Self-determination emerging as an option for Darfur: JEM

August 3, 2010 (WASHINGTON) — The people of Darfur will soon be left with no option but to demand the right of self-determination in a manner similar to Southern Sudan, a senior Darfuri rebel official said today.

Early next year, the citizens of Southern Sudan are scheduled to decide whether they want to remain part of a united country or form their own state. This was stipulated by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the Arab-Muslim dominated North and the largely Christian and animist South.

“Our people need hope, they have the right to live under state of citizenship, freedom, democracy, equality and rule of law. We cannot accept this indefinite state of status-quo,” said Ahmed Hussein who is the official spokesperson of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

“There is an ongoing genocide in Darfur which is entering a new phase. The [Khartoum] regime is working towards having a forcible return by dismantling the IDPs camps, using food as weapon, expelling and intimidating aid groups through abduction, assassinating IDP leaders, assaulting peacekeepers,” Hussein added.

The JEM official emphasized that the Sudanese government is deploying these tactics “to liquidate the cause of our people” adding that the shift of international focus from Darfur to South Sudan encouraged Khartoum to execute this plan.

“Under these circumstances, JEM will be left with no other choice than to call for self-determination for Darfur as well as Kordofan. We must remember that Darfur was an independent Sultanate until 1916, exercising sovereignty and conducting its own foreign relations,” Hussein said.

This is the first time JEM, considered to be the Darfur’s most powerful rebel group, makes such a call for self-determination. The Sudanese government has flatly rejected this demand saying this not even a topic for negotiations.

Last year, Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur who resides in exile in France, issued a statement demanding the right of self determination though it was later downplayed by its leader.

The development might be a cause of concern to Arab and African nations which see the breakup of Sudan as a major threat to stability and peace in the region already in a fragile and unpredictable state.

Hussein referred to the recent advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Kosovo saying that it sets a legal precedent in other parts of the world including Darfur.

“People around the world are now allowed to decide on their destiny and future to preserve their dignity and humanity,” he said.

Many critics in Sudan blame the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) for encouraging secessionist sentiments in the country through marginalizing non-Arab ethnicities and holding strongly to the core of wealth and power. Others say that the ruling party has played ‘divide and conquer’ among tribes in Darfur and the South to weaken these regions and remain in control.

In Darfur for example, some experts and politicians accuse the government of allowing Arab tribes from West African nations to come and settle in Darfur creating new conflict over lands and complicating existing ones.

The JEM spokesperson chided the UN Security Council UNSC for staying mute on the events that took place in IDP camps.

“The world is silent even as the government attacks the IDP camps. In Kalma they are passing weapons from the Eastern side of the camp through the security and intelligence agents. This is a war crime and the UNSC must take up its responsibility and intervene to stop this and further support the International Criminal Court to investigate the events that occurred last week,” he added.

A crisis erupted after deadly fighting last week swept the Kalma and Zalingi refugee camps — strongholds of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abdel-Wahid Al-Nur who resides in exile in France.

Up to 11 people were killed in the fighting reportedly between supporters of Nur’s SLM and those who are supporters of the peace process currently underway in Doha between Khartoum and a rebel umbrella, Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM).

SLM-Nur claimed that the government manipulated a handful of people in the camps to fly to Doha as IDP representatives and then enter the camp along with weapons and ammunition sparking the clashes.

The Sudanese government wants the African Union – United Nations peacekeepers to hand over six people it accuses of inciting the violence.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has indicted Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes and genocide in Darfur, where mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in 2003 accusing Khartoum of neglecting the region.

Peace talks on Darfur are underway in the Arab Gulf state of Qatar between Khartoum and LJM but observers say that the absence of JEM and SLM-Nur from the negotiations mean that any peace accord signed will not bring peace to the restive region.

JEM has suspended participation in the talks despite a promising start which led to signing of a framework agreement earlier this year. The movement accused the government of breaching the temporary ceasefire agreement and attacking its positions.

(ST)