Government hails success of Darfur conference amid criticism by IDPs and rebels

The government-led Darfur conference stressed the necessity of establishing security in the region and integrating the still active rebel movements into society by signing the Doha Agreement. With the Justice and Equality Movement’s notable rejection of the peace agreement this will be hard to achieve. IDPs attending the conference complained that it failed to address the root causes of the conflict in Darfur.

During the closing speech of the Darfur conference on Thursday in El Fasher the speaker of the Sudanese Parliament, Ahmed Ibrahim Al Tahir, confirmed the government’s commitment to implement the Doha peace agreement. The agreement aims at bringing security and stability to Darfur. Al Tahir declared that amnesty would be given to all Darfurians who previously raised arms against the government.

Taj Al Din Bashir Nyam, the Darfur Regional Authority’s Minister of Reconstruction and Development, read the recommendations made during the conference. The main recommendation stressed the necessity of combining justice and reconciliation in accordance with national laws, local customs and traditions. A second concerned the establishment of regional workshops in Darfur to discuss the issue of voluntary repatriation in consultation with refugees and displaced people.

A displaced person from West Darfur attending the conference described the recommendations as void. He told Radio Dabanga “they don’t change the facts on the ground. There is still no security in the region and no funds to rebuild Darfur, plus, there are new settlers occupying our lands”. He added “the recommendations do not address the root causes of the conflict or the issue of displacement”. He described the Doha Document as a failure.

During a press conference the spokesman of the military council of the Justice and Liberation Movement, Musa Sherif Bare, announced that the movement boycotted the conference because of the crimes committed by Tijane Sese since the signing of the Doha agreement.

A paper was presented during the conference revealing that there are eleven kinds of weapons entering Darfur. There are no regulations regarding the distribution of weapons in Darfur. When the paper was presented during the session the government confiscated it.

The Commissioner of Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration, Salaf Al Din Salih, told Radio Dabanga that the estimated costs of achieving the disarmament of popular defense movements and militias total 50 million dollars.

Omda Saleh, a displaced person from camp Kalma in South Darfur who attended the conference told Radio Dabanga that there was a general consensus towards voluntary repatriation, providing that the return areas are secure. He said that “a comprehensive peace is the only solution to the conflict in Darfur. This will not happen as long as non-signatories are not included in the process”.