Can Darfur Claim the Right of Self Determination?
There is a small but growing minority view among Darfurians, that their region is entitled to self-determination with the option of independence. This issue will be discussed for sure in the coming year. The biggest case against self-determination is that it is a Pandora’s Box: once it is opened, chaos will ensue throughout Sudan and beyond. But with the referendum on self-determination in the south less than a year away, the box is – intellectually at least – already open.
The case for self-determination can be made on the basis of one or more arguments, including history, oppression, ethnic distinctiveness, and equal treatment. These arguments don’t necessarily match the international lawyers’ categories and logic, but they resonate among Sudanese, and for that reason should be opened for discussion.
The Historical Argument
Two kinds of historical argument have been used in support of cases of self-determination in Africa. One is that existing states comprise historically distinct entities roped together in an arbitrary manner. (This would be the historical argument for Darfurian self-determination.) The other is that at independence, territories that were governed separately under colonial rule were bound together in unequal relationships. (This is part of the southern Sudanese case for self-determination and is the argument for the Somaliland Republic.)
Darfur was an independent state until 1916. It has a history of more than three hundred years of continuous independent government, within more or less the same boundaries. This was interrupted in 1874 by the army of Zubeir Rahma, acting as a rogue agent of the Egyptian government. Twenty four years of incomplete control of the province from Khartoum and Omdurman followed until the restoration of the Fur Sultanate by Ali Dinar in 1898. In important respects, therefore, Darfur is an older and more cohesive unit than Sudan as a whole.
When historians such as Sean O’Fahey speak of “˜Darfur’s future with Sudan’ it reflects a strong sense of this history, and the historic relationship between Darfur and the riverain states as equals. Instead of a subordinate entity within northern Sudan, according to this logic Darfur should be seen as a co-equal partner in a composite Sudanese identity that is tripartite (or multi-partite). Instead of “˜the politics of two Sudans’ (to use the title of Deng Ruay’s book), we would have the politics of many Sudans and instead of just a north-south axis of Sudanese identity we would also consider an east-west axis too. One of the tragedies of the last five years is that Darfur, which should act as a stabilizing factor in Sudan’s north-south and “˜African’-“˜Arab’ polarities, has been neutralized as a constructive force in Sudanese identity politics. If southern Sudanese assert their separate identity, keeping only a looser association with the north, Darfurians may similarly prefer to contemplate a future with — but not within — the greater Sudan.
On the other hand, while Darfur was the most recent case of a hitherto independent state being incorporated into a colonial territory, it was hardly the only one. If this logic is applied to Darfur on the basis that it was self-governing 94 years ago, comparable cases can be made for a host of other African kingdoms and peoples. In fact, Dar Masalit might make a stronger case as it was self-governing as late as 1922 and was absorbed into Sudan by agreement and not by conquest. If Darfur is entitled to self-determination, every aggrieved group in Africa that can lay claim to a pre-colonial history of self-government, may feel entitled to claim independence. This is a recipe for turmoil.
Proponents of self-determination in Darfur will argue that the repercussions elsewhere have no bearing on whether they should exercise their rights. However, self-determination is a collective and political right, rather than a fundamental individual right.
Along with the south and the Nuba Mountains, Darfur was a “˜closed district’ for most of the colonial era. To that degree, it was administered differently, and unequally, from the central part of Sudan. This is a version of the southern Sudanese case for self-determination, which rests in part on an argument that, at independence, the territory had been administered separately, and was incorporated into the Republic of Sudan at independence unequally and on false pretences. But the differences between Darfur and other northern provinces were minor compared to those between north and south – for example, the same laws applied. (It also contrasts with the Somaliland experience, which consisted in a different colonial ruler (Britain) to the rest of Somalia (Italy).) Might differential administrative arrangements internal to a colonial authority comprise an argument for a separate sovereignty? In Darfur’s case, this seems to be a stretch.
The Oppression Argument
There is no doubt that Darfur has been neglected over many decades, in terms of economic development and social services. All human development indicators show that Darfur is deprived relative to the central part of Sudan. Neglect was one of the rationales for the 2003 insurrection and is a powerful argument for reform leading to increased development and social spending in Darfur.
Neglect itself is not a strong argument for self-determination. The balance of resource flow between Darfur and central Sudan is not altogether clear. The domestic tax base within Darfur is weak. Even if Darfur were to claim all of the tax income from its livestock and agriculture, the total might not exceed the allocations that the states receive from central government. An independent Darfur would have no claim on revenues from oil extracted in southern Sudan or Kordofan, or other national revenues including from cotton production – much of which is grown in Gezira by Darfurians. Millions of people of Darfurian origin live and work in central Sudan and would not be advantaged if Darfur were to claim independence. An independent Darfur would be poor, remote, landlocked, and with very modest development prospects. Most likely it would be heavily reliant on the support of the international community.
Advocates of self-determination will surely make reference to the gross human rights abuses committed during the recent war. The common experience of violent repression, including massacre and forced displacement, can generate a legitimate demand for a separate state as a protector. The extreme form of this argument follows from defining the abuses as genocide. If indeed Darfurians has been the victims of genocide perpetrated by the Khartoum government, then how can they be expected to remain in the same state as their oppressors?
The difficulties with this argument include the fact that the war in Darfur was, in part, an internal war within Darfur, and there are large and powerful constituencies that would be strongly opposed to any claim of self-determination. Asserting self-determination would most probably revive armed conflict, and a sovereign Darfurian state might pursue an aim to be guarantor of the rights of one community, by repressing or expelling its rivals.
The Ethnic Distinctiveness Argument
The case for self-determination for the south is partly founded on the ethnic, cultural, racial and religious distinctiveness of southerners as compared to the north. This is both the ethno-nationalist and communist argument for self-determination: groups identified as “˜nations’ are entitled to some form of statehood. It is on this basis that the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia awards the right of self-determination, under very limited circumstances, to its constituent “˜nations’. (It was while this constitutional experiment was being launched, in the early 1990s, that IGAD included the right to self-determination in the draft Declaration of Principles for resolving the Sudanese conflict.)
The ethno-nationalist is not only powerful among southern Sudanese, but it is also the argument that resonates most strongly in the north, especially among Islamists and those most determined to see Sudan as a culturally Arab nation. The separation of the south would be a major, possibly fatal, blow to the concept of Sudan as a diverse nation. It is the presence of the south within the Republic that keeps the centrifugal tendencies in the north in check.
The people of Darfur can certainly claim that they have a distinct identity in comparison to those from other parts of Sudan, based on their long pre-colonial history. However, the ethnic differences within Darfur are as great as, or greater than, any such differences. Their stronger claim is based on their distinct historical political tradition, not their ethnic distinctiveness.
Within Darfur, a claim to distinctiveness will arise from certain communities that have come to identify themselves as “˜African’, and in particular the Fur. Any claim to self-determination spearheaded by the Fur would smack of a return to the Fur sultanate, and would raise fears among all the other communities in Darfur (especially the Arabs) that this is no more than an attempt to resurrect Fur domination. Alternatively, it could result either in an argument for self-determination for the Fur (and perhaps some other “˜African’ groups) only, and therefore a division of Darfur, or for self-determination for all ethnic groups in Darfur. If the case for separation in the south is made on ethnic lines, this could have dangerously provocative echoes in Darfur.
The Equal Treatment Argument
The SPLM first formally adopted the goal of self-determination at the Abuja talks in 1992. The demand arose from an agreement between different SPLM factions. It was declared without John Garang’s prior agreement, and to his considerable annoyance. Self-determination was formalized in the IGAD Declaration of Principles two years later, with IGAD member states anticipating that the form of self-determination would be closer to the Ethiopian model than the Eritrean one. In the aftermath of this, there was vigorous discussion on whether the Nuba were entitled to self-determination as well.
One of the arguments in favour of a wider granting of self-determination – including the Nuba, Blue Nile, Beja and Darfur – was that if the right were universally recognized it would become “˜internal self-determination’ closer to the Ethiopian model, rather than an escalator to separation. (This was the argument put forward in the 1999 Kampala conference “˜human rights in the transition in Sudan.’)
The SPLM-Umma Party agreement of 1994 and the NDA’s Asmara Agreement of 1995 both restricted the right of self-determination to the southerners. This intensified the argument within the opposition and aligned civil society groups. Groups such as Nuba Mountains Solidarity Abroad made their case based primarily on the demand for equal treatment with the south: the Nuba SPLA had fought just as hard and for the same cause as their southern brethren, and the Nuba were, like the southerners, a distinct “˜African’ people oppressed by successive governments in the north. The SPLM leadership was uncomfortable with this argument and avoided dealing with it, up to the Karen negotiations for the “˜three areas’ protocol that became part of the CPA. In this protocol, the Nuba won only administrative autonomy and power sharing for South Kordofan State followed by a “˜popular consultation’ towards the end of the Interim Period.
One of the difficulties of the Nuba argument is that South Kordofan is not ethnically homogenous. It is not possible to make a simple geographical demarcation between “˜Nuba’ and “˜Arab’ or somehow to annex the Nuba-inhabited localities to southern Sudan. In addition, since South Kordofan was extended to include most of former West Kordofan in 2005, the Nuba do not even constitute a demographic majority.
The Nuba argument for self-determination will certainly rear its head during 2010, along with a (less well rehearsed claim) by some SPLM supporters in Blue Nile. In turn that will spark the argument that, if the Nuba are claiming self-determination, Darfur is entitled to equal treatment.
Conclusion
Writing on this blog, Noah Kodi remarked that “˜The true meaning of “self determination” is a people taking charge of their own destiny and forging their vision of a common future. In Sudan today “self determination” is becoming the road to fragmentation and ruin.’
This is a serious warning. At the very minimum, it is important that those who raise the slogan of self-determination make clear the basis for their claim, and contemplate the consequences of their manifesto.
This issue was raised by one movement I think, the SLM/Abdel Wahid, which claims to represent the Fur, the Fur only. It is ironic that in a book published in 1990, “Al Ingaz fi Amme”, we were told that one of the reasons of the coup d’etat against the Government of Sadiq Almahdi, was that “his governement did not recognize the “Fur” as “Arab tribe”, the arabism of the Fur.
But it seems to me this may be a beginning of stage two of a grand design, first the South, then Dar Fur, and the story continues.
This raises the question of who actually dictates the terms.
Well it may seem that one argument for the right to self-determination (that of a genocidal central government in Khartoum) can now be tossed out the window. Today the NY Times and numerous other newspaper sources had the necessary guises and pretenses that they needed in order to admit to 240,000 Darfuris dying from diseases and malnutrition and not by the barrel of a gun or the blade of a Janjaweed sword. The two anti-Sudan partners, the State Department and the British Department for International Development, funded the right 3rd party research team to create a back door exit to the matter of supporting a genocidal regime that is on its way to win the next elections. It’s one step in the right direction… except there’s the issue of little to no body counts. So now they’ve gone from absolutist/alarmist claims to revised extrapolative ones based on ridiculous and questionable measurements. Hence, there is still the matter of 240,000 fictitious souls that have met their maker. I repeat… two hundred and forty thousand people. What a confounding proposition that these people make about Sudanese being capable of such atrocities. The online article admits that the figure is mere extrapolation. Maybe someone (an aid worker perhaps) can produce a report on mass graves locations to illuminate my skepticism to what is already turning out to be a highly improbable truth. An investigation… not a research finding… is what is needed to clarify the matter. I guess truth is to obscure as agendas are to whim.
The article may be read here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/world/africa/23darfur.html
Dear David,
Not only the spokesman of the Abdel Wahid group but also JEM have raised the issue of self-determination, and it is an undercurrent among younger and more militant Darfuris also. The self-determination agenda is a symptom of a regressive political consciousness that simultaneously embraces a primordial notion of identity and also is focused on a primitive rent-seeking that centres on a sovereign government as a machine of rent creation. Unfortunately the behaviour of both parties to the Government of national Unity today is an encouragement to these young people, who grew up under the Inqaz regime and have limited education and narrow political horizons, to subscribe to both theses. It is a back-handed testament to the success of the programme of Islamist hegemony that such a praxis has become an integral part of the political consciousness of the “opposition” as well as of the Islamists themselves.
I do not believe in a grand design or conspiracy. The dismemberment of Sudan is the historically inevitable result of the mismanagement of the political economy of the country over the last forty years.
Jamal
The estimates of mortality in Dar Fur were always a contested issue, notably in this blog, a lot was written about them. It is however an issue “in the eyes of the reader”, so to speak, depending on what you are advancing. I however, maintain that, even one death is one too much, and call for the right solution to the problem of the Sudan.
Abdelwahab
I haven’t read what the JEM said yet, thanks for letting me know, I am not surprised though, but caution against subjecting such serious issues as “SELF-DETERMINATION” to political posturing and popularity contests, among the Dar Fur Movements.
As you very well know, each of these movements, has its tribal constituency, and I wonder, if we are reinstate the FUR SULTANATE, how would it rule over the ZAGHAWA, the MASSALIT, both of which were SULTANATES at one time or the other.
I am not advocating any conspiracy theory, but history is full of conspiracy and conspirators. There were those, who as you know, saw the solution in annexing Dar Fur to Chad, on basis of ethnic affinity.
You think dismemberment is inevitable, I think it is avoidable. You think dismemberment will solve problems, I think it will lead to measureless chaos.
I consider this to be the article of the moment as it addresses the current claim raised by Darfur’s opposition to be presented in the coming negotiation.
David,
I believed that Sudanese have the right to choose how they want their future to be. Self-determination is the new flavor that the current ruling regime added to the portrait of Sudan and forced the people to select.
The allegation made about Fur claiming to be Arab, I do not know where you got that! Our history never described Fur as Arab, maybe due to intermarried and such persons have the right to, as many other Northern Nubian, to claim to be Arab. I do not know why some people manipulate the claim on some and deny it for others? The Shilluk, for instance, have the right to claim having former ancestors from Arab. While SLM, since its onset, included other groups such as Zaghawa and Massalit, its leader made clear claims towards the well-being of Darfur persons, including persons induced by the government,as their situation exploited, to be used for invading his brother from other ethnic groups.
Is it not strange that whenever some Sudanese make claims to lift injustice and be treated equally, with an equal share of resources and power, exponents of the ruling party trivialize that and distort such claims to be look badly in front of other citizens (who many of them were recruited forcibly to fight against their brothers for so-called Jihad). While is worst to kill a person for nonsense is more horrible to kill a Muslim who one day, his ancestors, contributed by sending annually “KISWAT ALHARAMEIN” for ALKAABA in Sudia Arabia.
Dear David,
Do not listen to what you were told but read more.
Dear David,
You do not understand me correctly. My conclusion is that under current circumstances, the dismemberment of Sudan is inevitable. I do not think it is desirable or will solve any problems. To the contrary, the secessionist agenda is regressive and will take Sudan many decades, if not centuries, back. The greatest losers will be the residents of the parts of Sudan that secede, while by comparison, those Sudanese who reside in the central regions and have first-class citizenship status there, will not be so badly affected by the fragmentation and may even prosper. The Apartheid Regime correctly analyzed the benefits that would result from a properly enforced Bantustan policy. The Sudanese ruling elite may succeed in achieving something that the Boers only dreamed of, which is to have their dependent Bantustans internationally recognized and subsidized.
Dear Agi Gelabi
I have said clearly that this comes in a book-in Arabic and i read arabic, I was not told-(Ai Inghaz fi Amma-1990).
Dear Abdel Wahab
I am sorry if i misunderstood you.
We agree that the Sudan, to-day faces a real question of whether to be or not. I ,like you, hold this regime responsible for what we face to-day, the question I ask you and all the friends of Sudan, is how can we save our country, this seems to me more immediate.
As the late President John F Kennedy once said “Let us not seek to apportion blame for the past, rather let us assume our responsibility for the future.”
Following up on David Barsoum’s last line, I think that the only chance of a vote for unity in the southern referendum is if the vote is a plebiscite on the future, not a verdict on the past. The idea that the referendum would be a judgement on the CPA and its implementation was always hopeful. If the southern electorate were asked to assess history, its separatism is a foregone conclusion, because the record of distrust and conflict is far too deep and much too long. Only with an energetic and hopeful prospect of a transformed Sudan in the future, would a different outcome be possible.
Following up on Abd al-Wahab’s commentary, the economic base of African states in minerals and aid, is a force for fragmentation rather than unification. Up to now, it has served merely as a brake on regional economic and political integration. But in extreme cases (of which Sudan is one), it contributes to pressure towards fragmentation into smaller polities able to claim sovereign privileges, and sovereign rents. This is a theme worth exploring … which I promise to follow up in a future posting.
This is a grave issue of self determination, irredentism and deconstruction of the nation state.
Within a global context it could be disastrous for the people of Sudan to have their nation state spin off into numerous fragments, each too weak to provide for the common security. On the other hand, the ruling hands from Khartoum have created such discomfort for so many in Darfur that some Darfurians are willing to risk such a fate.
I disagree with Alex on one point that he makes. He stated that “self-determination is a collective and political right, rather than a fundamental individual right.†I believe self determination is an individual right, but that it only exists within the context of the collective. The ideal is that all the people of Sudan would be self determining within a “national context.†This does not mean that each individual or community would be self determining in an autonomous fashion, but rather that self determination can be within a larger context and through some form of consensus (be it an elected body, or some other form of agreed upon decision making). Again, the problem may be that individuals and communities within Sudan have not believed that they were represented when the “consensuses†were formed, and therefore they were disenfranchised from the self determining process.
But perhaps, the deconstruction of the state and irredentism are not necessarily the only paths to self determination for Darfur. The formation of regional unions within the past several decades tend to show us that strength lies in unity. The EU, and the federated structure of the United States are examples of how self determining communities can bond together to form stronger polities. But in this bonding there is often a necessity for compromise, with both the central authority and the joining polities both giving something up.
I am not saying that Sudan should pattern itself after the EU or the United States, but I am trying to say that there is probably a way – a “Sudanese†way – in which the parts can be combined into the whole so that self determination is available to everyone.
It has to be acknowledged that Khartoum has often used its power poorly, leading to a sense of frustration and extreme disappointment by Sudanese in the periphery. But it also needs to be acknowledged that no separate and independent part of a fractured Sudan will have the strength of a united Sudan with its current borders and its current peoples. But such a united Sudan must be at peace, nurturing its citizens with equal access to the benefits created by the country’s wealth.
There are so many communities and so many peoples within Sudan that it is hard to imagine where the fracturing would end once it begins. And if there is a path to unity in Sudan that supports the aspirations and dignity of all Sudanese, such a path should be followed.
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