 Sudan: torn apart by decades of war Khartoum (AFP) Oct 3, 2020 - Sudan hopes that a landmark peace treaty signed on Saturday will help turn a corner on decades of conflict in one of Africa's largest countries. The partly desert nation sits between the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa. - Military coups - Sudan gained independence in 1956 after a period of joint rule by Britain and Egypt. It has a mainly Muslim population of 42.8 million, according to 2019 figures from the World Bank. Arabic is the official language and Islamic Sharia law was put in force in 1983, before being put on hold and then applied again under the regime of Omar al-Bashir. From June 1989 to April 2019, Sudan was led by Bashir, a career soldier who swept to power in a military coup backed by Islamists. Bashir was elected president in 2010 in the country's first multi-party election since taking power, and re-elected in 2015. The opposition boycotted both votes. Unrest broke out in 2013 after petrol prices skyrocketed and security forces killed dozens of protesters. Demonstrations against food price hikes erupted in early 2018 and again in December after the cost of bread tripled. The protests continued for nearly four months and dozens were killed in the violence, before the army on April 11, 2019 removed Bashir from power. On July 17, after three months of protests and dozens of deaths, military and protest leaders signed an accord on a three-year transition to civilian rule. Bashir has since been convicted of graft and is now on trial over the 1989 coup that brought him to power. - South Sudan breaks away - Sudan endured a first civil war from 1955 to 1972, while a second lasted from 1983 to 2005. Millions died in the conflicts. In 2005, Khartoum signed a peace treaty with southern rebels, granting the south autonomy pending a referendum on independence in 2011. South Sudan proclaimed its independence in July 2011, six months after voting by 99 percent to secede. The split removed roughly a quarter of Sudan's territory. Before then it had been Africa's largest country. In early 2012, relations with South Sudan deteriorated. Their armies clashed in oil-rich border zones. - Devastating Darfur - In 2003, rebels in Sudan's vast arid western region of Darfur revolted against alleged political and economic marginalisation of black ethnic groups by the Arab-dominated regime in Khartoum. Khartoum responded by unleashing the dreaded Janjaweed militia, blamed for atrocities including murder, rape, looting and burning villages. The violence, which has significantly eased in recent years, resulted in one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes. The United Nations says about 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.5 million displaced, many living in sprawling semi-permanent camps. The International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2009 and 2010 issued arrest warrants for Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur -- accusations he denies. - Battered economy, COVID-19 - The 2011 secession of South Sudan hit the Sudanese economy badly as it lost around three-quarters of its oil reserves. The country also suffered under a US economic embargo imposed since 1993 over its alleged backing of radical Islamist groups, including Osama bin Laden, who lived in the country for years in the 1990s. The embargo was lifted in 2017, but Sudan remains on a US blacklist of alleged state terror sponsors, deterring investors. In July, the international community promised $1.8 billion for Sudan, whose political transition is threatened by a serious economic crisis. Inflation is close to 150 percent and the currency has plunged against the dollar.
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Sudan's government and rebel groups on Saturday inked a landmark peace deal aimed at ending decades of war in which hundreds of thousands died.
Ululations and cheers rang out as one by one, representatives from the transitional government and rebel groups signed the deal, a year after the peace talks began, at a ceremony in the South Sudanese capital Juba.
"Today we have reached a peace agreement. We are happy. We have finished the mission," Tut Gatluak, head of the South Sudanese mediating team said shortly before the signing took place.
Ending Sudan's internal conflicts has been a top priority of the transitional government, in power since last year's ouster of longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir in a popular pro-democracy uprising.
Sudanese paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo -- best known by his nickname "Hemeti" -- signed the deal on behalf of Khartoum.
A representative of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) and others from the groups making up the coalition, also signed.
The SRF comprises rebel groups from the war-ravaged western Darfur region, as well as the southern states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
Guarantors of the deal from Chad, Qatar, Egypt, the African Union, European Union and United Nations also put their names to the agreement.
The deal covers a number of tricky issues, from land ownership, reparations and compensation to wealth and power sharing and the return of refugees and internally displaced people.
However two other powerful rebel groups did not sign, reflecting the challenges still facing the peace process.
- 'An historic day' -
Sudan has been torn by multiple conflicts between the Arab-dominated government that was led by Bashir for three decades and rebels drawn from non-Arab ethnic groups in its far-flung regions.
In Sudan's vast rural areas, settled ethnic minority farmers have frequently competed for scarce resources with Arab herders, who have often been backed by Khartoum.
Multiple civil wars have raged since independence in 1956, including the 1983-2005 war that led to the secession of the south.
The devastating war in Darfur from 2003 left at least 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced in its early years, according to the UN.
"This signing means we left the war now behind us. This agreement means democracy, justice, it means freedom in Sudan so we are very happy... by this peace agreement the economy in Sudan will boom again," Ismail Jalab, a senior member of the SRF told AFP.
The peace talks were mediated by South Sudan whose leaders themselves battled Khartoum as rebels for decades before achieving independence in 2011 and who are still struggling to bring peace to their own country.
The final signing ceremony was held at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, the final resting place of the late leader of the independence war.
Entertainers from South Sudan and Sudan performed for thousands of guests, many of them Sudanese refugees.
"This is a very historic day to us Sudanese because this peace is going to end the protracted conflict ... it is well known since independence of Sudan there is no stability, there is no social economic development because of marginalisation," said 32-year-old Abdal Aziz who fled Darfur six years ago and has been living as a refugee in South Sudan.
- 'Challenges and pitfalls' -
Sudan's leaders, including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, head of the transitional sovereign council General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Hamdan Dagalo, deputy chief of Sudan's joint military-civilian sovereign council, attended the ceremony.
Heads of state from Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti and Chad were also there.
Upon his arrival, Hamdok said that "peace will open broad horizons for development, progress and prosperity.
"The peace building process faces various challenges and pitfalls that we can overcome through concerted efforts and joint action," he said.
Mini Arko Minawi, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement which is a member of the SRF, said Sudan's troubled economy and "fragile political situation" were tests facing the agreement.
The economy has suffered from the country's inclusion on Washington's terror blacklist, decades-long US sanctions and the 2011 secession of the country' oil-rich south which deprived the north of three-quarters of its oil reserves.
Economic hardship triggered the anti-Bashir protests and remain a pressing concern -- food prices have tripled in the past year and the Sudanese pound has depreciated dramatically.
One of the holdout groups, the Darfur-based Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) faction led by Abdelwahid Nour, launched an attack on Monday, the army said.
Another, the South Kordofan-based wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, has signed a separate ceasefire.
Sudan: key dates in Darfur war
Khartoum (AFP) Oct 3, 2020 -
Sudan's government and rebels signed Saturday a peace treaty hoped to end the brutal civil war in Darfur that has raged since 2003.
According to the United Nations, the conflict has killed at least 300,000 people and displaced 2.5 million.
The deal also covers the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
- 2003: rebels take up arms -
Rebels in the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/SLA) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) take up arms, accusing the government in Khartoum of marginalising the vast western region of Darfur.
On February 26, 2003, rebels seize the town of Gulu in northern Darfur.
The state-backed Janjaweed militia -- a group of mostly Arab raiders travelling by horseback and armoured pickup trucks -- respond.
Reports mount of atrocities including murder, rape, looting and burning villages.
- 2007: international force -
A hybrid African Union-United Nations force, called UNAMID, takes over from an African force that has been in the region since 2004.
In May 2008, more than 220 people are killed when JEM rebels stage an audacious attack on Omdurman, travelling hundreds of kilometres (miles) from Darfur to the edge of the capital Khartoum.
- 2009: arrest warrants -
The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issues an arrest warrant for then-president Omar al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
It issues another warrant the next year for genocide.
Late in 2010, an accord with one faction of the rebel SLM breaks down. Heavy fighting resumes.
More than 2,300 people were killed in 2010, according to the UN.
- 2011: Revolutionary Front -
In November 2011, Darfur's rebels form an alliance -- the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) -- committed to regime change.
Sudan accuses newly independent South Sudan of working with the JEM, as well as backing rebels in its South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions. Juba denies the accusations.
- 2014: abuses -
In March, the UN criticises restrictions imposed on humanitarian workers in Darfur and an increase in the number of displaced people.
In November, Bashir calls for a planned withdrawal of the force, after peacekeepers probe accusations of gang rape by Sudanese soldiers.
- 2016: ceasefire -
In a controversial April referendum, the division of Darfur into five states is maintained.
In June, the government declares a unilateral ceasefire.
In August, negotiations break down between Khartoum and rebels, but in early September, Bashir says that peace has returned to Darfur.
That month, Amnesty International accuses Khartoum of carrying out several chemical attacks in Darfur. Khartoum denies the charges.
- 2019: Bashir ousted, talks -
On April 11, Bashir is ousted by the military and detained, after four months of popular protests demanding he quit.
In August, new Sudanese authorities entrusted with preparing the way for a civilian regime vow to restore peace to conflict-ridden regions, including Darfur.
In December, Bashir is convicted of corruption and sentenced to two years in a correctional centre.
Sudanese prosecutors also open a probe into crimes allegedly committed in Darfur from 2003, targeting officials from Bashir's regime.
On January 24, 2020, a coalition of rebel groups sign a preliminary agreement with the government after weeks of talks.
On February 11, a top Sudanese official says Bashir will be handed to the ICC.
- 2020: Kushayb hands himself in -
In June, Janjaweed militiaman Ali Kushayb, wanted since 2007, turns himself in to the ICC, where he is wanted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.
On June 15, a Sudanese prosecutor says that Bashir's extradition to the ICC is not necessary.
In July, the trial of Bashir opens in Khartoum for the 1989 military coup that brought him to power.
Violence in Darfur continues.
- Peace accord -
On July 28, UNAMID calls on Khartoum to deploy security forces in Darfur as soon as possible, after a series of killings.
On August 31 government and most rebels groups ink in Juba an accord aimed at ending 17 years of civil war.
On October 3, the final deal is signed.
However, two key rebel groups do not sign, including one Darfur SLM faction.
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