the kind we currently have in the Sudan.

There is a saying that’’ If you see your brother being shaved, you better wet you hair “. So, our leaders in south Sudan should understand that the Prosecutor Luis Moreno- Ocampo has not been only appointed there to deal with President Omer al-Bashir or Ali Haroun and General Kusheyb, but his mandate extends to see that there be no an impunity when there are war crimes, crimes against humanity, rape, torture, ethnic cleansing and worse still, the obstruction of justice any where.

What is actually unfolding in Darfur is the way out for the victimized people of Darfur. Omer Al –Bashir has been directly accused of the following TEN VERY serious charges: 3counts of genocide, 5 counts of crimes against humanity and 2 counts of murder. Who in his sound mind will ever doubt that Omer Al-Bashir is in any way not behind the 300,000 lives lost in Darfur?

I can understand that many south Sudanese are worried about their blood earned CPA, by indicting Al-Bashir , some of us think that the NCP may refuse to implement the remaining protocols. This is a respectable concern, but as the agreement is between the SPLM/A and NCP with the whole world as a witness, I for one do not buy this argument. When Al-Bashir is gone where he rightly deserves to be due to his own deeds, the NCP will always have someone to take his office until the election time. Al Bashir is not supposed to be immortal. In the worse scenarios, as H.E Salva took the leadership after the sad death of Late Dr Garang, the Jallabas also have their Salvas.

We must always remain focused and we should not easily forget how much it took us to come this far. The CPA has been a marathon agreement, simply because the NCP under the direct leadership of Al-Bashir did not have the political will for it as they assumed that SPLM/A was becoming weaker with time and to them military victory was eminent and continuation of the Holy War (Jihad) was the best option to pursue. NCP signed the CPA simply because they were implicated in the 9/11 due to their direct involvement with the perpetuators of the incident and in particular the top Al Qaida boss Osama Bin Laden, who was one time a special guest of Omer Al Bashir.

The North-South war seems not yet over as the distributions of the ministerial portfolios in the Government of National Unity was not done in good faith by the senior partner in the agreement. The whole thing started on the wrong footing and the intension was not friendly to start with. Now we are in the next phase of the implementation of the CPA, another marathon with the NCP.

This second marathon is simply a reflection of the Omer Al Bashir’s ill intensions in implementing the different CPA protocols. The confrontation on the Abyei Border Commission report which sent Al-Bashir convulsing in Wad Madani and his infamous rhetoric speech which followed is a clear example. Whatsoever he said that day did not go well with the south Sudanese or the international community. The concern here is that Al- Bashir is as unreliable as he has ever been. We are now awaiting the international court’s ruling as far as the border demarcation is concerned while the unfortunate displaced citizens of Abyei are still in the bush, living under trees in completely inhumane conditions.

The other pending issues are too many to discuss here, but to achieve them SPLM must be ready for another third marathon. This takes us to the understanding and conclusion that Al -Bashir is not the person who has been keen enough in implementing CPA in a straight way. He has now become known that he and his party are dragging their feet on implementing the agreement.

Let us not allow NCP to fool us in believing that they are going to cooperate more efficiently in the coming days in as far as the peace dividends are concerned. The truth is that al-Bashir is just trying to buy time and he will always continue to drag his feet on the CPA. He doesn’t deserve OUR sympathy in any way.

The new development where the ICC has indicted him is something which has already happened and nobody is above the law. He is the president and should have avoided all this if he had acted in good faith by availing peace, democratic transformation and equal development in all parts of the country rather than engaging in a brutal ethnic cleansing in the marginalized areas and currently Darfur.

With all these, still some South Sudanese and may be because of their dubious political backgrounds still sympathize and strongly support Al–Bashir while he is struggling with his ICC indictment. Again the First Vice President and President of South Sudan, on an official mission headed the National Crisis Committee (knowing well that the Sudan has been living in crisis since 1955) and made vast contacts with various heads of states of the neighbouring East African countries with the hope of soliciting support in order to defer the ICC decision to a time after the 2009 elections. The AU and the Arab League have also had their go while the NCP loyalist masses were left demonstrating all over the place in support and approval of the genocide and the crime against humanity committed by their party.

As for President Al-Bashir, whether being driven by the blood of the innocent victims, found himself at the crime scene in Darfur and accompanying him were some diplomats and important government figures. Nothing new actual came out during these visits whether in al-Fashir, Nyala or el-Geneina. It was the dancing Al – Bashir as usual. The people of these three government controlled towns of Darfur might have evaluated these particular visits in their own way and probably they might have as well enjoyed the dancing show thrown by H.E the indicted Al-Bashir.

However sadly enough, Al-Bashir did not bother to visit the IDP camps to console true victims of rape and survivors of the genocide because he knows that what they want is his head or straight to The Hague. These make shift camp settlers (the real victims) were of course not going to enjoy Al-Bashir’s kind of dancing parties especially if the solo dancer himself is the very person behind all their miseries and as it is they are already traumatized enough by him.

No doubt now that the president has avoided the IDP camps, the settlers should have by now come to the obvious conclusion that President Al – Bashir visit was just aimed at mocking the people of Darfur and he is happy dancing and enjoying himself after having achieved his goals of mass rapes, displacement, psychological traumatisation and the brutal genocides.

This post indictment presidential visit to Darfur did not actually go well and even the promises made by the president were all what the people of this remote and neglected parts of the Sudan have been hearing since the days of General Ibrahim Aboud (1957-1964). It was all crocodile tiers nothing more nothing less. Do you as a president of a country need to burn down all the villages, kill the men, make sure that the women are all raped on daily basis for five years before you promise them developmental projects, clean drinking water and a promise to provide security and yet no concern for justice ? You really belong to The Hague and the sooner that happens the better at least your victims can breathe a shy of relief.

To my fellow south Sudanese brothers and sisters, I am sure that non of you have forgotten that it was the USA and the International community who came to our rescue when this very Al-Bashir with his Arab League friends were bombing south Sudan for a period well over ten years. Our plague has been under estimated to 2 million lives lost and 4.5 millions displaced and scattered all over the globe. It is this international community that we need most for the rest of the marathon. It is the likes of Prosecutor Luis Mareno-Ocampo who will indict whosoever would again dare to bomb our villages, schools, churches, hospitals and oil fields in the near coming future.

It is the UN Security Council that will see to it that the CPA is fully implemented. It is only with pressure from the USA black Caucasus that the referendum will ever take place in the south Sudan and Abyei in 2011.

Let us be vigilant when dealing with these hot issues and the NIF/ NCP is a very reluctant and malicious partner and the way to a full implementation of the agreement in order to reach the referendum is only through continuous and sustained international pressure on Al-Bashir or whosoever will be in his post when he is no longer there.

Even the 2009 election, without external international observers will just be another sham. If you want to win the 2009 election, then you need the Prosecutor Luis Moreno – Ocampo to hurry up things to discipline the NCP and send warning waves through their ranks and file, that no foul plays and any elections rigging will be tolerated.

This NIF which has now mutated to NCP is notoriously known for vote rigging throughout its political history. All their top and middle cadres have been formally taught vote rigging right from school days, so how do you count on the election results if you are running against such wicked rivals. You need vigilance and the assistance of the International observers who are really neutral to guarantee a fair election.

Meanwhile at the time being we should not be too much carried away from our basic duties of providing health, food, education and security to our people. All the south Sudanese political parties should put Al-Bashir VS Luis Moreno-Ocampo behind them for the time being and concentrate on programs which can lift south Sudan out of the darkness of poverty. You do not have to forget about Abyei and this is an issue which should take the most of H.E Salva Kiir’s time. This issue needs to be followed at the International level and I have the gut feeling that if you talk of NCP/NIF and the entire Arabs of dragging their feet in implement the CPA , it is more so on the Abyei Protocol. Let us not waste our energies now on irrelevant issues, because we have a lot of rallies and masses demonstration to organize world- wide before we could get Abyei to enjoy the dividends of the CPA.

The author of this article is a south Sudanese medical doctor currently living in the United Kingdom and can be reached at: [email protected].