Unheard voices
The Uganda-LRA peace talks in Juba appear to be off to a rocky start, with the parties far apart on substantive issues and progress being delayed by the frequent need for consultation with absent LRA leaders. Thus far, though, the southern Sudanese mediators have managed to avoid an outright breakdown, and negotiations are continuing. And in an unusual move, a delegation of elders from the conflict zone was permitted access to the talks to present their
own concerns:
Urging the Ugandan government and the rebels to peacefully resolve their 20-year conflict, the elders said the two warring parties should leave southern Sudan if they cannot agree a ceasefire."The war continues to cause a lot of suffering in southern Sudan, including abduction of children, raping of women and looting of properties, as far as forcing people to eat human flesh," according to the statement presented to the Ugandan government and the LRA delegations in Juba. "We strongly urge both parties to reach a comprehensive, lasting peace agreement to end the suffering of the people of the grassroots [...] We emphatically urge you to direct your forces in the field to stop molesting our people."The elders were from Acholi region in northern Uganda and various counties in Central, Eastern and Western Equatoria States of southern Sudan.
The
elders' presentation painted a bleak picture, with a long list of atrocities attributed to both the LRA and the UPDF. It's also far from certain that their protest will win them any relief, given that the LRA and government responses consisted mostly of platitutes and empty promises. If talks break down, the elders and their villages may in fact be even greater danger due to the possibility of reprisals. The fact that they took the risk of speaking out at all in such a public forum is likely a sign of desperation.
Nevertheless, the fact that they were heard is a significant matter in itself. In many regional conflicts, the interests of the people in the affected zones differ from those of the warring parties, and since negotiations are typically limited to government and military leaders, these interests are all too often ignored. That can lead not only to important equities being omitted from peace treaties but to public opposition that makes those treaties
more difficult to implement. The extreme difficulty in implementing the Darfur treaty, for instance, has resulted not only from continued rebel incursions and Khartoum's intransigence but from widespread opposition by refugees whose security concerns were not addressed. Maybe the better practice would be for all peace talks to include representatives from civil society and from the conflict-affected communities, so that even those without guns can be heard by the parties and the mediators.
Posted by jonathan at July 22, 2006 03:55 PM in Africa - Politics and Law | TrackBack Comments
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