Press Release/Commentary by HOM posted on March 25, 2002 at 12:07:10: EST (-5 GMT)
Summary: Dr. John Garang in The Carter Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Wednesday, 20/3/2002
By Husam Osman Mahjoub
Dr. John Garang, the Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army addressed the large audience in The Carter Center in Atlanta, USA last Wednesday, 20/3/2002 when he talked about “Peace Prospects in Sudan”.
Garang was invited by the ex-president Jimmy Carter during his current tour of the USA. Atlanta is the largest city in South-East America and is the home of the Carter Center which has special interest in resolving the conflict in Sudan and has been helping with programs to eradicate many diseases in Sudan, especially the Guinea worm.
Garang was welcomed by the ex-president and a large audience of about 250 who filled the hall and many were standing despite the short notice of the meeting. More than half the audience were from South Sudan, about 30 from North Sudan, and the rest were Americans and other nationalities. Many of the youth started singing some of the songs of the south as Garang entered the hall.
Dr. Ben Hoffman, the director of the Conflict Resolution Program in the Carter Center introduced Garang and his delegation that included his wife, Rebecca, Yasir Arman, and the Movement’s representative in North Europe. John Garang then started his presentation by discussing the Solution Modalities of the problem of the Sudan.
The 5 Solution Modalities
Dr. Garang outlined 5 different forms of as possible Sudan.
Model 1: New Sudan.
A transformed, democratic Sudan that belongs to all its people. A Sudan where the Religion and State are constitutionally separated, and where freedoms, liberty, equality, and human rights are granted and respected. A Sudan that is similar to the New South Africa. John Garang stressed that this is the ideal model the SPLM/A has been formed and been fighting to achieve since its foundation in 1983. He said that through negotiation with the current government it was clear that this model is not feasible, and so they are negotiating to achieve model 2.
Model 2: Sudanese Commonality (Confederation)
Garang stated that they have disagreed with the National Islamic Front (NIF) government on the separation of religion and state, and that the government is insisting that Sharia is the supreme law of the land. He said that the exception of the South from Sharia laws didn’t work in all the different settlements of the problem either in 1972, or in 1997. He gave the example of the Dinka woman who was sentenced to death by stoning a few weeks ago because of adultery despite the fact that she is a Christian and that the rule was then paused because of the international pressure. He said that the punishment of adultery in Dinka traditional law is 6 or 7 cows be paid by the man.
He said that because of this disagreement they started to negotiate a confederation of 2 states. A Northern state with “all the Sharia they want” and a democratic secular Southern state. He said that they negotiate the confederal arrangements and that at the end of a transitional period people will vote to either go back to Model 1, a New democratic Sudan, or to Model 5, two separate states.
Model 3: Islamic Arabic Sudan
This is the cause of the problem and is the current Sudan and can not continue to be like this.
Model 4: Indigenous African secular Sudan
Garang stated also that this is not an acceptable solution to the problem.
Model 5: Two separate states.
The Three Tracks To Achieve Peace
Dr. John Garang then discussed the tracks his movements is pursuing to achieve peace in Sudan.
Track 1: Negotiated Political Settlement between SPLM/A and the government of Sudan.
The SPLM/A negotiated the government in Abuja 1 and 2, and has been negotiating under the IGAD since 1994. However, 4 outstanding issues were not resolved and caused IGAD to be stalled.
a. Relationship between religion and state.
b. The right of self determination, where according to SPLM/A definition can lead to all the possible models including separation, while it means to the government self administration within the context of Model 3, the Islamic Arabic Sudan.
c. The governance during the interim period. The NIF wants to continue being the government, while the SPLM/A wants it to be a coalition of all the political forces including those in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
d. The borders and the case of Abie, Nuba Mountains, and Southen Blue Nile.
Track 2: Resolving the Problem Through the Modality of the NDA.
Garang stated that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) includes the SPLM and Northern Sudanese opposition forces that include moderate Muslims like the Deomcratic Unionist Party under the leadership of Mawlana Mohammed Osman Elmirghani, the Communist Party, the Sudanese Alliance Forces (SAF) under the leadership of Brig. Abdulaziz Khalid, the Beja Congress, the Sudanese Federal Democratic Alliance, and the trade unions. He stated that the aim of the NDA is to remove the NIF government and replace it. He declared that in the NDA they believe that the NIF regime can’t be reformed, “It’s too deformed to be reformed”.
Track 3: Peace through Development.
John Garang stated that the areas controlled and administered by his movement are bigger in area than Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda put together with about 10 million people. He said that generations were lost for illiteracy during the 36 years of war and that children can not wait for peace to go to schools, they should go now. He said that organizations like the Carter Center and others in USA are helping people not SPLA with humanitarian aids.
Four Means of Struggle (Pressures)
Dr. John Garang then presented a formula showing that the political settlement is a function of armed struggle (AS), popular uprising (PU) (intifada) like those of 1964 and 1985, diplomatic or international pressure (DIP) to assist in bringing about peace, and negotiated political settlement (PN).
Prospects for peace
He said that after the events of September 11th the DIP and PN have increased with Danforth Initiative as an example of such increase. PU and AS prospects are also high by the people of the Sudan. He said that peace prospects have further increased by what’s happening in the ground as Southern opposition forces like the SPDF of Dr. Riek Machar are unifying with SPLM/A and the unity of the NDA forces like the unity of SAF with the SPLM/A. He appealed to the Sudanese here “we have united at home, unite here!” He called this year a year of peace, reconciliation, and unity. He said that the NDA is becoming more united, the SPLM is becoming more united and the opposition is becoming more united.
Garang declared that Elmirghani is coming to USA by invitation to meet with the Bush administration by the NDA’s name to show that it is a viable alternative to the NIF. He said that he visited and met with officials of UK, Norway, and the European Union in Brussels. He said that the EU has critical dialogue with the government and they, as an opposition, want to establish a critical dialogue.
Dr. John Garang stated that in his visit he met administration officials, senators, and think tanks and has been delivering the same message:
1. Don’t be deceived by the Sudanese government. It has not changed, and domestic and regional terrorism in Sudan continues. They are the Taliban of Africa; they have the same Islamic Fundamentalism views of the world.
2. The NDA is the viable alternative to the NIF regime.
3. With 1 and 2 in mind, we are prepared to negotiate with NIF as long as they are ready to peacefully dismantle itself and build the New Sudan, the same way the African National Congress negotiated with the Apartheid in South Africa.
John Garang then concluded his presentation by briefing its main points, and the floor was opened for questions.
Questions and Answers
1.What is your post-conflict vision?
A- We are not waiting until the conflict ends. We have the nucleolus of the New Sudan. We have emerging governance form the grass root level to the national level, the Civil Authority for the New Sudan (CANS) elected by people in all levels. Self determination in its micro level applies even to the decision of building a school or a clinic in a village. We are spreading a culture of democracy and a Bill of Rights for the people.
2. To Rebecca: what is your role and needs in the field of education?
A- We are opening schools, in January we opened a school for 300 orphans, I’m meeting with NGO’s that help with our needs in education.
3. What is the role oil plays in the conflict?
A- It is playing a significant role, in Western Upper Nile more than 100,000 people have been displaces, and it generates about 500 million US dollars annually to the government, more than 80% goes to the defense budget to buy weapons, and military industry. We in the NDA are determined that oil is not used against us and that it will not flow.
4. What are you doing in the field of fighting diseases?
A- The question was answered by the SPLM representative to North Europe. We are fighting HIV, Guinea worm, kalazar, river blindness, etc but we still need more help from the governments and organizations. We are also educating people to prevent and fight these diseases.
5.What role does Ethiopia play in bringing peace in Sudan and how would you assess the Sudanese-Ethiopian relations?
A- Ethiopia is a member of IGAD. You can ask the Sudanese and Ethiopian embassies about their relations but it is not a secret that the Sudanese government is supporting Ethiopian Jihad groups and helped in the 1995 plot to assassinate Mubarak.
6.What is the assistance asked and promised from the Bush administration and is the current war on terror targeting Sudan?
A- I came on an official visit by an invitation of the administration to deliver 2 messages. Although the government is too deformed to be reformed but the fear of facing what happened to Taliban after 9/11 opened a window of opportunity through negotiating Model 2, the confederate Sudan. The assistance we asked for is purely humanitarian assistance.
7. How can you call for national unity with the absence of the Umma Party (UP), knowing the fact that the Arab tribes in the borders with the South are traditionally Umma allies?
A- UP is a political party, but we are working with the Rizaigat and Misairiya to resolve issues in the ground, we have formed committees to resolve the issues of water and pastures, and we are establishing an NGO to provide veterinary services. Some of these tribes have joined SPLM already. The Umma Party is an important party, we still having contacts with them, I just met Mubarak Elfadhil in London, we have contacts with them and with the Popular National Congress (PNC) of Turabi and our aim in the NDA is to collect the opposition against the government and to reunited the Umma Party with the NDA.
8. A lady gave an emotional speech and asked when can we get peace and go home?
A- It depends on the government in Khartoum, if they accept democracy tomorrow the war will end. But we are working to ease the historic suffering of people; we opened 3000 primary schools, 16 secondary schools, an agriculture college in Yambiu, and an education college in Rumbik.
9. Are you defining terms like slavery correctly, and are you appealing to the help of the right wing and Christian organizations in the west?
A- The government declared that there are cases of abductions, no one becomes a slave by his will, you have to be abducted to become a slave. The malpractices in the slave redemption market are the result not the cause. If we are portraying the war as between Muslim Arabs and African Christians you would not see on left Yasir Arman and Hashim Badreldin.
10. How did the current government come to power?
A- They are part of the Islamic Revival fundamentalism movement. They concentrated on making money, they are well organized and funded. They infiltrated different governments and the army, established NGO’s that worked with the grass roots, and finally led a coup by their officers and 300 civilian militia under the leadership of Ali Osman Mohammed Taha.
At the end of the Q & A session, Dr. John Garang thanked the Carter Center and extended his greetings and salams in (Juba Arabic) to the Sudanese community in Greater Atlanta especially for those who didn’t come because of the short notice.