Reactions to Peace Deal Largely Skeptical, Still Contentious

May 20, 2006

Since the Abuja peace agreement was reached May 5, Damanga correspondents have been conducting interviews with a wide cross-section of the Sudanese population to try to gauge reactions. While one interviewee, an Arab man, felt hopeful about the peace deal, Darfurians and interviewees from other areas of Sudan express deep distrust and cynicism about the deal's effectiveness. Highlights of these interviews are printed below.  

Interviews conducted in Khartoum:

S. Omar, a Darfurian: "We will never trust this government.  This peace is not an expression of what the Darfurians want.  We need more to be achieved in the peace.  The Janjaweed are still killing people and nobody will protect them.  The government has said it will protect people, but we know there is no protection.  The only way to stop this is for the U.N. to come, but clearly the government doesn't want that.  So I don't see how this peace will do anything."

R. Ahamed, an Arab: "The peace is good, and we feel it will help.  The peace will solve the problem and the Darfurians will get what they want, and the government will disarm the Janjaweed.  The AU troops should be able to handle the situation."  When asked why there is still violence after the peace, and if the UN should intervene, Ahamed responded, "This would be dangerous for Sudan.  The Europeans and the Americans are trying to manipulate the government.  This is not a good idea, because they wouldn't stop at just protecting civilians."

John Peter, a South Sudanese: "It is good that the peace has started, but I am not happy because the other rebels refused to sign.  The peace is still at risk.  We know the government well, and we suffered so much to get a peace, and after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was achieved John Garang [former leader of the South Sudanese SPLM] was killed.  Now I worry that Minni [Arkou Minnawi, Secretary-General of the rebel SLA] will be killed.  I don't trust this government because they don't want a real peace.  They just signed because they were pressured, the same as will the South.  The peace with Darfur is dangerous because the people of Darfur will never get the rights that they fought for . . . The important thing is to get international peace keepers to monitor the peace and let the civilians return.  There are no guarantees, there is no compensation for victims' families.  The Janjaweed need to be disarmed.  The government of Sudan will never do this without American or UN troops.  So I think the peace is in danger."

O. Oshake, an East Sudanese: "I am happy that a peace was reached, but I am uncertain it will work.  Other factions didn't sign.  They had a right not to sign because they didn't see a sustainable peace for their people.  They didn't get what they wanted in the power sharing, and they need to be represented in the government.  Darfurians are Sudanese and deserve representation in the government, and the government just ignored that.  America and Europe and the AU need to keep pressuring the government to make the peace last.  They need a balance between the needs of the Darfurian people and the rebels.  The international community just accepted the deal when Minni signed, but they are not even the biggest group, and if there are two groups with guns then how can you have peace?  You can see this clearly in the streets where people are demonstrating.  People are angry."

Interviews conducted elsewhere:

Ismael Salih, inside West Darfur: "We were very happy when we heard the rebels signed a peace.  But later when we heard that only one group signed we were not happy.  Minni represents mostly his Zagawa people.  He has to consult the other groups, but he just did it by himself and ignored the others that were not from his people.  This is not the right, because you can't achieve the peace with only one group.  The people need to understand that the peace is for all Darfurians.  We need this war to stop, and this will only happen if the Janjaweed are disarmed.  

"The only solution for this problem is for the United States of America to send troops to stop the killings and to protect the peace, and to protect the refugees coming back from Chad.  Only then will the internal refugees feel safe going back to their villages.  The government will not disarm the Janjaweed, because the government does the same evil things that the Janjaweed do.  These killings have to stop.  The Janjaweed are stealing aid workers' trucks, looting houses, and raping women.  America and Britain did well to help with the peace, along with Nigeria, but this is not enough.  We need this peace to succeed and we need the international troops to be here right now.  Then the rebels will join the peace, when they know that their people are protected.  Then we will solve this problem."

Anonymous interviewee, a refugee from Darfur: "I am not happy at all about this peace.  Those who joined the peace are only a few people, not all of the rebels.  They joined very quickly without getting any compensation for the victims.  We lost everything.  I lost three of my family members: my husband, my eldest son of 15 years old, and my brother.  My village was destroyed.  Our animals were stolen.  My husband's canteen was looted.  We used to live a very good life, with a garden, a farm, and money.  Now all of that is gone.  We will never get those back who were killed, but we need compensation for everything we have lost.  Now we can't even go home because the Janjaweed and government continue to kill and rape us.  We need international troops to come to help us.  If the United Nations comes here, I will be the first one to go back to my village.  But I need the government to rebuild my village, because there are no houses.  We can go back but where are we supposed to stay?  Who will build our villages, our houses, and our canteens?  Who will bring back our farms?  I hear that there are Janjaweed families living on our land.  So that is why I am not happy with this peace."

Khadija Ali, in South Darfur: "I was happy, but this is not enough peace for us.  It does not guarantee our safety.  We see the Janjaweed around killing, raping, and looting.  We know the government is still helping the Janjaweed.  We don't see the African Union here, except when they are passing through, and they can't do anything.  The killing is still going on, and sometimes even in the towns.  When I heard that the UN man [Jan Egland] was visiting the camps, I thought the UN troops were already here.  But then I realized it was just one man.  This government will never do anything to protect us.  They could have protected us for years, but they stood by when the Janjaweed killed thousands in Greida just months ago.  We always hear about peace, but there is no peace.  I am very scared.  I lost my mom, my big sister, and my uncle.  My husband is disabled.  We lost everything, and I am still scared.  I can't trust this government.  We need Europeans to help us.  Why doesn't America want to come help us?  We always think they will come help us."

Mohamed Abdullah, a former teacher in Chad: "It is great to hear that a peace agreement was signed.  I am thankful to the United States and others for helping.  It is difficult to guarantee that this peace will become a real peace.  We are in Chad with the largest group of refugees in the world.  There are nearly a quarter of a million Darfurians here and we are all eager to go back.  But it is not safe.  Everyone is asking about the security, and they don't see any security offer on the ground to encourage them to go back.  We might even demonstrate against this peace because it doesn't give us the security we need to go back.  The government and Janjaweed are still going the same things.  There is no mention of international troops.  And we think the war will continue because JEM and part of SLA are not joining.  It's mostly Zagawa that are joining.  The other major tribes have not agreed."  

"People don't feel that this peace is for all.  We want to go back to our homes, but we need help from the U.N.  We need U.N. and American and European troops.  The African Union troops are insufficient and are not active.  We also need compensation, and we don't believe that this government will compensate us.  We also need to see Darfurians in power, as vice-president and ministers.  And we need to rule Darfur by ourselves.  We will never trust the Arabs again."