The Significance of the Entry of the Justice and Equality Movement Peace Beacons’ Delegation to Khartoum
By Mahmoud A. Suleiman
The Entry of the Peace Beacons of the Justice and Equality Movement to Khartoum is a Turning Point
The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) previously entered the Sudanese Capital Khartoum in the Operation Long Arm (OLA) and today it enters it for the sake of Long-term Just Peace
The entry of the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Peace Beacons’ Delegation to Khartoum on Saturday the 7th of December 2019 brings back the memories of its entry to the Three-Town Capital Khartoum on Saturday 10thMy 2008 under the banner of Operation Long Arm (OLA)led by its late founding leader, Dr. Khalil Ibrahim Muhammed. It is Noteworthy that the Sudan Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) entered Khartoum during this time in quite different circumstances, mainly to herald a Just sustainable Peace for all the regions of Sudan after the 19thDecember 2018 Glorious all Sudanese people Revolution after the ouster of the National Congress Party (NCP) regime of the Deposed Genocidal President Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir and his criminal corrupt hypocrite Islamism entourage.
According to the Sudan Tribune Cyber Journal: On “December 19, 2019 (KHARTOUM) – Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in the capital, Khartoum, and other states, on Thursday, to mark the first anniversary of the revolution that toppled down the 30-year regime of the former President Omer al-Bashir in April 2019. The demonstrators who were gathering in the centre of Khartoum chanted slogans such as “Free revolutionaries … We will carry on the journey”, “Freedom Peace and Justice … Revolution is the choice of the people”,” The people want revenge for the martyrs” as others chanted against the military and called for the lifting of the immunity of those involved in the killing of the protesters at the Sit-In site in front of the Sudanese Army Headquarters on the 3rd June 2019 and during the Holy Month of Ramadan.https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68728
This article coincides with the approaching of the desired sustainable peace that needed by the Sudanese people whotasted the scourge of wars waged by arbitrary ruling regimes against citizens who were demanding their rights of freedom, peace and justice which are the slogans of the current Glorious Popular Sudanese December 19, 2018 Revolution. And through this article, it occurred to me to include in listing some of the history of the armed struggle movements for liberation from the clutches of the internal colonialism, which refused that and denied to give the basic citizenship rights represented in the fair distribution of power and wealth among the citizens of one country without favouring specific party above the citizens in the marginalized regions such as Darfur, Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, South Blue Nile Ingassana, Bejja people in the Red Sea and Eastern Sudan and those in the far Northern Nilotic region as it continued happening during the era of Dictatorial regimes spearheaded by Military coup d’états in Sudan since the departure of the Anglo-Egyptian colonialism, aka, the Condominium on Sunday the First of January 1956.
As they say that the present is the implantation of the past and the future reaping the present and history is the Record of time for the lives of peoples and nations. In this context at this moment, one thought of telling the history of the outbreak of the Revolution that triggered by the so-called National Islamic Front (NIF) /National Congress Party (NCP)/ ruling regime’s denial of the legitimate citizenship rights in the region of Darfur. When citizens of the Darfur region demanded the rights of citizenship represented in the fair distribution of power and wealth and the equal treatment of Sudanese citizens in rights and duties, the ruling regime of National Islamic Front (NIF), at the time in February 2003 said, threatening the representatives of the people of the region, it will not negotiate with anyone who is not taking up to arms because its regime came to the helm of Sudan through the barrel of the gun. Story of the Darfur Uprising broke up in the year 2003 when the very arrogant the then Brigadier in the Sudan Armed Force (SAF) OmerHassan Ahmed al-Bashir said he would negotiate only with the one carrying up arms in Darfur. Thus, Omer al-Bashir’s statements were an explicit call to war.
As the history tells, this Omer al-Bashir, who used to be referred to as Omer Hassan among the Sudan Armed Force (SAF) military ranks, he very soon became by default the leader of the June 30th 1989 Military Coup d’état, he granted himself the military rank of Field Marshal, which he did not deserve, bypassing four ranks to install himself Field Marshal. This unelected Putschist Omer Hassan has become the President of Sudan. The grandiose Field Marshall Omer Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir acted as the Egyptian Pharoah. In that, he does whatever he wanted to do; he passed arbitrary orders and ruled with an iron fist. And he made all the people of Sudan as his archenemies at the time when dear parts of Sudan’s land occupied by foreign neighbouring countries.
As they say in the popular saying that something reminds of something! It should be noted that today, Thursday, the nineteenth of December 2019, marks the first annual Anniversary of the Glorious December 2018 Revolution for the people of Sudan who rose up on that day and toppled the ruling regime of the arbitrary National Congress Party (NCP) of the International Muslim Brotherhood Movement, the Freemasonry Khartoum branch and now the former dictator Omer al-Bashir sits in Kober Prison In Khartoum, after, he was tried for the crime of financial corruption when millions of US Dollars were found hidden in his house, but he awaits his punishment for the war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and crimes of genocide. He hadcommitted those heinous crimes against the civilian Sudanese citizens in the Darfur region. And that makes him to spend the rest of his life in The Hague prisons in the Netherlands according to the ruling issued against him by International Criminal Court (ICC); that happened when in July 2008, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno Ocampo, accused al-Bashir of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur. The first warrant for arrest for Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir was issued on 4 March 2009, the second on 12 July 2010. The suspect is still at large, according to International Law. https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur/albashir
The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, accuses Bashir of keeping 2.5 million refugees in Darfur in camps “under genocide conditions, like a gigantic Auschwitz”.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/12/bashir-charged-with-darfur-genocide
For nearly three decades Omar al-Bashir’s regime butchered and plundered. Since 2010 the former Sudanese president has evaded an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in the Darfur region. In Khartoum his Islamist government would flog women for wearing trousers and kill protesters in the streets. After he was ousted in a coup in April 2019, leaving behind an economy in crisis and a country awash with armed groups, many hoped he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
On December 14th 2019 a Sudanese court convicted Mr Bashir, aged 75, of money-laundering and corruption after $130 million US Dollars was found in suitcases in his home. But he was sentenced only to two years in a “reform facility” after the court said he was too old to go to prison. One commentator in Sudan said it had, in effect, put him in a nursing home. https://amp.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/12/18/two-years-in-a-rest-home-for-sudans-former-tyrant
The Credibility of international criminal court (ICC) is held on line over crimes perpetrated by Sudan president Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir in Darfur and where else in Sudan.
https://amp.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2019/12/18/two-years-in-a-rest-home-for-sudans-former-tyrant
As the rational Sudanese saying goes, a signal is sufficient for it to make someone to understand the intended purpose. Accordingly, the rebels in Darfur have understood the true intentions behind the statements of the brigadier general in the Sudanese army, Omer al-Bashir. The Motto that followed was: “Revolution is like the beard it does not end with repeated shaving”, a statement made by the first martyr of the Darfur Revolution, Simple words said by the founder and leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) themartyr Abdullah Abbaker Bashar. By saying so, Martyr Abdalla Abbaker Bashar as though he were as if he were following the steps of the Argentine militant Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist, Ernesto Che Guevara, the rebel who committed himself to the struggle for freedom and justice in the world, lived with a rifle and a backpack full of books, and when he said (armed struggle is the only revolutionary means capable of toppling a dictatorship).
As the rational saying goes, the signal is sufficient for it to be understood, and the rebels in Darfur have understood the true intentions behind the statements of the brigadier general in the Sudanese army, Omar al-Bashir. And the response of the armed rebels in Darfur was swift. They were composed of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Sudanese Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) – and after they got certain that it was inevitable to fight the war, they caused a swift painful blow to the airport in the city of El Fasher, the capital of the Darfur region, where the warplanes that were equipped to eliminate The revolution is in its infancy were landed. The rebels assaulted the landed wa aeroplanes. The outcome of the rebels’ raid of El-Fashir Airport was by all assessments it acted as a volcanic blow.
According to historic documented reports indicated the following: on Sunday, 25 Safar 1424 AH, corresponding to April 27, 2003, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) spokesman announced in a joint press conference with the interior and media ministers, the success of the government forces in repelling the rebel attack on the Al-Fasher airport in the western Sudanese state of Darfur yesterday. Official data revealed the magnitude of the operation, which resulted in the destruction of four airports at the airport, the death of 32 government forces, including two officers, and the rebel death toll reached 20, but witnesses confirmed that there were heavy losses among government forces beyond the official numbers. https://www.albayan.ae/one-world/2003-04-27-1.1265711
Sudan’s Transitional Government and the Rebel groups Started Peace Talks in Juba, the capital of South Sudan under the auspices of the South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit. However, The talks were due to begin Thursday but Khartoum has agreed to push them back to December 10 2019 at the request of Juba, which is mediating the negotiations, Sudan’s ruling sovereign council said in a statement. http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/266632
Furthermore, Sudan’s new transitional authorities, tasked with leading the way to civilian rule after the ouster of Bashir, have vowed to bring peace to these conflict zones.http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/266632
https://www.voanews.com/africa/sudans-government-rebels-start-peace-talks-juba
December 18, 2019 from (JUBA) – Transitional government and the Darfur groups of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) Wednesday 18 December 2019 agreed to involve in the peace the representatives of stakeholders including displaced people, refugees.
The agreement was reached during a meeting attended by representatives of the groups of Darfur track and a delegation headed by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo who chairs the transitional government negotiating team. Also participated in the meeting, the mediation and Darfur peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) which will transport the stakeholders and cover their stay in Juba during the talks.
Dr. Hadi Idriss Yahia the chairman of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) delegation said that the parties agreed to form a committee to determine the stakeholders and determine the percentage of their participation and which stage of negotiation they will participate. “The joint committee will travel to Darfur to prepare for conferences or consultations on selecting the representatives of IDPs and refugees,” he said.
The foregoing important News Item has also been reportedby the English Edition of the Sudan Tribune Cyber Journal which stated the following: “The Transitional Government and the Darfur groups of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) Wednesday 18, 2019 agreed to involve in the peace the representatives of stakeholders including the internally displaced people (IDPs) and refugees. https://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article68721
Furthermore, the framework agreement between the transitional government of Sudan and the Darfur track has been agreed upon. The document indicated that the armed struggle movements contributed a large share of the sacrifices, including their bases and leaders. We are now on the threshold of a new phase that provides a great opportunity to achieve freedom, peace, justice, democracy and an equal citizenship state at the same time. The Document reiterated that Failure to manage diversity and intentional marginalization in Sudan led to wars and conflicts throughout the country that led to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and the Sudanese people were able to defeat the fascist national conference system in the glorious December uprising that added to my revolution October 64 and April 85. This revolution started by the Sudanese in the margin and center cumulatively since the year 1955 and continued with the valor of women, youth, men and the elderly, and it is a revolution that belongs to all Sudanese; stated the Framework Document.
The Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM/A North), led by Malik Aqar, is pushing forward a draft framework agreement for peace in the two regions.http://www.sudanile.com/index.php/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/120864-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B1%D9%83%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B9%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A8%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%AF%D9%81%D8%B9-%D8%A8%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D8%AA%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%82-%D8%A5%D8%B7%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%82%D8%AA%D9%8A%D9%86
Sudan View (Editor) Electronic News outlet reiterated the above reports about the Darfur Peace Process, indicating that:
The Revolutionary Front announces the start of negotiations across the tracks; after the condemnation of violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement and makes a formal complaint to the mediator. The (SRF) Emphasizes * that the issues of the displaced and refugees are high on the negotiating agenda. It Requests to stop appointments to leadership positions in the civil service.
As reported earlier in this article, the conflict in the Sudan’s western region of Darfur erupted in February 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against Omer al-Bashir’s Arab-dominated government, accusing it of marginalising the region economically and politically. Similar conflicts also erupted in South Kordofan’s Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile region of Ingessana during the Secession of Sudan’s south from the north in 2011, after a general Referendum.
“The chances of achieving comprehensive peace in the country have grown” since the revolution, said member the Sovereign Council to lead transition Mohamed al-Taayushi said. The Transitional Sovereign Council includes five members of the former Transitional Military Council (TMC) and will be headed by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who was already the head of the TMC.
Thus, achieving peace is crucial to the transitional government in Sudan. It has counted on ending the wars with rebels in order to revive the country’s battered economy through slashing the military spending, which takes up much of the national budget.
Sudanese authorities have introduced good-will signals. They dismissed death sentences against eight rebel leaders and released more than a dozen prisoners of war. They have also delayed the formation of the parliament and the appointment of provincial governors to allow time for the rebels to come on board. The government delegation, led by Gen. Mohammed Hamadan Dagalo, a member of the Sudan’s sovereign council, arrived in Juba late Sunday. Rebel leaders arrived earlier this month.
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt the American political figure, diplomat and activist, who served as the First Lady of the United States of America from March 4, 1933, to April 12, 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s four terms in office that making her the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, she has been quoted as saying: “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” —Eleanor Roosevelt
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/a27115824/peace-quotes/
Gene Sharp, the American political scientist, the founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the study of nonviolent action, and professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and the Author of “From Dictatorship to Democracy” has been quoted as saying: “Dictators are not in the business of allowing elections that could remove them from their thrones.”https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/dictatorships
https://www.google.com/search?q=gene+sharp&oq=Gene+Sharp&aqs=chrome.0.0l8.1477j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/