Internal forces unable to lead Darfur

By: Mahmood Mamdani

Significant changes are currently taking place on the ground in Darfur. The peacekeeping forces of the African Union (AU) are being replaced by a hybrid AU-UN force under overall UN control. The assumption is that the change will be for the better, but this is questionable.

The balance between the military and political dimensions of peacekeeping is crucial.

Once it had overcome its teething problems – and before it ran into major funding difficulties – the AU got this relationship right: it privileged the politics, where the UN has tended to privilege the military dimension, which is why the UN-controlled hybrid force runs the risk of becoming an occupation force.

What is the solution? I asked General Anyidoho, who has recently been appointed joint deputy special representative for the hybrid force. “Threefold,” he replied, military fashion. “First, a complete ceasefire.”

(This would require a political agreement among all the fighting forces.) ‘“Second, talks involving a cross-section of Darfurians. They must agree. And third, the government has a big role to play.

This is not a failed state; there is a sitting government.’ What about the Janjawiid? ‘They are nomadic forces on horseback; they have always been there. They are spread across Sahelian Africa: Niger, Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic.

The problem is that the AK-47 has replaced the bow and arrow. The Janjawiid should be disarmed before the rebels turn in their arms.” “The camps are becoming militarised. Women go out to collect firewood and they are raped. Rape has become a weapon of war. Read more >>>>>>>>>>>>>>