The problem with the Darfur peace talks that began in Libya yesterday is that two key groups of Darfur rebels have refused to attend. It is hard to see what can be achieved if all of the parties are not seated around the table. Nevertheless it is right that the talks are going ahead, because whatever the absentee rebels may imagine to the contrary, in the end, it is only talking that can ever stop this terrible tragedy.
There is major international focus on the Libyan talks, because remote and isolated though Darfur may be, its brutal humanitarian disaster has forced itself on world attention. Yet diplomats are warning that unless all parties can be involved in peace talks, there will a repeat of last year’s failure in Kenya when considerable international pressure was brought to bear on those attending to cut a deal. Unfortunately, one of the rebel groups, the SLA-Unity and the Justice party, refused at the last minute to sign.
This time, the same group is refusing to attend along with the Equality Movement (JEM). Among the grounds cited are that some of the other Darfur rebel delegations do not in fact represent a significant number of the non-Arab population. As excuses go, this one is pretty specious. If the dissenting rebel leaders had a genuine interest in “unity, justice and equality” — words that they have chosen to include in their names, they would be attending regardless because here is a second opportunity to bring to an end the obscene agony of the people they claim to represent.
What is far more likely is that these largely tribal-based rebel leaders have discovered the conflict is actually bringing greater benefits to them personally than a peace in which the humdrum necessities of earning a living from the land and business dominate. These men and their followers now have guns. They can kill and rob and plunder, often with impunity, all in the name of some lofty political cause in which they actually have little or no belief or knowledge. The path they are following is classic for rebels everywhere who discover that profits come from the barrel of a gun and the greatest profits come from criminal activities such as narcotics, smuggling and extortion, generally from their own people. Therefore, these individuals naturally have little interest in peace talks. Besides, if they can keep the bloodshed running longer, maybe the sweeteners — both public and private — on offer from the international community will become much larger.
It is hard to feel anything other than contempt for this self-interested approach. The Sudanese government is at least sitting at the negotiating table. It was extraordinarily inept in coping with the concerns of Darfuris before rebellion broke out in 2003. Thereafter, its behavior in arming, supporting and unleashing the Janjaweed militias has been reprehensible. But perhaps there is the first glimmer of hope that the Bashir administration is ready to try and repeat its historic peace deal with southern rebels. For Darfur’s insurgents to reject this opportunity is contrary and plain wrong.
