Jim Moore’s blog: Innovation, Strategy, Public Policy

Peace agreement does not cover Darfur

Yesterday in Kenya the Sudan government and the major southern Sudan
rebel organization signed a peace treaty. While this is good news–the
21-year war it appears to end had claimed 2 million lives– the treaty
does not cover the genocidal situation in Darfur. Here is an excerpt of
a Reuters report from Kenya about an hour ago:

The accord includes opponents in a 21-year-old war but leaves out a
separate conflict raging in the western Darfur area and excludes up to
30 other militia groups, some eyeing Sudan’s newly tapped oil wealth,
who could still scupper peace hopes.

Wednesday’s accords give the Khartoum government 70 percent of
executive and legislative seats in the north and the SPLA the same in
the south during a six-year transition, an SPLA delegate said. After
that the south would vote on secession.

In the disputed Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile regions,
which control much of the oil wealth, the government would have 55
percent of power and the SPLA 45 percent, with the governorship
switching between the two every 18 months.

Governments, aid agencies and the African Union hailed the deal,
but nearly a day after the ceremony the text had still not been
published and copies were restricted to a few delegates.

Implementation talks will not begin until June 22, so there is much
that remains to be done before even starting to build a real peace,
even in the region covered by the agreement.

The United States hailed the deal and has promised to normalize
relations with the government of Sudan if the government also stops the
genocide in Darfur. The current plan is to bring the president of Sudan
to the U.S. White House for a ceremony if and when this is
accomplished.

Forgive me for editorializing in the middle of a news
report, but promising a White House visit seems an inapropriate reward
to offer the Sudan government in order to encourage it to halt is own
genocidal actions in Darfur. The prospect of a genocidal government
official sleeping in the Lincoln bedroom is inconsistent with my
values, certainly–and seems to me a new low for our stature in the
world. Has no one noticed that the genocide in Darfur has now become
almost irreversible because of how long it has been allowed to go
on–and how close Sudan is now to the monsoon season? And that it is
still not resolved? Even access by aid workers is still being resisted
by the government.

Here is an excerpt from Voice of America presentation of the U.S. position:

In welcoming the signing of the three protocols at ceremonies in
Naivasha, Kenya, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the
United States remains willing to celebrate a final north-south peace
deal with a White House ceremony and to move to full political
relations with Sudan.

However, he made clear that this would require peace in Darfur,
where Arab militiamen backed by the Khartoum government are being
accused of ethnic-cleansing tactics in trying to put down a local black
African revolt.

“We have made clear that we will begin a process of normalizing
our bilateral relationship, but in the context of a comprehensive peace
agreement and resolution of the situation in Darfur, including ending
the violence being perpetrated by the militias, protecting civilians,
facilitating unrestricted humanitarian access and cooperation in the
deployment of international monitors and creation of conditions for the
same return of displaced people,” Mr. Boucher said. “So as we approach
that point of having comprehensive peace, these issues involving Darfur
are still very much prominent on our agenda.”

Secretary of State Colin Powell first raised the idea of a White
House event on a Sudan peace accord when he visited the north-south
talks in Naivasha in October.

Meanwhile, organizations with people on the ground, such as observers for Christian Aid
(the aid arm of UK and Ireland churches) continue to point out that the
fighting has not actually stopped even in the areas covered by the
agreement, and that the situation in Darfur is unchanged.