Letter to Gen. Lazaro Sumbeiywo: There can be no compromise on the political future of the Nuba people
Dear Gen.
Lazaro Sumbeiywo,
On 29th October 2002 the Nuba political parties,
representatives of civil society and independent Nuba intellectuals wrote to
your Excellency demanding justice at Machakos peace talks for the Nuba and other
marginalized people. Today, the same people and the same organisations, who
signed that letter and majority of the Nuba people inside and outside Sudan are
deeply concerned over the political future of the Nuba Mountains. They all would
like to reiterate the same demand presented to your Excellency, which is
justice. For many years, the Nuba people have expressed their concern over the
policy of injustices, imbalances, marginalisation and gross violation of human
rights committed against them by all national Governments that ruled Sudan since
independence in 1956. If there is to be a peace resolution at Machakos for the
Sudan’s conflict, the Nuba issue should be redressed and settled at IGAD
current peace talks.
We believe that the current peace talks in Machakos are
moving steadily and have now reached a critical and a crucial stage. However,
the issue of the marginalized areas have not been given sufficient time for
discussion. In addition, there is a lack of true representation of political
parties or civil societies from these marginalized areas in these negotiations.
The Nuba now fear that their political future will be sidelined so that the
warring parties can reach a settlement on their expense and the expense of other
marginalized areas in Northern Sudan. For many years, we have been voicing our
concern in many of the international conferences, demanding acknowledgement of
the Nuba irrefutable claim to self-determination similar to that given to the
Southern people at Machakos.
The Nuba are at the very centre to this conflict, hold the
vital key to the solution, and will be pivotal to any peace settlement. If there
is to be a peaceful and just solution to Sudan’s perpetual conflicts, the Nuba
must be entitled to have their rights respected.
We believe that the IGAD Committee, the Troica and the two
Warring Parties, should now seriously take on board the issues of the Nuba
Mountains and Southern Blue Nile and other marginalized areas. As for the Nuba
Mountains, we suggest the following points for settling the Nuba issue and these
are:
1.
Unity with the Northern entity;
2.
Unity with the Southern entity;
3.
Independent statehood.
We must remember that a peaceful and democratic solution to
Sudan’s conflict can only be achieved if there is a genuine and comprehensive
settlement to the whole conflict in the country, which recognise the rights of
all the peoples of Sudan. Therefore, no one can afford to ignore the rights of
the marginalized areas in Northern Sudan, including Nuba Mountains, Southern
Blue Nile, Darfur in the western Sudan and Beja Hills in the eastern Sudan.
We believe that neither the National Islamic Front (NIF) Government in
Khartoum nor the SPLA/M has the mandate from all the Sudanese people to decide
the future of the country alone. In addition, neither of the two parties are
truly representatives of their populations nor have any meaningful form of
democratic mandate. Any new constitutional arrangement clearly needs some form
of popular consent.
Therefore, it is important that all the Sudanese political
forces must be fully involved in deciding the destiny of their country. Any
solution, which does not address the root causes of the conflict will not
deliver a lasting peace. People across Sudan have resorted to arm struggle for
justice, power sharing and equal distribution of wealth from our national
resources.
The Nuba Like most people across Sudan are desperate for an
end to the conflict. However, we all know there can be no peace without justice,
and ignoring the aspirations of the Nuba people is no way to grantee an end to
the fighting. We understand peace requires compromise but it would be very wrong
to treat the Nuba Mountains as a bargaining counter. The fact that many Nuba are
Muslims should not deny us our democratic rights or allow the incorporation of
the Nuba Mountains into a consolidated Islamic state. We urge your Excellency to
consider the seriousness of the Nuba issue. Our people have endured blockade,
bombardment, Jihad War and ethnic cleansing and are terrified at the prospect of
being returned to the hands of their tormentors.
Finally, we therefore beseech your Excellency to treat this
issue with seriousness it deserves.
Yours
truly
Suleiman
Musa Rahhal
Director/Nuba
Survival Foundation
Cc
US Special Envoy for Peace: Senator
Danforth
Cc
State Department Special Advisor on Sudan: Ambassador Michael Runneberger
Cc
US Government Representative in Khartoun:
Jeff Millington
Cc
British Special Envoy for Peace : Alan
Goulty
Cc
British Foreign Office: Alastair
Mc Phail
Cc
Norwegian Special Envoy for Peace: Kjell
Hodnebo
Cc
Norwegian Government – Hilde Johnson
Cc
Italian Government: Silvio BerLucsconi
Cc
Swiss Government:Josef Bucher
Cc
Sudan Government: Ghazi Salah el-deen Atabani
Cc
SPLA /M: Salva Kiir