In 2007, Desmond Tutu met with Sundanese leaders, civil society, and Darfurians to find ways to contribute to the peace process. He was part of ‘The Elders’, which is was a group of distinguished individuals, including founder Nelson Mandela, Ban Ki-moon, Jimmy Carter, and Kofi Annan amongst others, who came together to address global crises and offer solutions to difficult issues. At the time, Archbishop Tutu had called on the world to stop turning a blind eye on crimes against humanity in the Darfur region of Sudan.
The group is not affiliated with any country or organisation but represents a global community. The Elders’ first mission was to Darfur, where they aimed to listen to the voices of those affected by the conflict and explore ways to contribute to the peace process. The group hoped to lend its strength to those determined to end the devastating war in Darfur. They offered their preliminary observations wrote a report for everyone who cares about Darfur.
Leaders have for many years been looking for ways to solve Sudan’s political and social issues. Below is a statement released for Dr Mamphela Ramphele, chairperson of the Archbishop Tutu IP Trust.
In a world of increasing consciousness about global existential threats, from pandemics to climate change, the greatest threat to peace and prosperity is that posed by war-mongers with no sense of responsibility to anything beyond their own power and wealth.
History is littered with stories of violent (sometimes cast as heroic) men; it’s a cycle going back thousands of years that today finds expression in Sudan, Ukraine, Palestine and Myanmar, among other nations. Demonic leaders should be demonized by their people, ostracized by their peers and global institutions, removed from power and brought to justice – regardless of who or where they are, or considerations of their nation’s strategic importance.
Starkly contrasting with humanity’s technological advances has been its spectacular failure to develop the means to hold those who cross the line to account. Global bodies created to address this void, from the United Nations to the International Criminal Court, don’t have the teeth or reach to ensure compliance to a universal set of principles and standards. In the circumstances, responsibility for global policing resides in those with the biggest bank balances and most powerful weapons. In their hands, the cycle of violence and impunity is guaranteed to continue.
An international warrant of arrest should be issued for Sudanese war-mongers Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, though a warrant issued for former Sudanese strong man Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir 14 years ago, for crimes against humanity, has yet to be executed. Warrants of arrest are good in theory but have little currency if they are not enforceable.
When Darfur, the western region of Sudan, descended into conflict, Archbishop Tutu wrote an opinion piece for The Times newspaper (in 2006) calling on the UN to apply sustained pressure on Sudan to accept an international peacekeeping force.
Earlier that year, the Arch pointed out, 30 days of war between Israel and Hezbollah, and 1 000 dead, quickly led to the international community dispatching UN peacekeepers. An estimated 300 000 to 400 000 deaths in Darfur had not prompted a similar spring into action.
“We Africans conclude that double standards apply to our continent,” he wrote.
The Archbishop later led a peacekeeping mission of The Elders to Sudan, and a campaign calling on the world: “Don’t look away.”
When a hybrid United Nations-African Union mission (UNAMID) to maintain peace in Darfur was assembled, it never mustered its full complement of troops, was insufficiently equipped, and consistently blocked by the Sudanese government from accessing towns where much of the violence took place. It was thus largely ineffective in providing aid to and protecting civilians.
What’s happening in Sudan now is another opportunity for the global community to acknowledge Africa’s equal place in the human family and act with speed to prevent further loss of life and bring the war-lords to justice.
Photograph by: Oryx Media