Who will turn the tide in Darfur?

A recent surge in insecurity in the western Sudanese region of Darfur is threatening to scuttle the two-year-old peace accord signed between the government of Sudan and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A).

It did not come as a surprise when President Omar al-Bashir differed in public with his first vice president and president of southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, over the slow implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed two years ago in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Also at stake are the ongoing negotiations over the Darfur crisis in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. Thousands of people continue to be displaced by attacks on two towns in the war-torn state of south Darfur. With accusing fingers pointing at the Janjaweed militia supported by Sudanese armed forces, the series of attacks have continued to exacerbate an already bad situation.

During his last days in office, former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed concern over the increasing violence in Darfur. "People in many parts of Darfur continue to be killed, raped and driven from their homes by the thousands. The number of displaced has now reached two million, while three million (half the total population of Darfur) are dependent on international relief for food and other basics. Many parts of Darfur are becoming too dangerous for relief workers to reach," observed Annan.

Echoing similar concerns was Dr. Rev. Mvume Dandala, general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC). "We are appalled by the reports of random, indiscriminate killings, especially since ethnic and religious hatred is reported to be at the root of aggression. The reported collaboration of Sudanese soldiers in this violence is absolutely reprehensible," said Dandala.

According to the U.N., the Darfur conflict continues to affect some 3.4 million people, of whom 1.8 million are internally displaced and 200,000 have fled to neighboring Chad. A 7,000-strong African Union peacekeeping mission, known as AMIS, is in Darfur, and peace talks continue in Nigeria between the Sudanese government and the rebels. However, President Omar Al-Bashir has rejected the deployment of a U.N. peace-keeping force.

The Darfur conflict rages at a time when the world has in the past couple of decades said "never again" in response to genocides in Europe, Cambodia and Rwanda. Like in the case of massive slaughters in Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Ethiopia, Angola, Northern Uganda, Mozambique, Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, the Darfur genocide has attracted very little international support.

In its December 2005 report titled "Entrenching Impunity: Government Responsibility for International Crimes in Darfur" Human Rights Watch (HRW) establishes that chains of command for military operations -- as well as recruitment, supply, and direction of the Janjaweed -- lead directly to the most senior members of the National Islamic Front (NIF). President (and Commander-in-Chief) Omar el-Bashir; Second Vice-President (and still arguably the most powerful political figure in Sudan) Ali Osman Taha; the head of Khartoum's viciously efficient

Since early 2003, the leadership in Khartoum has relied on civilian administration, the Sudanese military and Janjaweed militias to implement a counterinsurgency policy that deliberately and systematically targeted civilians in violation of international law. The ultimate responsibility for the creation and coordination of the policy lies in Khartoum, with the highest levels of the Sudanese leadership, including President Omar El Bashir, Vice-President Ali Osman Taha, and key national ministers and security chiefs," the report says.

Still, the widespread and systematic abuses by government and Janjaweed forces against non-Arab or African ethnic groups believed to be linked to the rebels amount to an attack on a civil population within the definition of crimes against humanity. The pattern of similar crimes against civilian populations in different areas of Darfur, as well as documentary and eyewitness evidence linking senior government officials with abusive military operations, point to a policy at the highest levels of the Sudanese government

Also causing grave concern is the growing number of humanitarian evacuations throughout Darfur, especially in west and south Darfur. Consequently, the U.N. has recently informed international humanitarian organizations operating in West Darfur that in the event of emergency evacuation -- an eventuality that daily grows more likely -- the U.N. will be able to evacuate a total of only 90 personnel, from all operational organizations. Admittedly, this has created a security crisis for these organizations, given the rapidly rising military tensions between Chad and Sudan.

But as the Darfur crisis escalates, negotiations in Abuja, Nigeria, conducted under the auspices of the African Union, have not yielded much two years later. There is currently no indication that a peace agreement can be concluded in the near future despite the recent suggestion by AU negotiator, Sam Ibok. Much of the difficulty lies in a rebel movement that is fragmented, inconsistent, and unwilling to move effectively for the good of the people the rebels claim to represent

Ultimately, peace in Darfur can only be achieved with the disarmament of the Janjaweed and the presence of a robust international peace keeping force. President al-Bashir should swallow his pride and allow the deployment of U.N. peace-keepers