Posturing We Must Watch With Reservation

November 18, 2008

Last week, President Omar Al-Bashir of the Sudan called for an immediate ceasefire in Darfur, supplemented by a disarmament campaign to enforce the ceasefire. This may appear to be a significant concession on the part of the Khartoum government, especially if taken under the pretense that the militias he means to disarm are the Janjaweed militias that his government has supported in the ongoing crisis in Darfur. If taken this way, this would be a significant step towards peace in the destabilized and divided country that has undergone decades of disunity, distrust, and disenfranchisement.

The Damanga Coalition for Democracy and Freedom would caution, however, against any hasty support for this ceasefire and disarmament declaration. President Al-Bashir was very cautious and vague in his words. The conflict began on the basis of protestation by the marginalized minority against an unfair government. Who is to say that this disarmament campaign would not be simply a diplomatically ostentatious method of garnering international support for the government to render the rebel groups harmless, and thus perpetuate its fight to suppress and disperse the people who have risen against it? In other words, the Sudanese government might use this ceasefire to disarm the SPLM, SLM, the JEM, and all the people of the South and West that have fought for equal rights and equal treatment. Then, the government of the Sudan can resume its genocide against a further weakened minority.

The Damanga Coalition believes that this move is a ploy, or, at the least, a move to stall the international community from intervening in the conflict. The international community must recognize this scheme for what it is: a way of dissuading outside forces from ending the genocide. The people of the world must seek to first and foremost end this abusive regime in the Sudan in order to facilitate reconciliation among the manipulated and torn people of the country. Then the nation can progress towards final peace and unity where for so long there has been naught but violence and conflict.