No End In Sight To The Deadly Sudan Conflict
 
The Nation (Nairobi)
June 12, 2000
By Charles Omondi

Nairobi - The failure of the latest round of peace talks on the Sudan conflict did not come as a surprise. In fact, keen followers of the tragedy in the Sudan would have been pleasantly surprised had the May 17-23 meeting taken place in Nairobi as scheduled.

Predictably, the key protagonists in the protracted conflict, the Government of Sudan and the rebel Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/Army have continued pointing accusing fingers at one another over this regrettable turn of events that poses a serious threat to the whole peace process brokered by the regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Since the beginning of the year, there has been little, if any, demonstration of goodwill by the warring parties, despite intermittent ceasefire declarations, and peace deliberations. Instead, it has been a tale of sins of omission and commission that have only worked to undermine the entire peace initiative.

The government takes the lion's share of blame for the failure of the IGAD peace process. Khartoum has appeared particularly evasive on the touchy issue of separating state from religion when it is all too apparent that this holds the key to ending the stalemate.

At the same time, the military regime of Lt-Col. Omar Hassan el- Bashir has intensified the bombardment of civilian targets in the rebel-controlled areas, bringing to serious question the government's commitment to peace in this vast territory. Not even mounting international censure or the wrangles within the ruling National Congress have dissuaded the government from raiding civilian targets.

With the establishment of a permanent IGAD secretariat in Nairobi since the beginning of this year, it was hoped that the negotiation process would be expedited. However, it appears that things have continued going around in cycles the same way they did before the secretariat came into existence.

Lui, Parajok, Yirol, Nimule, Kaya, Morobo, Kotobi and Tali, all in the south, have borne the brunt of aerial bombardments in the first three months of the new millennium. Some of them have been attacked more than once. Kauda in the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan and the oil-rich Southern Blue Nile have also had to contend with more than their fair share of the shrapnel-laden bombs. On at least one occasion, the bombs targeting southern positions, landed on Ugandan soil, further weakening the uneasy relations between the two neighbours.

The SPLA has continued expressing legitimate concern over these raids, but the government has not taken any heed. At one point, the rebel movement appealed to the United Nations to declare the SPLA territory a no-fly zone for government planes to put an end to these heinous acts, but nothing has been forthcoming.

People of goodwill, out of sheer frustration, have wondered aloud why the international community cannot help the rebels acquire anti- aircraft missiles for self-defence.

Anybody who has had a glimpse of the scenes of the bombardments on a television screen would find it difficult not to sympathise with the SPLA. Perhaps most distressing was the bombardment of the Holy Cross Primary School, Nuba Mountains, on February 8. This incident left 14 pupils and their teacher dead, while many others were injured, some of them seriously. In the Nuba Mountains, like other rebel-held territory, medical facilities are few and far apart.

In announcing their suspension of peace negotiations with Khartoum, the SPLA lamented that Khartoum was actually waging a campaign of genocide under the guise of suppressing a rebellion. "Whereas the SPLA and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) forces exclusively conduct operations against legitimate military targets, the government systematically engages in bombing civilians, social services infrastructure such as hospitals and schools, in addition to sponsoring raids aimed at capturing and enslaving women and children," said SPLA spokesman Samson Kwaje.

IGAD, no doubt, remains the best forum for bringing peace to Sudan and withdrawal from it by any of the key players in the Sudanese conflict can only jeopardise chances of peaceful solution to the conflict. However, there is an urgent need for a radical change in its strategies if it is to achieve anything.

As the negotiations continue, a way must be found to keep at bay acts of provocation. IGAD, for instance, has the capacity to impose an effective arms embargo on Khartoum. To expect the rebels to continue harping on dialogue when their people are being decimated is asking the impossible.

Sudan, independent since 1956, has known more war than peace. The current phase of the civil strife alone, now in its 17th year, has claimed an estimated two million lives. Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have been forced into exile as refugees while equally large numbers remain displaced and destitutes in their motherland. This conflict, a product of colonialism, religious intolerance and unfair distribution of the country's resources, must come to an end.

*The writer is an editor with the Sudan Catholic Information Office, Nairobi.