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Article Excerpt
I. INTRODUCTION
II. UNDERSTANDING THE CONFLICT IN DARFUR A. A Brief History of Sudan B. The Darfur Region C. The Rise of Conflict D. The Formation of Rebel Groups 1. The Sudan Liberation Army/Movement 2. The Justice and Equality Movement E. The Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed III. THE DARFUR PEACE AGREEMENT A. The Power Sharing Protocol B. The Wealth Sharing Protocol C. The Security Arrangements D. The Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation IV. BRINGING PEACE TO DARFUR A. Increased Representation at the Negotiations and Addressing Core Issues B. Mechanism for Justice and Accountability C. A Realistic Role for UNAMID V. CONCLUSION VI. APPENDIX A. Glossary of Acronyms
"There can be no single solution to this crisis. Darfur is a case study in complexity. If peace is to come, it must take into account all the elements that gave rise to the conflict." (1)--Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations
I. INTRODUCTION
Amina is a survivor of the first genocide of the twenty-first century. (2) The Janjaweed attacked her village located in Darfur, Sudan. (3) They shot and killed her husband. (4) As she fled her village with two of her children on her back and two in her arms, she was chased by roughly twenty Janjaweed fighters. (5) They ripped her five-year old son from her arms. (6) When she stopped to plead for his life, they threatened to kill her; (7) Amina had no choice but to continue running. (8) She could hear her son screaming for her as the Janjaweed threw him into the fire of the burning village but she could not stop running. (9) In spite of her speed, Amina lost another son to the brutality of the Janjaweed. (10) The Janjaweed took him from her and shot him twice, once in his back and once in his side. (11) He was only seven years old. (12) Amina was never able to bury her children. (13)
Despite the world's commitment after the Rwandan genocide to never tolerate genocide again, (14) the international response to the atrocities in Darfur has been painfully slow. (15) The Government of Sudan and the Janjaweed are acting with relative impunity. (16) Indeed, the Government of Sudan, with the help of the Janjaweed, continues to indiscriminately and purposefully attack the people of Darfur. (17) They are killing innocent civilians, pillaging and burning the villages, and raping the women. (18) And, they are getting away with it. (19)
The United Nations has described what is happening in Darfur as "the world's worst humanitarian disaster" and the United States has condemned it as "genocide." (20) In an effort to achieve peace, the Government of Sudan and the Darfur rebel groups (21) entered into peace negotiations in 2006 under the auspices of the African Union (A.U.). (22) These negotiations resulted in the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), (23) which was signed by the Government of Sudan and one rebel faction. (24) In spite of the high hopes for success, (25) the DPA has failed to bring peace to the region, and the parties began new peace talks in October 2007. (26)
Partially in recognition of past inaction in the face of grave atrocities, the United Nations 2005 World Summit "culminated with an agreement that the international community, acting through the United Nations, bears a responsibility to help protect populations from genocide and other atrocities when their own governments fail to do SO." (27) Many question whether or not the United Nations and the international community are doing enough to stop the genocide in Darfur. (28)
This Comment considers the reasons for the DPA's failure and suggests changes that should be made in future peace agreements. First, this Comment briefly describes the atmosphere in which the conflict arose, as well as some of the root causes of the conflict. Next, this Comment focuses on the DPA and understanding why it failed. Finally, this Comment examines three things that should be done during the current peace negotiations to ensure that some of the mistakes of the DPA are not repeated: (1) all interested parties need to be adequately represented at the negotiations to address core issues, (2) any new peace agreement must create a mechanism for justice and accountability, and (3) any new peace agreement must provide a realistic role for peacekeeping forces.
II. UNDERSTANDING THE CONFLICT IN DARFUR
The conflict in Darfur began as the second civil war in Sudan was coming to an end. (29) This crisis has many different causes including "security, politics, resources, water, and humanitarian and development issues." (30) At least 300,000 people are thought to have died during the conflict and another 2.7 million have been forced to flee their homes. (31)
A. A Brief History of Sudan
Sudan is located in northeastern Africa. (32) The environment of the Sudan is harsh and "suffers from inadequate supplies of potable water, declining wildlife populations because of warfare and excessive hunting, soil erosion, desertification, and periodic droughts." (33) Most of Sudan's population is composed of Africans and Arabs. (34) Sudan's northern populations are mostly Muslim, while the south is predominantly animist and Christian. (35) Sudan's harsh climate and scarce resources coupled with ethnic, tribal, and religious differences have created a history of conflict. (36)
Sudan has been involved in political violence and armed conflict since it gained independence from British colonial rule in 1956. (37) The northern Sudanese (often referred to as "Arabs") were politically favored by the British colonial policy over the southern and western Sudanese (often referred to as "Africans"). (38) In the time leading up to Sudan's independence, the British placed political power for the Sudan region in the hands of northern Sudanese, leaving the southern Sudanese virtually powerless and unrepresented in the government. (39) Since independence, most large scale violence in Sudan has been between the Government of Sudan in Khartoum (in the North) and southern rebel groups. (40) There have been two civil wars between the North and the South since Sudan's independence. (4i)
Both of these civil wars started because the government in Khartoum arbitrarily denied the South political power. (42) Indeed, the first civil war started in 1955 when the Arab-led Khartoum government broke their promise to the southern Sudanese to create a federal system. (43) Fearing political marginalization, southerners sought to gain their independence by engaging in a civil war. (44)
The first civil war lasted for seventeen years, from 1955 to 1972. (45) The war ended with the signing of the Addis Ababa Accords, which granted southern Sudan wide regional autonomy on internal matters. (46) This agreement was unconstitutionally revised in 1977 by the government in Khartoum after the discovery of oil. (47)
The second civil war began in 1983 after President Gaafar Nimeiri's unilateral decision to implement Islamic Shari'a law throughout the country on both Muslims and non-Muslims. (48) These events induced southern army officers, led by John Garang, to mutiny and form the Southern People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M). (49)
The second civil war ended on December 31, 2004, with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). (50) The CPA does primarily three things. First, it creates a new post of Vice President to be held by a southerner. (51) Second, it gives southern Sudan greater autonomy by withdrawing the current national army and giving the south 50% of the oil field revenues. (52) Finally, the CPA provides for a referendum on secession in 2011. (53)
B. The Darfur Region
The conflict in Darfur erupted in 2003 as the negotiations to end the civil war between the North and the South came to a close. (54) The conflict is very complex and has been largely influenced by the region's geography, history, and ethnography. (55)
Darfur is a region located in the westernmost part of Sudan and while it is a generally dry region, it is not a desert. (56) Darfur was originally a sultanate, (57) which fell to British rule. (58) In 1917, Darfur was incorporated into Sudan. (59) In 1994, the region was divided into three states: North, South, and West Darfur. (60)
While there are a few major towns in the region, the majority of the population lives in small villages. (61) Darfur's economy is maintained by subsistence farming, limited industrial farming, and cattle herding. (62) Even though the local government controls the region, (63) the historic tribal structure can still be found. (64) For simplicity, the tribes can be broken up into three different categories: (1) agriculturalist, (2) sedentary cattle herders, and (3) nomadic and seminomadic cattle and camel herders. (65) The agriculturalist tribes include the Fur, the Barni, the Tama, the Jebel, the Aranga, and the Massaleit. (66) The sedentary cattle herders include the Rhezeghat and the Zaghawa. (67) The nomadic and seminomadic herding tribes include the Taaysha, the Habaneya, the Beni Helba, and the Mahameed. (68) In spite of the fact that 40% of Darfurians are not Arabs, (69) all Darfurians are Muslim (70) and generally speak Arabic. (71)
C. The Rise of Conflict
The violence between the Government of Sudan and the SPLA/M first began to affect the Darfur region in the 1980s. (72) In 1991, while the SPLA/M and the Government of Sudan were fighting in Darfur, the government began to support the formation of an "Arab Alliance" to control the non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur. (73) In an attempt to resolve ancient disputes over land and water rights, these Arab groups used their recently acquired arms to attack the Zaghawa, Fur, and Massaleit communities. (74) By the end of the attacks, the Arab groups had killed 3,000 people and destroyed 600 non-Arab villages. (75)
D. The Formation of Rebel Groups
The political marginalization and violence against African communities in Darfur led to the formation of two loosely allied rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) (not to be contused with the South's SPLA/M). (76) These rebel groups began attacking government military installations in February 2003. (77) The members of both rebel groups came from mainly three tribes: the Fur, the Massaleit, and the Zaghawa. (78) Together these rebel groups have a political program that focuses on gaining more participation in government. (79) The JEM and the SLA/M "seek equitable development, land rights, social and public services, democracy, and regional autonomy" rather than self-determination like the South's SPLA/M. (80)
1. The Sudan Liberation Army/Movement
The SLA/M, originally known as the Darfur Liberation Front, (81) emerged slowly from tribal based movements formed to resist the government's Arab supremacist policies and the government sponsored attacks in Darfur. (82) The SLA/M brings together three tribes: Fur, Massaleit, and Zaghawa. (83) During the movement's inception, the leadership of the movement was divided among the tribes and each tribe picked their own representative. (84) The Fur people chose Abdel Wahid to be chairman. (85) The Zaghawa chose Abdallah Abakar to be military commander. (86) The Massaleit chose Mansour Arbab to be deputy chairman. (87) The SLA/M's "Political Declaration" demands "a new Sudan that belongs equally to all its citizens." (88) Their main goal is to create a secular government. (89)
However, the SLA/M has been plagued by disunity since its inception. (90) Tension and distrust among the different tribes has made finding a unified voice and cohesive leadership difficult. (91) Indeed, the leaders of the SLA/M have struggled against each other for primacy. (92) The primary struggle within the movement has been between Abdel Wahid and Minni Minawi, (93) who succeeded Abdallah Abakar as military commander. (94) Khartoum has been able to manipulate these tensions and divide the movement by exploiting the geographical and ethnic differences. (95) As a result, the SLA/M fractured into several splinter groups. (96) The major fracture created two SLA/M groups: one supports Abdel Wahid (SLA/AW) and the other supports Minni Minawi (SLA/MM). (97) This split within the movement makes achieving peace in Darfur more difficult. (98)
2. The Justice and Equality Movement
The origins of the JEM can be traced back to 1993. (99) At that time seven members of the National Islamic Front (NIF), including the JEM's current chairman Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, formed a secret cell aimed at reforming the NIF from within. (100) The first step for this new cell was to educate the Sudanese about the imbalances in Sudan. (101) The result was the "Black Book," which chronicled the incidents of political and economic marginalization by the Government of Sudan. (102) Like the SLA/M, the JEM supports creating a unified Sudan. (103) However, the JEM does not demand a secular government. (104) Even though the members of the JEM are predominantly from the Zaghawa tribe, the JEM has built a broad tribal base by reaching out to all other marginalized tribes. (105)
The JEM, which seemed less prone to the disunity plaguing the SLA/M, (106) has recently experienced increased divisiveness and breakaway attempts by top commanders. (107) The JEM has had a few commanders defect because they disagreed with Khalil Ibrahim's leadership. (108) For example, Idris Azraq defected in 2006 and formed the Darfur Independence Front. (109) In addition, another group of commanders defected in 2007 and formed the JEM-Eastern Command. (110) However, the most substantial split happened in October 2007 when two former JEM leaders, who were dismissed by...
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