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 Exclusive interview with Sudanese Liberation spokesman...Yasir Arman
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A hope for peace in the Sudan?
Exclusive interview with Sudanese Liberation spokesman
By Robert Christian
Editor & Publisher
The Weekly Press & UC Review
Yasir Arman, a negotiator of the Sudanese peace agreement.
In the midst of the killing of thousands of black Muslim men, women and children by government-backed Arab militias, and the displacement of more than one million civilians, the international community is still quibbling over whether these atrocities in Darfur, the Western region of the Sudan, qualify as genocidal.
It is ironic that only a month ago African countries elected Sudan to serve on the UN's human rights commission.
This is a seemingly age old battle, the Africans are farmers, the Arabs are herders. Yet, the fighting in Darfur began only 15 months ago when African Muslim groups revolted against the Arab-dominated Central Government. These Africans are one among many groups that have been marginalized out of the political process of the Sudan.
Western governments, international aide agencies and the UN are in a race against time in getting help to Darfur. As U.N. Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Jan Egeland has warned, "If we lose, hundreds of thousands of people, mostly women and children, will perish." And all of this is on the heels of celebrations in the Southern Sudan over the recent signing of a comprehensive peace agreement ending a nearly quarter century North-South civil war which itself took over two million lives. The significance of this treaty cannot be overestimated. Ultimately, a successful peace and powersharing with the South may provide the longterm solution in Darfur.
Ever since Britain granted Sudan independence in 1956, it has been ruled by a relatively small, less than democratic, Arab elite.
In 1983, then President Jaafer Mohammed al-Numeiry ushered in Islamic Sharia law, which judges theft, adultery, murder and related offenses according to the strict interpretation of the Koran. Alcohol and gambling are prohibited. Yet, Southern Sudan is made up of African Christians and African animists. The Central Government has, according to the London Economist, over the years, "...In hope of crushing the long-standing rebellion by infidel southerners, ...routinely bombed villages, encouraged their militiamen to enslave southerners and deliberately fostered famine."
It is no wonder that the new peace treaty brought rejoicing in the South as well as the ritual slaughter of three bulls at three symbolic points where the rebels had previously lost key positions and suffered many casualties. The two sides have agreed to share power for six years, (as well as to share the proceeds from formerly contested Sudanese oil fields.) At the end of this interim period, there will be a plebiscite which will allow the South to determine whether or not it wants to opt for a new united Sudan or Southern independence.
Dr. John Garang, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M), who is credited with helping to end the war, recently told the celebrating crowd in the dusty town of Yei, "The peace is not about the papers we signed in Nairobi, it is about what the widow and the orphans think it brings to them."
The Sudanese seem to have a peace, at least in the South, but can they keep it? How will it impact on the situation in Darfur? These are some of the questions the University City Review/Weekly Press was able to put to an official spokesman of SPLA/M and a negotiator of the recent peace accord, Mr. Yasir Arman, who was visiting Philadelphia last week, speaking to the Sudanese community here, in order to acquaint them with the terms of the agreement.
We met at the office of Mr. Siddiq Hadi a West Philadelphia businessman and long-time Sudanese community activist. Arman is a demure man, in his forties, who has spent sixteen years in the bush carrying on the battle for peace and freedom. He is of medium build, is taut, and full of calm, intelligence and intensity.
He explains that Sudan is the largest country in Africa; it borders on nine countries. "Geo-politically," he says, "...it will influence positively or negatively, those countries. Sudan is located in a strategic position," he continues, "whereby it is a link with the Middle East and with Black Africa."
He refers to it as a small "continent" containing more than 570 different ethnic groups and more than one hundred languages.
"You find all the religions on earth, including African religions. So, by itself, it is like a small continent, and if it is well managed and if it has a government, which can build on this diversity, it could be an example to all of Africa in microcosm." Arman has great hopes that this peace agreement will work, this time.
We ask him why.
Arman says, "There is a book written by a famous South Sudanese politician, called So Many Agreements Dishonored. It's about the agreements dishonored by the Central government throughout our modern history. But I think that the nature of this agreement is quite different. It is qualitatively different from the previous agreements."
He quickly adds, "First, this agreement has basic organic guarantees. One of the guarantees: the SPLM decided the first issue that has to be resolved between us and the Central Government is a security agreement. And in this agreement, as a guerrilla movement, one of the tools, one of the important elements for us is our army. The achievement of this peace agreement is in many ways due to the sacrifices of the army and the armed struggle. So, now in this peace agreement, unlike previous agreements, now, we have agreed to have two separate armies during the interim period to insure that there should be no backtracking from the agreement."
Arman continues, "The other organic guarantee involves the relations between the South and the Central Government. In the past, there were no resources allocated for the Southern government to run its affairs to deliver basic services. In this agreement, we will be having 50% of the revenues from the oil. This will allow the government of the South to be independent and to stand on its own feet."
"This agreement will have to be supported ultimately by the Sudanese people themselves, who have made many sacrifices. That is why we have insisted that there should be democratic transformation. There should be liberties, freedoms, multiple political parties."
Arman talks about external guarantees. "This agreement came as the result of the involvement of the regional community and the international community lead by the United States of America and those countries, all of them deeply involved. The troika, which consists of the United States, Britain and Norway are involved and are taking close account of this agreement. Also this is going to be taken to the Security Council of the United Nations (unlike previous agreements) to be endorsed. After we sign the final agreement, which we are supposed to sign in July or no later than August, we'll sign it in the Presidential Palace in Nairobi, then we are invited to come to the Rose Garden in the White House. We'll be having an endorsement ceremony. President George Bush has invited the two parties. This will involve an important country, the most active country in international politics, the United States, in the agreement.
Finally, Arman concludes, "The agreement will be introduced to the American public, which has already expressed interest in the Sudan because of human rights violations and religious persecutions. We are grateful for the support of human rights activists, Christian groups, the Black Caucus and the African American community."
"We need all of the energy and help we can get in the rebuilding of Sudan. Sudan is potentially a very rich country. We need the involvement of the United States in both the implementation of the treaty and the development of the Sudan. At the end of the day, this agreement means development and basic services and democratic transformation."
"Mr. Arman, the agreement involves power sharing. How will that take shape?" we ask.
"The agreement is based on the concept that there should be one country during the transitional period and two different systems. The system in the South is a secular government and the system in the North is relatively based on Islamic laws," he explains.
"The SPLM will have 70% of the power in the South and then 15% for the National Congress Party [NCP, which is the ruling party], 15% will be reserved for the other opposition groups. And on the state levels: SPLA/M 70% and 10% for the NCP and 20% for other opposition groups.
"Yes, but, will there be power sharing in the Central government?" we ask.
Arman: "In the central government, the SPLA/M will have the First Vice President. This First VP has the constitutional powers that together with the President they will create the Presidency. There are certain areas pertaining to the limitations of the agreement where the President and the VP will share decisions. The First VP will be the Chairman of the SPLA/M. The SPLA/M will be represented by 28% in the national government, in the executive branch and in the legislature. The present ruling party will take 52% of the power. The other opposition forces will take 14%. Other Southern parties will take 6%. So, the combined opposition will wind up with 48% percent of the power in the central government."
Arman believes that, in order for there to be a united Sudan at the end of the interim period, the country must be reordered on a new basis. He says that the Central Government should try to make unity an attractive option. He says that the old unity, which is based on the "limited parameters" of Arabism and Islamism, must be reformed in a way that will recognize the ethnic and religious diversity of the country.
"In order for this agreement to be supported by the Sudanese people, we need a national consensus. It should include the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) as well as the other opposition forces. We should not exclude anybody. We should have national programs, which could satisfy the majority of the Sudanese political forces. In order to avoid polarization during the interim period, we need to bring the majority of the political forces together.
The interim period is six years. During the first three years, we will have a national government which will include some of the political forces. It may not satisfy everybody. It does not completely satisfy our aspirations as well. But this is the minimum that we could do to end the war and proceed with democratic transformation.
"Then within these three years, we have a mechanism that is going to lead to the coming phase. We will have elections on all levels. The agreement is bringing ways and means which are going to insure the precipitation of all political forces. The SPLA/M will work together with the NDA and other political forces to insure that we have a national program creating a national consensus among the political forces. We are supposed to have, by the end of this month, a leadership council meeting for the National Democratic Alliance in Cairo. We will discuss together with our allies the new situations. The important thing for us and our allies to recognize is that this is a new situation and we should not conduct business as usual. This agreement is going to bring transformation. It is going to end the war. These are the two cardinal issues we are working for," Arman explained.
"What impact is the SPLA/M going to have on the crisis in Darfur?" we pose to Arman.
"We are categorically very clear on the situation in Darfur. We believe that the people of Darfur have a just case. They have been marginalized through the years, politically, economically, culturally by the Central Government. The issues of Darfur have to be addressed correctly. Those issues have to be understood, especially by the Government on a correct context. These issues cannot be resolved militarily, the government has tried that in Southern Sudan and they failed. They are also going to fail in Darfur. We support the present peace process that has already been started by the SPLA/M and the other forces opposing the government in Darfur. And we are also optimistic by the great concern from the international community to find political solutions for Darfur and also by the concern about the grave human rights violations in Darfur.
"The present agreement that we reached with the government will provide a positive environment from which to assist in reaching a solution in Darfur. We have made it clear with the Central Government that if we resolve the issue of the war in the South and other areas and the war continues in the West, then we will have done nothing. It will be the same continuing crisis. We will end up with instability. The SPLA/M will not assent to a war against the peoples of Darfur who are asking for their rights. We are a national liberation movement. We are optimistic that the Government and the SPLA/M, along with the international community, can bring about a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict in Darfur."
"Mr. Arman, in view of the many human right violations in the war against the South and now in the West, is the SPLA/M going to insist that the criminals be brought to justice?" we asked as our final question.
"The situation is very complex. You know, we negotiated a peace agreement. We did not defeat the Central Government. In the negotiation process, you cannot expect the other party to incriminate itself and to take itself to court.
"We have the example, South Africa, where the apartheid regime had committed many crimes and Nelson Mandela developed the mechanism of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We are trying to achieve a similar reform. We did talk about reconciliation. We have to create a mechanism. This is not part of the agreement we reached. But if there are any serious groups, human rights activists, who wish to pursue these cases we will not stand in their way.
"We are realistic, we don't think that with this agreement we are going to force the government to sign a suicide certificate. This would not make the peace agreement possible."
"Mr. Arman, thank you for granting us this interview."
"Mr. Christian, thank you, the Sudan has become part of Philadelphia. Our people are here. We are part of this great city and this great country. We are becoming part of the American experience. I hope that our ties will grow. At the same time, we are an ancient country with great civilizations, and we will contribute positively also to the melting pot that is the United States. We need the support of the American people to help us establish peace and freedom in our nation."
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