Conflict in Sudan

You may have heard or read recently about the conflict in Sudan.  So what exactly is going on and what has happened in the past to lead to this conflict?

Sudan, the largest country in Africa, was ruled jointly by Britain and Egypt from 1899 until becoming independent at the beginning of 1956.

Since independence from the UK in 1956 politics has been dominated by militaristic, Islamic governments.  Apart from 10 years of peace between 1972-82, Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war from 1956 to the present day. The running conflict has mainly been between the Arab Muslim northerners of Sudan, (the base of the Government), and the black Africans of the south, who practice mainly Christian or animist beliefs.

A map of the country may be viewed at:-

http://www.rightsmaps.com/html/sudmap1.html

Civilian lives affected

Since 1983, war and famine have led to more than 2 million deaths and over 4 million people left homeless. It costs the government an estimated $1.5m a day.

The current government is a mixture of military elite and an Islamist party that came to power in a 1989 coup.

Some northern opposition parties have allied with the southern rebels and entered the war as a part of an anti-government alliance.

http://www.travelblog.org/World/su-info.html

In the 1990s government forces have repeatedly launched aerial attacks on civilian targets in southern Sudan.

Despite this, the Sudan's People's Liberation Army increased its attacks on the north to the level of full-scale civil war in the mid-1980s.

Negotiations between the government and the political wing of the SPLA - the Sudan People's Liberation Movement - occurred in 1988 and 1989, however they were ended, when General Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir took power in a military coup in June 1989, banning all political parties in the country.

In January 1991 his government gave the southern states a non-Shari'a (non-Muslim) legal system, and considerable independence in internal affairs. However, non-Muslims living in the north of the country were still subject to Shari'a (Muslim) law.

Country could split

The last round of peace negotiations between the government and the SPLA broke down in September 1994 over this issue.

The government pulled out of the talks after accusing the non-Muslim regional states who were sponsoring the talks of bias against the Islamist regime.

In April 1997 the Sudanese government signed a peace agreement with five other southern leaders. It agreed to hold a vote on the self-governance of the South in three years' time.

It hoped to sign a similar peace agreement with the SPLA and held talks with them in October 1997.

The opposition in Sudan is so divided that some opposition leaders talk of a complete split of Sudan - in the manner of Somalia.

This would have serious consequences for Africa as a whole: Sudan borders nine other countries.

On March 12, Sudan offered the SPLA rebels a ceasefire.

The Egyptian Government announced in early March that it intended to promote peace in Sudan, and avoid the partition of the country.

Rebels gained ground in fighting

During 1996 the opposition National Democratic Alliance (NDA) began military activity close to the Eritrean border.

In January 1997 the rebels launched a major offensive from Eritrea, which frustrated the government in Khartoum considerably, thus allowing them to capture a huge area in the south.

The Sudan famine brought a ceasefire in the worst-hit areas in 1998, in particular the Bahr al Ghazal region. But while the truce - extended in October and again in January 1999 – allowed the civilians some time of relief, other areas of the country were not covered by this truce.

The Khartoum government was accused by international aid agencies of bombing hospitals in the southern town Kajo Kaji in January 1999.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/84927.stm

Currently, the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), an east African organization in which Sudan is a member, is trying to mediate a peace deal. Kenya is leading the efforts, together with the other members of IGAD. The governments of the United States, Britain, Italy, and Norway are also helping as observers. The United States is also intensifying its involvement for a peace agreement since George W. Bush became president. In October 2002 the US Congress passed the Sudan Peace Act, a law that specifies the US intentions in Sudan.

http://www.cadais.org/Sudan%20Background%20Information.htm

Darfur Conflict

The scene of the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today is Darfur, in western Sudan. However there has been insufficient press coverage of this.

A ceasefire and peace agreement has been agreed between the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), including a deal to split the income from the highly desired southern oilfields.

But this has sparked demands from rebels in Darfur for a fairer deal for the black African population there, where the differences tend to be ethnic and cultural rather than religious as the people in Darfur are mostly muslim.

Ethnic cleansing

The government responded by backing the Arab Janjaweed militias who have run riot, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths and leaving over 1 million people homeless as they flee for their lives.

Refugees from Darfur say that following air raids by government aircraft, the Janjaweed ride into villages on horses and camels, slaughtering men, raping women and stealing whatever they can find.

Many women report being abducted by the Janjaweed and held as sex slaves for more than a week before being released.

The UN did not want to be accused of not responding effectively to Sudan (as they were accused in the ethnic cleansing seen in Rwanda and Kosovo) so a UN team was sent to find out if genocide was being committed.  

If the UN had agreed that a genocide was occurring, then it would have been legally obliged to take action to stop it.  But the UN team said that war crimes had been committed, but there was no intent to commit genocide despite In September 2004 US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, described the violence as "genocide" in September 2004

Sudan's government denies being in control of the Janjaweed and President Omar al-Bashir has called them "thieves and gangsters".

A UN resolution has been passed, calling for the Sudanese government to disarm and disband the Janjaweed militias, so that humanitarian aid can be distributed effectively.  The United Nations has threatened to no longer buy Sudan's oil (the country’s major export) if the violence is not ended.

The Sudanese government's response has been slow and reluctant. There is little evidence of effective measures to lessen the atrocities being committed by the Janjaweed. As a result, the suffering of the Sudanese refugees continues.

http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,1303402,00.html

People at Risk

Some two million people have left their homes and many thousands are estimated to have been killed.

Most have fled their destroyed villages for camps in Darfur's main towns but there is not enough food, water or medicine.

The Janjaweed patrol outside the camps and Darfurians say the men are killed and the women raped if they venture too far in search of firewood or water.

Aid workers say that many thousands are at risk of starvation and disease in the camps.

Some children have already died from malnutrition.

Attempts by security forces to persuade the refugees to leave the camps and return home have led to violence and brought condemnation from the international community.

As many as 200,000 have also sought safety in neighbouring Chad, but many are camped along a 600km stretch of the border and remain vulnerable to attacks from Sudan.

Chad is worried that the conflict could spill over the border. Since its eastern areas have a similar ethnic make-up to Darfur.

David Drew MP, a member of the all-party parliamentary group on Sudan, returned from Darfur in July 2004, where he saw first-hand the desperate conditions of people living in displacement camps. His verdict: 'We need a major aid operation at least four times what it is now - on the scale of Ethiopia in 1984, perhaps even bigger.'

Lots of aid agencies are working in Darfur but they are unable to get access to vast areas.

They accuse the government of blocking their access to Darfur by demanding visas and using other bureaucratic obstacles.

Sudan says these have been removed.

See http://www.christianaid.org.uk/world/where/eagl/sudan/040709mp.htm

Ending the Fighting

The government and the two rebel groups signed a ceasefire last April but this has not held.

Two further agreements have been reached in Nigeria, brokered by the African Union, on banning military flights in Darfur and on humanitarian aid.

Some 1,400 African Union troops are now in Darfur temporarily.

The Sudan government has agreed in principle to a force of at least 3,000 and they should have been on the ground months ago, but Khartoum is resisting allowing them to beef up their powers to disarm combatants.

The government has hinted that it may let Darfur run its own affairs more if this would help solve the crisis.

It has agreed to let southern Sudan have its own government as part of a deal to end 20 years of conflict in that region.

The government negotiator, Vice President Ali Osman Taha, is now turning his attention to Darfur and talks were due to resume in Nigeria in February.

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3496731.stm

What is your opinion on the conflict in Sudan?  Do you think it has had enough coverage in the media?  Do you think peace will be achieved? 

Why not head over to the Messageboard now and have your say.

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