Collapse of Negotiations between Government and the Sudanese Armed Movements Delegations Expected
By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
The ruling regime delegation of the National Congress Party (NCP) attended with intent to thwart the round of negotiations with the Armed Rebel Groups in Addis Ababa on August 8, 2016. Furthermore, the evil intentions of the (NCP) genocidal regime exposed publicly.
The Sudanese parties in the dispute revisited and signed the National Dialogue Roadmap, which prepared and presented by Thabo Mbeki, head of African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). The inking of the previously rejected document took place in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on August 8, 2016. The signatories of the Roadmap included the Sudanese Parties previously refused signing it in March 2016 when Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, head of the regime delegation with President Thabo Mbeki signed it solo. They included the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army – North (SPLM/A – N), the Sudan Call group of the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation Army/Movement– Minni Minnawi (SLA/M – MM) and the National Umma Party (NUP) leader al-Sadiq al-Mahdi. The Signature of the Roadmap by the previously holdout group was considered a memorable milestone. Moreover, everyone had
hopes attached to it.
Nevertheless, people cautiously hoped that the signature to represent a national step towards stopping the war and the cultivation of hope in the hearts of the Sudanese people to continue the struggle for the crucial issues of freedom. The parties considered the rapid and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian relief to the people in war zones by stopping hostilities. The restoration of democracy, good governance, justice, equality, and rule of law are among the longings of the Sudanese people. The unity of Sudan’s land and people are among the pledges. Moreover, the release of prisoners of war (POWs), prisoners of conscience and political prisoners who are languishing in prisons and cells of the government of the National Congress Party considered a national prerequisite. They seem very lavish pledges though they are crucial to the warring parties. Hopes of Roadmap Signature depend on the real intentions of the NCP regime.
For those opposed to the signing of the roadmap with the National Congress Party (NCP) regime real justifications given the facts and experiences of abject failures of the previous covenants signed by the regime with the parties in the dispute. Those concerns are genuine and justified. Most of the previous agreements concluded between the parties whether armed rebels or civilian opposition groups with the ruling regime of the NCP ended with non-fulfillment or distribution of trivial posts to some of the leaders while the crisis continued without resolution. Moreover, the fate of previous agreements brought more suffering to the Sudanese people and prolonged the duration of the (NCP) regime on the helm of Sudan. It would be utterly futile, ridiculous, injustice and betrayal of the right of the citizen of Sudan if the roadmap failed as its predecessor signatures of the countless previous agreements with the NCP regime. It is more so, given all the bloodshed, the struggle and the sacrifices made by the people over the 27 lean years of the (NCP) tyranny and genocidal crimes against citizens of the country.. These concerns do not go away, but reaching to real democratic transformation and full sustainable peace seem a long and difficult process.
Perhaps it is worthwhile the kick-start to stop the absurd proxy civil wars waged through the Janjaweed militias and mercenaries because the regime of the (NCP) remained attached and scavenging from the wars and live by as a survival tool. Nevertheless, the parties began negotiating separately in two tracks in the path of the two regions, which includes the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile and Darfur path, which includes the Darfur rebel groups of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Army/ Movement Minni Minnawi (SLA/M –MM) with the delegation of the National Congress Party government. The delegation of the (NCP) government negotiating on the Darfur path included Dr. Amin Hassan Omar, Gen. Al Hadi Majzoub, Major General / Ahmed Mukhtar and Major General / Dukhrey al-Zaman Omer.
Collapse of the Negotiations
While the armed movements in the tracks of Darfur and the two regions are hoping that the negotiations are going smoothly, a surprise occurred from the government delegation.
They insisted that the period for the cessation of hostilities to deliver relief to citizens in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile would be a month and for the Darfur path, the government delegation insisted that they negotiate through Doha document for peace in Darfur (DDPD). Furthermore, they demanded that the rebels to show them the whereabouts of their forces/ armed troops! Apparently, the (NCP) regime delegation aimed to gather valuable intelligence on rebel-held areas. Moreover, the government delegation was acting in a hurry to reach final agreements in a preemptive manner to reach to a ceasefire and agreements without negotiations. The government delegation thought that the armed rebel movements suffered from battle fatigue and they are desperate for peace agreement. This inevitably hastened the collapse of the negotiations in both paths with the NCP regime delegation. Accordingly, the mediators called off the negotiations and suspended them indefinitely.
Early collapse of the negotiations between the delegations of the government of Sudan, (SPLA/M – N) and the Darfur armed movements in their shuttle roundtrips to the Ethiopian Capital Addis Ababa was anticipated. The reasons for the collapse are inherent in the mental condescension that exists overtly in the institution of the presidency-centered around Omar al-Bashir to remain in power willy-nilly.
Of the main reasons and factors for the collapse of negotiations besides the absurdly crippling conditions and incapacitate terms put forward by the (NCP) regime delegation are:
The directives of the presidential establishment of Omer al-Bashir and his closed circuit of advisors in Khartoum which decided that any so-called comprehensive solution to the crises of Sudan in general and Darfur issue in particular is a red line that should be avoided
The protection of the (NCP) President Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir to stay in power forever, life is a settled issue and decided in advance in Keep up with the decisions of the Presidency of the Republic Foundation
To the entourage of al-Bashir in the Presidency establishment reaching to acceptable solutions with the Darfur armed movements will open the “ Pandora’s Jar which contained all the evils of the world” and opens the door for the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has been hunting for Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir for his arrest and his imprisonment at The Hague as his likes such as his fellow ex-President of Chad Hussein Habre, Radovan Karadžić, Slobodan Milošević and the ilk
The figures in the inner circle of Omar al-Bashir’s Presidency establishment comprised of people belonging to either the Sudan Armed Force (SAF) or the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) or the police. They are the following core of people:
Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC); the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been created to keep chasing war criminals and genocidal criminals around the world whether the supporters of Omar al-Bashir and his cronies in crime like it or not
Bakri Hassan Saleh was defense minister from 2003 to 2005 in a period in which the crimes of genocide committed in Darfur
Hassabo Mohamed Abdel Rahman was the representative of the security apparatus for the recruitment of Janjaweed militias, the perpetrators of the genocide and was rewarded with appointment as Vice-President of the Republic, he is the mastermind behind the fact creation of the rapid support groups of forces (RSF) before the Ripper Interior Minister Ismat Abdul Rahman, nicknamed Brigade Genocide. Hassabo Mohamed Abdel Rahman is the current Second Vice President of Sudan. He is also the Political Secretary of Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP). http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?mot862
Interior Minister Ismat Abdul Rahman, nicknamed Genocide Brigade is the first who Distributed weapons to the notorious Janjaweed militias
Lt. Gen. Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf, Minister of Defense and of the founders of the Janjaweed gangs in El Fasher stayed more than six months in order to form and recruit Janjaweed militias and he is prohibited by the United States since 2005 from traveling outside Sudan. Lt. Gen. Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf was on a May 2007 list of individuals sanctioned by the United States due to his alleged role as a liaison between the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed in the Darfur War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Awad_Ibn_Auf
National Security Apparatus and the perpetrators of genocide in Darfur was Awad Ibn Auf who was the deputy director to the Major General Salah Abdallah “Gosh” , the former national security advisor of the republic of Sudan, prior to this position he was the director of Sudan’s National Security and Intelligence Services (NISS), and holds the rank of army major general. Add to this Lt. Gen. Ahmed Awad Ibn Auf who was an official for the training and rehabilitation of the infamous Ugandan militia of the Lord’s Resistance Army committed genocide in northern Uganda
Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir is totally dependent on these institutions namely through the elements of the crimes committed with him and add to those gangsters like Hmidty Prime gangs rapid support troops
The institution of the presidency is assigned to protect President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir of all evils during his residence and his nomadic travels! Furthermore, every one of the aforementioned fear what will happen to him at the hands of the people of Sudan in the event of the ouster of the ruling regime of the NCP regarding retribution and transitional justice
No wonder negotiations between the Darfur armed movements, the government in the Darfur path has reached a dead end, and the African mediation suspended the negotiations indefinitely.
Not surprising if we take into account the chronic suffering of fear that the genocidal criminal fugitive from international justice Omar Hassan Ahmed El-Bashir of the arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the case of the rule of Sudan’s transformation into a pluralist democracy.
For this reason, the Sudanese People should become convinced that it is not possible to reach solutions to the crises of the country in the presence of Omar al-Bashir and the ruling regime Foundation National Congress Party (NCP) in power. Otherwise, we would be akin to one running after the mirage of the so-called national dialogue, which went on unabatedly since January 2014. The Wathba –National Dialogue is nothing but kind of a tool to distract the attention of the Sudanese opposition to gain time as well as dodging and lying to the so-called international community, which has been supportive to the regime led by Omer al-Bashir in lieu for intersecting interests.
While the (NCP) regime of Omar al-Bashir and his entourage in power the Sudanese People should not dream to expect the resolution of the country’s crisis and the return of multi-party democracy. Especially, given the new financial and political support, the NCP regime began receiving from the European Union (EU) through Germany, in lieu of curbing the flow of migration to the Mediterranean shores from the horn of Africa through Libya, Omer al-Bashir felt rest assured and happy. This is in addition to the unlimited support received by Omar al-Bashir and his regime from US President Barack Obama’s administration, which says explicitly that they do not want to change the regime and calling for reform of the regime of the NCP, led by Omar al-Bashir. Obviously, we need not mention the AU position of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its continued support for a criminal genocide Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir, where allowed him to travel to all the African countries, even those that have ratified the establishment of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The armed rebel movements emphasise and say to the people of Sudan, that they took up arms for the cause of the Sudanese people in general and the people of Sudan, especially in war zones. The rebel groups will negotiate with the ruling genocidal regime of the NCP and will only sign agreements, which bring justice, equality, security; sustainable peace and democratic transformation to Sudan. Furthermore, the armed movements in Darfur, the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile put the responsibility for the failure of this round of negotiations to the National Congress Party (NCP) government delegation. Moreover, the armed movements reaffirm their readiness to resume negotiations whenever invited by the African Union Peace and Security Mechanism.
The regime of the (NCP) led by the genocidal criminal, fugitive from the international justice, Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir is not a stranger to abrogation of covenants. Attest to the above include the towns of Abéché and N’Djamena in Chad and the city of Abuja in Nigeria, the city of Naivasha in , Doha in the Gulf State of Qatar and Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and so on. The marathon negotiations concluded between the parties and the (NCP) regime over the past lean years at the foregoing various locations stand out as proof.
One cannot end this article without mentioning the bias of Thabo Mbeki in fairer of his master of grace, the ruling regime of the NCP. Mbeki unjustly blamed the Darfuri rebel groups, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army/Movement Minni Minnawi (SLA/M- MM) by saying that” obstacles arose when JEM and SLM-MM “re-opened numerous issues that had previously been agreed and others which contradicted the Roadmap Agreement”.
William Lloyd Garrison the prominent American abolitionist, journalist, suffragist, and social reformer was quoted as saying; (With reasonable men, I will reason; with humane men, I will plead; but to tyrants I will give no quarter, nor waste arguments where they will certainly be lost). https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=William+Lloyd+Garrison
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/