War crimes abound in Sudan. But at the risk of diminishing peace dividends, nothing is considered more important than bringing the culprits to book, writes Gamal Nkrumah The Sudanese government's insistence on acting extreme does not always serve it well. Sometimes the compulsion to seem militant and extreme prompts the Sudanese authorities to take juvenile action, such as opine on the culpability of an internationally- respected human rights activist. And at times, Khartoum's bravado goes further: entire shanty towns are laid to waste. On Monday, the head of the Dutch wing of Medecin Sans Frontieres (MSF), Paul Foreman, was arrested in Khartoum. Perhaps buckling under pressure from the international uproar that ensued, the Sudanese authorities later released Foreman on bail. Sudan accused Foreman of tarnishing the country's image and spreading malicious rumours that hundreds of women in Darfur were subjected to rape. The London-based Amnesty International and New York-based Human Rights Watch concur with MSF that there were many cases of rape and sexual harassment in Darfur. Indeed, these rights groups suspect that rape and sexual violence were used in a systematic fashion as an instrument of intimidation, punishment and war. There is another point to be made here. These rights groups are especially alarmed because women made pregnant as a result of rape outside wedlock can be arrested by the authorities and charged with adultery, a criminal offence in Sudan where stringent Islamic Sharia law applies. MSF has 300 international and 3,000 local staff in Darfur. Foreman and other MSF staff compiled a report entitled The Crushing Burden of Rape: Sexual Violence in Darfur. According to Sudanese law, Foreman could face up to three years in prison if found guilty of falsifying the report. The international community has rushed to Foreman's defence. "That was a non-political document based on humanitarian concern. MSF has done an excellent job of helping victims of rape," said United Nations special envoy to Sudan Jan Pronk, also a Dutch national. Prominent Sudanese opposition figures strongly criticised the Sudanese government's move. "These are typical intimidation tactics. The Sudanese authorities systematically detain Sudanese nationals. Now they feel emboldened enough to harass foreign nationals as well. They are desperate and want to deflect attention. They are scandalised knowing that the women of Darfur were raped by government-affiliated militiamen," Farouk Abu Eissa, former head of the Arab Lawyers Union and currently official spokesman of the NDA told Al- Ahram Weekly. Currently, there is a qualitative shift of focus from who rules Sudan to how Sudan is run. The National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC) is currently working on a draft Sudanese constitution. Ultimate authority and responsibility for deciding on constitutional matters rests with Sudanese civil society. Human rights are expected to feature prominently. And, Sudanese opposition parties are in the mood for rejecting constitutions that do not include safeguards against rights abuses. Without rehearsing the dismal catalogue of horrors in Darfur, suffice it to say that the war-torn western Sudanese province has witnessed an appalling carnage -- 200,000 dead and two million rendered homeless. It is in this context that the National Democratic Alliance, the umbrella opposition organisation grouping major northern Sudanese opposition parties and the southern Sudanese- based Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), is meeting in Cairo to coordinate policies before official talks with the Sudanese government begin next week. The draft Sudanese constitution and Darfur will feature prominently at the Cairo talks. Indeed, next week promises to be yet another momentous week in Sudanese history. SPLA leader John Garang visits Egypt today to meet with leading Sudanese opposition figures. Garang's lightning visit to Egypt precedes a tour of the United States he will undertake next week. Prominent Sudanese opposition personalities and groups, including Garang and the NDA, are meeting in the Ugandan capital Kampala in two weeks time to discuss strategy and the draft constitution. They have unanimously defined the task facing them: it is to transform Sudan into a vibrant multi-party democracy. It is also in this context that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan embarked on a whistle-stop tour of Sudan. Annan stopped in Darfur before flying to Rumbek, the southern Sudanese capital. This was the first time that Annan visited southern Sudan, a region ravaged by war for the past 21 years. Upon arrival in Rumbek, Garang presented Annan with two bulls, who returned the compliment by donating the beasts to war widows and orphans. Garang told Annan that his priority was creating an enabling environment for investment in southern Sudan. "There has to be an investment authority, which we have not even put in place," SPLA leader John Garang explained. "There may be a requirement, for example, that a foreign investor needs a southern Sudanese to go into joint-venture business," Garang added. Annan described the humanitarian situation in both southern Sudan and Darfur as deplorable. He said that the world faced a "race against time" to help the people in western and southern Sudan. He also held discussions with Sudanese government officials in Khartoum. "We discussed the need for us to do everything we can to bring security to Darfur, and ensure that the farmers can go back to their land, plant it, cultivate and harvest their crops," Annan said. Annan described the living conditions of displaced people in Darfur as "heart- wrenching". Sadly, he was right. It is an untenable situation that has prompted calls for international action. Annan visited the African Union Mission to Darfur in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, and he also inspected Kalma, one of the largest displaced people's camps in Darfur. The AU hopes to beef up its peace-keeping force in Darfur with UN and Western support. Annan also discussed with his Sudanese hosts the next round of Darfur peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja -- scheduled to take place on 10 June. The negotiations are aimed at finding a solution to the two-year conflict. Annan's Sudanese visit was preceded by his attendance of the international donors conference in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa where Annan asked for donors to come up with $466 million requested by the AU to triple its peace force in Darfur. International donors pledged more than $200 million in Addis Ababa. Canada pledged the largest amount, $134 million, with logistical support including 25 helicopters, two transport planes, and 105 armoured personnel carriers. The US pledged $50 million and Britain $12 million. Other international aid workers concur with Annan. "Logistics, insecurity, banditry and sadly above all low levels of donor funding -- all these combine to impede our work," Jean-Jacques Graisse WEP senior deputy executive director told reporters upon his return from a tour of Sudan's war-torn regions of Darfur and southern Sudan. The negotiating opposition can be just as menacing as the armed opposition, as Khartoum knows all too well. "We go to the Abuja talks without any conditions. We are coming with an open mind," said Ahmed Tughod, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader. "It is the right time to find the solution to the Darfur conflict," Tughod added. JEM is an Islamist- oriented group closely affiliated with the opposition Popular Congress Party led by Hassan Al- Turabi, Sudan's leading Islamist ideologue. "We seriously want to solve the problem through peaceful means," Tughod stressed. The disparate Sudanese political groups, both government and opposition, must rise to the challenge they have set themselves. Outsiders can only help. The Sudanese themselves must work out solutions to their own problems. Pulling the rival Sudanese political and ideological strands together promises to be a difficult task. Only they can bring about the necessary pooling of resources and efforts. The scale of the transformation required is huge. But, it is feasible.
