Church leaders join chorus of concern over Darfur
By Joyce Mulama
NAIROBI, May 21, 2004 (IPS) — A delegation from the All Africa Conference of Churches has thrown its weight behind efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan’s western Darfur province, created by what some describe as a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
This comes after a week-long trip to the country by a delegation from the church grouping (or AACC). After visiting Sudan from May 11 to 16, the organisation also called for an investigation of human rights atrocities in Darfur.
“The AACC believes it would be in our interest and that of the world that such a process is established, for everybody to understand and put pressure for such inhuman acts to stop,” delegation leader and president of the AACC, Mvume Dandala, told journalists in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, Thursday (May 20).
Dandala went on to describe the situation in Darfur as “a huge cauldron, a boiling pot, burning, bleeding and hurting all at the same time.”
He also indicated that violence had taken hold in the Upper Nile region, in southern Sudan. Dandala said church sources in the area had told him that the homes of an estimated 23,000 villagers in the area had been razed, displacing 150,000 people. Arab militias backed by Sudan’s government are held responsible for this destruction.
Arab militias are also accused of leading the attacks in Darfur which have caused massive displacement and the flight of about 120,000 people to neighbouring Chad.
These militias, known as “Janjaweed” (meaning “men on horseback”), have targeted black Sudanese from the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups – allegedly with support from government forces.
A recent study by Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders, an international relief agency) notes, “There are an estimated one million people displaced by the attacks, most of whom are destitute and in constant fear, with little medical care and insufficient food, water and shelter.”
The Darfur conflict began more than a year ago after two rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement, began staging attacks to protest government’s failure to protect them against the Janjaweed, who belong to a nomadic group.
The Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa are settled populations – although they too are Muslim. The rebel movements were also protesting against perceived neglect of development needs in Darfur.
The AACC called on African governments to take a stand on developments in Sudan.
“We are saying that the situation in Sudan is critical and that the country requires compassion and solidarity from the world – including Africa,” said Dandala.
The Sudan Council of Churches has reportedly written letters of appeal for intervention to foreign embassies in Khartoum. While those of northern governments responded, most African diplomats have reportedly appeared indifferent to the plight of people in western Sudan.
Added Dandala, “We are working with the national councils of churches to ensure that their governments get actively involved in matters that will see the current peace negotiations yield a lasting peace.”
The negotiations in question began in Kenya in 2002, in a bid to end a separate 30-year conflict in southern Sudan between the Islamic government and the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). People inhabiting southern Sudan are predominantly Christian or animist.
The talks, which resumed Apr. 29 at a venue outside Nairobi, are being mediated by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional grouping. Although agreement has been reached on the key issue of sharing revenues from the region’s oil resources, disputes continue over the control of three disputed areas: Abyei, the Nuba mountains and the Southern Blue Nile.
The issue of whether Islamic law, or sharia, should be applied to all who live in Khartoum is also a sticking point.
“We view the capital as a neutral place that reflects the cultural and religious diversity of the people of Sudan. So we are asking that the capital be sharia-free because Islamic laws represent only one religion out of the many religions in Sudan,” SPLM/A spokesman Yasir Arman told IPS in a telephone interview from Naivasha, the venue of the talks.
“But for the sake of peace, we can live with Islamic laws provided non-Muslims and Christians are exempted from application of these laws. That is the minimum we can expect,” he added.
However, government opposes this stance, on the grounds that a previous treaty – the 2002 Machakos Protocol – stipulates that sharia will apply to Sudan’s northern states.
“Since the capital, Khartoum, lies in the north, it has to be governed by Islamic law. The law will apply to everyone in the capital, which is a northern entity,” Neimat Bilal, a Sudanese government official, said in an interview with IPS.
A source close to the talks observed that some see the quarrel about sharia as a ploy by government “to slow down the peace process and buy time so as to amass as much oil revenue as possible.”
“It has realised (that) after the wealth sharing agreement early in the year, it will not acquire as much money from the proceeds at it did before,” said the source, who could not be identified.
The United States has also added its muscle to the quest for peace in Sudan.
During visits to Nairobi in April and May, Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Charles Snyder called on the negotiating parties to conclude their talks as a matter of urgency. The U.S., Britain and Norway are acting as observers in the negotiations.
Over two million people have died, while about four million have been displaced by fighting in southern Sudan. (END)