Peace in Sudan depends on justice for the Darfur genocide
Written by
I asked the pilot to deviate from our approved flight path and go low over Darfur. It was 2003 and I was the United Nations Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator in Sudan investigating reports of violence. What I saw was a genocide unfolding on my watch. This was a decade after the 1994 Rwanda genocide, which I also , and where we had sworn 鈥渘ever again鈥�. But , watching village upon village burning.
Large-scale horrendous brutalities were being committed across Darfur, a region in western Sudan that鈥檚 roughly the size of France. They were , targeting black African ethnic groups such as the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit. Eyewitness testimonies indicated that were Arab militia, with Sudanese government backing. The was the permanent removal of the black population in the area so that nomadic Arabs could take over.
厂耻诲补苍鈥檚 has deep roots. It goes back to its ancient role as a marketplace for . The subsequent divide-and-rule and militarised dictatorships further entrenched it.
Between 2003 and 2005, half of Darfur鈥檚 population of 5-6 million was . Their fragile means for surviving the arid environment 鈥� such as wells and irrigated farming 鈥� were completely . At least 200,000 , and thousands of women and girls were raped.
This was 鈥� as was confirmed by Sudanese authorities with whom I remonstrated. When they told me that they wanted a 鈥渇inal solution鈥� to the Darfur insurgency, I was left in no doubt that the 1948 鈥� which prohibits ethnically targeted destruction 鈥� applied.
The UN and world powers to listen and for speaking out publicly. But extensive lobbying extracted a in 2004, and the first-ever to the International Criminal Court in 2005. This meant that the court could exercise jurisdiction over Sudan and initiate formal investigations.
It was gratifying to provide evidence that enabled Omar al-Bashir to enter history in 2009 and 2010 as the for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. He was alongside who obstructed us in bringing relief to Darfur.
But this was no consolation - Bashir remained in power despite international arrest warrants. Meanwhile, Darfuri lands, emptied of their African inhabitants, were rehabilitated with generous and by Arab groups. With the demography of the region changed, this is a clear example of ethnic cleansing.
As humanitarian affairs, with particular expertise in tackling crimes against humanity, disaster and conflict management, I argue that without 鈥� justice that focuses on repairing the harm caused by involving those who have been affected 鈥� there cannot be peace.
The failure to hold Darfur rights abusers accountable emboldened the national government and security apparatus to redouble their oppression around Sudan. This ignited several violent rebellions and inevitable countrywide instability. In fact, the crisis in Sudan today involves key military players who rose to power under Bashir during this time.
Darfur鈥檚 toxic legacy
In 2013, as a Special Representative of the , in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state the scorched-earth policies of its governor, Ahmed Harun. He was a close associate of Bashir. Even though Harun had been in 2007, he carried out new ethnically targeted crimes against black Africans of the Nuba and in Blue Nile state. His tactics were further of what he had deployed in Darfur a decade earlier.
Bashir and Harun effected the original Darfur genocide through their militia, alongside the Sudanese Armed Forces. The Janjaweed were then formalised into the Rapid Support Forces. They were strengthened through for border control to stem refugee flows into Europe. They gained further combat experience and money by being recruited to fight in .
The international community鈥檚 pragmatic Sudan policy has favoured quick fixes rather than systematically tackling underlying problems. are also in play as nations vie for access to 厂耻诲补苍鈥檚, and riches. And so, deal-making trumped principles to boost the perpetrators instead of demanding their accountability.
厂耻诲补苍鈥檚 military elites triumphed further when the international community undermined the popular pro-democracy uprising that led to . In a massive policy error, the UN, US and EU pushed for a that left Bashir鈥檚 military successors in control: Chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan for the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Commander General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo 鈥� aka Hemedti 鈥� for the Rapid Support Forces.
The violent power competition between these two generals is the immediate trigger to 厂耻诲补苍鈥檚 current conflict. There are consequences amid that repeatedly fail.
Making peace
Peacemaking is never easy, but conflicts hallmarked by war crimes and crimes against humanity are impossible to end without restorative justice. Extraordinary hurts necessitate through grieving, forgiving and healing. That requires acknowledging wrongs done, penalising wrongdoers, compensating victims and their suffering through monuments that become places of pilgrimage to educate future generations.
That is how the helped post-Nazi Germany and Europe to move on. And how the strove to heal the Balkans from the 1995 genocide.
Justice is best served closest to the people who suffer but, at the same time, crimes against humanity in one place are crimes against all humanity everywhere. So, the whole world must be part of legal processes that ensure transparency and fairness, provide lessons and reset global norms. The tribunals for the 1970s and 1994 genocides did that with hybrid domestic and international mechanisms.
Where this does not happen, old wounds fester, even ancient ones such as those from the genocide a century ago or the 1930s genocide of Ukrainians. More recently, the unrectified genocides of the , and , and in continue to cause turmoil and encourage impunity. That is why 鈥渘ever again鈥� is happening 鈥渁gain and again鈥�.
Shabby peace deals
There is no shortage of mediators for 厂耻诲补苍鈥檚 current crisis. But their impatient peace panaceas underestimate the impact of the generation-long Darfur genocide and its direct connection to current events. Shabby deals for short-term gains 鈥� appeasing the generals and further consolidating their power at the cost of civilian democracy 鈥� will unravel.
The bulk of the Sudanese at the centre, by an Arabic elite 鈥� authorities, intelligentsia, rich 鈥� ignored the generation-long inhumanities at the peripheries of their vast land. But, sooner or later, there is no alternative to the path to peace in Sudan that is walked hand-in-hand by all its diverse peoples.
This will be a long journey. Short-changing justice and accountability will make it longer still. The handover of Bashir and other indictees to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in Darfur should be integral to all peace negotiations, and a condition for aiding recovery. Furthermore, fresh crimes being committed in the current conflict must not go unpunished.
厂耻诲补苍鈥檚 stakeholders in Africa, the Middle East and globally serve the nation best 鈥� and also their own self-interests 鈥� by not standing in the way of peace through justice.
, Professor Emeritus in Global Health & Humanitarian Affairs,
This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .