Sudanese government to sign formal peace deal with Darfur rebels
February 21, 2010
----Posted by Amy Maxon-----
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will sign a "framework agreement for a cease-fire" with rebels in Sudan's volatile Darfur region on Tuesday. A preliminary agreement was signed Saturday in Chad, and the final cease-fire document will be signed in Doha, Qatar. Qatar has been integral in negotiating peace between the Sudanese government and the rebel group, Justice and Equality Movement. Al-Bashir has been motivated to seek an end to the fighting, because last year, he was charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court. This charge is a result of his government's campaign of violence in Darfur, which has been going on since 2003 and has resulted in 300,000 deaths. Other international organizations, such as the UN, have actively sought to end the violence for many years.
I thought this was a good illustration of the role international institutions can play in causing positive change. There has long been an outcry in the international community against the Darfur conflict, but the Sudanese government is only now seeking peace, after President al-Bashir has been formally charged with genocide. While there is no evidence that the International Criminal Court is taking action to punish al-Bashir for his atrocious deeds, it has forced him to end his violent campaign against the rebels. Pressure from other organizations, such as the UN, probably played a part in his decision to sign the peace agreement. I think this really shows that international institutions can act independently and take powerful action. While it was the world as a whole that deemed al-Bashir an evil man, it was the International Criminal Court that actually made him stop what he was doing.
----Posted by Amy Maxon-----
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir will sign a "framework agreement for a cease-fire" with rebels in Sudan's volatile Darfur region on Tuesday. A preliminary agreement was signed Saturday in Chad, and the final cease-fire document will be signed in Doha, Qatar. Qatar has been integral in negotiating peace between the Sudanese government and the rebel group, Justice and Equality Movement. Al-Bashir has been motivated to seek an end to the fighting, because last year, he was charged with genocide by the International Criminal Court. This charge is a result of his government's campaign of violence in Darfur, which has been going on since 2003 and has resulted in 300,000 deaths. Other international organizations, such as the UN, have actively sought to end the violence for many years.
I thought this was a good illustration of the role international institutions can play in causing positive change. There has long been an outcry in the international community against the Darfur conflict, but the Sudanese government is only now seeking peace, after President al-Bashir has been formally charged with genocide. While there is no evidence that the International Criminal Court is taking action to punish al-Bashir for his atrocious deeds, it has forced him to end his violent campaign against the rebels. Pressure from other organizations, such as the UN, probably played a part in his decision to sign the peace agreement. I think this really shows that international institutions can act independently and take powerful action. While it was the world as a whole that deemed al-Bashir an evil man, it was the International Criminal Court that actually made him stop what he was doing.
This does demonstrate a successful example of intervention by an international organization. But UN action on Darfur has long been prevented by a Chinese Security Council veto vote, because of its own economic interests in the Sudan. So international inability to cooperate or agree on how to prioritize humanitarian and financial goals in relation to each other has stalled the peace process previously, but now it is interesting that the small middle eastern nation of Qatar played such a significant role in this process. It seems they were making these negotiations outside of the established mechanisms and without the usual participants for such processes, and I wonder if this was the reason for its unusual success.
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