Conflict In Sudan And Sudan Peace Deal In 7 Points
- Yagyansh Nassa
- Sep 6, 2020
- 4 min read
August 31, 2020, was a historic day for the African continent as the coalition of rebel groups, The Sudan Revolutionary Front agreed on a ‘peace deal’ with Sudan’s current government. After 17 years of conflict, the peace deal is being termed as a major step towards peace and harmony in the country and the whole region. 7 important pointers related to the conflict and subsequent peace deal are as follows:
Demographics
Sudan is part of the Northern African region and has been an influential political entity in the region. Sudan was also a colonial holding and formally got independence in 1956 from the Britishers, with the help and intervention from Egypt. Sudan was the largest country in the African continent, before it got divided into Sudan and South Sudan in 2011, and has been home to many sub Saharan African groups.
Background
Sudan soon after getting independent came under military rule, and since then the country has had an unstable political history, with elections being conducted irregularly, and then the elected government getting ousted by a Military coup. However, the darkest period in Sudan’s history was undisputedly under the authoritarian ruler Omar Ḥasan Aḥmad al-Bashir (President of Sudan from 1993 till 2019, but in actuality had taken over the governing and administrative powers in 1989 itself, after overthrowing the elected government). Under Bashir, the Revolutionary Command Council for National Salvation (the governing body of Sudan during Bashir’s reign) “imprisoned hundreds of political opponents, banned trade unions and political parties, silenced the press, and dismantled the judiciary.” In Bashir’s reign, Islamic law was also imposed and there were regular efforts to “Islamize” the non-Muslim communities of South Sudan. As a result, the non-Arab rebel forces “took up arms against what they said was the economic and political marginalisation by the government in Khartoum.”
Conflict
The people of Southern Sudan region, who were mostly non-Arabs, took up arms against the Authoritarian government under the banner of Sudanese People’s Liberation Army, and started gaining control over the regions in the Southern Sudan region. To fight this insurgency, the government began to support Arab militia to fight against the non-Arab rebel groups. The conflict led to a deadly bloodshed, which forced many Sudanese to seek sanctuary in Ethiopia. Subsequently, the government and rebel groups executed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, giving special status to sensitive areas like the Abyei region and the northern states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. However, despite the Peace agreement, the conflict persisted between militant groups of both sides in the Darfur region. In 2011, a referendum was conducted wherein the Southerners voted to secede from the Sudanese territory and hence formed a new state of the Republic of South Sudan. In the years following the south’s secession, Sudan continued to be infested by ongoing rebel activity in the regions of Darfur and the Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. The government often used brutal methods to subdue resistance, such as deploying air bombardment, tanks, and using other sophisticated weaponry. In 2018, against the backdrop of a dwindling economy, Sudanese citizens started protesting and expressed their discontent. The protests, which were initially about the inflation in prices, shortage of bread and other basic commodities, and about proposals to discontinue certain subsidies, soon transformed into anti-government demonstrations accompanied by calls for Bashir to resign. On April 11, 2019, Bashir was overthrown in a military coup and placed under arrest.
Current Status
A power-sharing agreement was signed between civilian groups and the military in August 2019. On August 21, 2019, a transitional Sovereignty Council, comprising military and civilian representatives, took power; it is expected to rule until democratic elections, which are scheduled in 2022, are held. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who had been leading the military-led transition council, was named President. Abdalla Hamdok, selected by the civilian groups’ alliance, was appointed as the Prime Minister.
Peace Deal
The peace deal was signed between the transitional government of Sudan and major rebel groups from the western region of Darfur and the southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile (together constituted ‘The Sudan Revolutionary Front’). The final agreement covers key issues around “security, land ownership, transitional justice, power sharing, and the return of people who fled their homes because of war.” It also provides for the “dismantling of rebel forces and the integration of their fighters into the national army.” However, still two rebel factions have refused to take part in the deal.
Reactions and Effects
The United States, the United Kingdom and Norway welcomed the peace agreement as a first step in rebuilding stability in the country and issued a joint statement terming the agreement "an important step in restoring security, dignity, and development to the population of Sudan's conflict-affected and marginalised areas.”
Recently, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had also visited Sudan, with the objective of supporting the country’s fragile transitional period. Mr. Hamdok and Mr. Pompeo discussed efforts to remove Sudan from the United States’ list of state sponsors of terrorism, a designation that has crippled Sudan’s economy and deterred foreign investment.
Omar Ḥasan Aḥmad al-Bashir
After being ousted, Al Bashir was found guilty of possessing foreign currency and receiving illegal gifts and was sentenced to two years in detention in Khartoum by a Sudanese court. Additionally, The Prime Minister Hamdok, has also agreed to “cooperate with the International Criminal Court to facilitate access to those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity,", indirectly pointing towards Al Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur in a conflict that killed an estimated 300,000 people.
Prime Minister Hamdok in his landmark address, dedicated the peace deal to “children who were born in displacement and refugee camps and to the mothers and fathers who miss their villages and cities.” He further added that “Today is the beginning of the road to peace, a peace that needs a strong and solid will,”. However, Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, cautioned that “Today’s deal addresses many of the symptoms of violence, but not the underlying illness that has kept the country in a state of perpetual civil war since independence,”. Nevertheless, much more peaceful times can be expected in the upcoming years in Sudan, paving way for long lost developmental investments.
Further Readings
Cover Photo: Samir Bol/Reuters
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