Sunday, February 03, 2008

Darfur: The Justice and Equality Movement

2000: The Black Book

In 2000, "The Black Book: Imbalance of Power and Wealth in the Sudan" was written by unknown authors and was spread around Sudan the same year. Later, it became known that the group to largely be associated with the writing of the book was the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

The book details the inequality in Sudan between the Northern Sudan where the majority of the people are of Arab decent and the rest of Sudan which is mostly of African descent. The authors showed statistical evidence for disproportional distribution of the nations wealth to the Northern regions and that the vast majority of the people running the government being from the North.[1]

During a time when dissent wasn't very welcomed, the Black Book was released to the public in an upfront way. Instead of secretly passing the book on, JEM openly handed out the book at Mosques in the North. In addition, they managed to place the book on the desk of Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, and other high ranking government officials.

According to Gérard Prunier:

"it said nothing to the average Northern Sudanese that they did not know already. What created a shock were not the contents of the book but simply the fact that an unspoken taboo had been broken and that somebody […] had dared to put into print what everybody knew but did not want to talk about."
--Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide By Gérard Prunier (2005) pg 77

JEM created a national phenomenon and threatened the status quo. The most threatening reality was that the authors of the Black Book supported a Northern Arab and leader of the National Islamic Front, Hassan al-Turabi. In a nation where 75% of the people are Muslim, a link between the African Muslims with progressive Northern Arabic Muslims could spell ruin for the status quo. Hassan al-Turabi has maintained that he has no association to JEM, nor has JEM claimed that Hassan al-Turabi was part of their movement.

1989-1999: Omar al-Bashir and Hassan al-Turabi

In 1989, Omar al-Bashir seized power in a coup removing Sadiq al-Mahdi, Hassan al-Turabi's brother-in-law. Hassan al-Turabi was imprisoned along with his brother-in-law in 1989 but was released in 1990 when he agreed to work with the new regime.[2]

Hassan al-Turabi gained influence in Sudan and became the Speaker of Parliament. He was largely responsible for the institution of Sharia law in Sudan. Unlike previous Islamic leaders in Sudan, al-Turabi's interpretation of Islam was more progressive than his conservative counterparts. He supports womens' rights, democracy, mending of the Sunni and Shia divide and not forcing Sharia law on non-Muslims. On women, he said:

"The Prophet himself used to visit women, not men, for counseling and advice. They could lead prayer. Even in his battles, they are there! In the election between Othman and Ali to determine who will be the successor to the Prophet, they voted!"
--Interview with Hasan al-Turabi by Lawrence Wright, in Wright, The Looming Tower, (2006), p.165

However it wasn't long until Hassan al-Turabi would be arrested again by Omar al-Bashir. In 1999, al-Turabi was arrested for signing the "Memorandum of Understanding" with the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) in the South which stated that they and the National Islamic Front would have a joint "peaceful resistance" against Omar al-Bashir's dictatorship. He wouldn't be released again until 2005.

2003: The Genocide Begins

Four years after Hassan al-Turabi signed the "Memorandom of Understanding," the US began an negotiation between the rebels in the South (SPLA) and the Sudanese government. However the West (Darfur) was upset that they were not included in the talk. As a result, the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the JEM began their rebellion. In March of 2003, SLM's press release revealed their objectives:

"Although the SLM/A has originated from Darfur as a matter of necessity in response to the brutal genocidal policies of the NIF Government in that region, we want to affirm and underline that the SLM/A is a national movement that aims along with other like-minded political groups to address and solve the fundamental problems of all of Sudan. The objective of SLM/A is to create a united democratic Sudan on a new basis of equality, complete restructuring and devolution of power, even development, cultural and political pluralism and moral and material prosperity for all Sudanese."[3]

The rebellion in Darfur led to harsh government oppression by the Janjaweed, the government's Arab militia. The Janjaweed are responsible for the mass murder of many Darfur villages and other various human rights abuses. The group seeks their own personal interests in addition to being controlled by the Omar al-Bashir's government. In addition to the genocide, the Sudanese government is stealing the land where massacres took place. Under the control of Omar al-Bashir, the Janjaweed conducted a scorched earth policy and are targeting Darfur citizens to discourage people from joining the rebellion.

Unlike the Sudanese government, JEM is willing to cooperate with the international community. On January 20th, 2008, JEM posted on their website:

"1- [Bringing] the perpetrators of war crimes, forced displacement and the genocidaires to justice is imperative; this also provides a real test for the international community and for its commitment to protecting oppressed civilians from authoritarian rulers who misuse the so-called 'sovereignty' to continue butchering and displacement of innocent civilians.

2- JEM emphasizes its readiness to cooperate with the ICC and is willing to help all those concerned in uncovering the truth and to allow justice to take its course"
[4]


Omar al-Bashir on the other hand doesn't want to work with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for fear of revealing their harsh oppression of the poor inside Darfur.

2008: Our Eyes are Still Closed

The United States has been the only country to recognize the genocide in Darfur, however they refuse to put an end to the Sudanese governments mass murder. The EU is set to deploy troops to Sudan, however recent developments in Chad threaten the much needed aid.

"Chad's Foreign Ministers Ahmat Allami has accused Sudan of instigating the rebel advance in order to stop the deployment of the EU force:

"Sudan does not want this force because it would shine a light on all the genocide that is taking place in Darfur orchestrated from Chadian territory," he told the BBC."
[5]

As a result, troops from France are being deployed in Chad while Darfur remains ignored. In addition, Omar al-Bashir supports the Chad rebels because it distracts international attention away from his death squads in Darfur.

2008: JEM Strikes Back

On May 10th, 2008, the JEM rebels successfully attacked Sudan's capital Khartoum for the first time and brought the fight away from Darfur and moved the battle to Omar al-Bashir's doorstep. The rebels held the largest city in Sudan, Omdurman on the opposite side of the Nile as Sudan's capital. After JEM withdrew from the city, JEM commander Suleiman Sandal warned that they would attack Khartoum at least one more time unless the conflict in Darfur was settled.

Omar al-Bashir used the attack to round up dissidents in the city, including Hassan al-Turabi who was later released. Human rights group warn of torture and indiscriminate arresting/killing of all Darfuris in the capital. Sudan claims Chad is behind the attack, however their evidence was gained through interrogation was obtained through torture. Sudanese authorities claim that this assault on the capital would set the so-called "peace process" back however the peace process was making no progress to begin with. An army spokesman threatened: "It will lead to more suffering, more displacement, more hunger in the whole Darfur region" out of desperation, all of which are recognized war crimes.

While the people in Darfur were being slaughtered, the people of Khartoum have enjoyed the status of the most peaceful city in Africa, however recent attacks reveal the vurnerability of not only the city, but Omar al-Bashir's government.

Why Look the Other Way?

The West and Arabic nations have largely ignored the genocide in Darfur. The West doesn't want to get involved because the only side supporting democracy and an end to the genocide is an Islamic leader, Hassan al-Turabi and a leftist movement embodied by JEM and SLM. The Arabic nations, particularly the Islamic ones, haven't gotten involved in the conflict even though thousands of African Muslims are being systematically murdered by northern Arabic Muslims.

The only way out of this conflict will be the overthrowing of Omar al-Bashir and to support the taboo of revolution would be the last resort of the West and picking sides isn't something many Islamic nations are willing to do. The situation is a lose-lose for both sides of the status quo and so they ignore it and hope it will go away.

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