Kwesi Kwaa Prah
30 April 2009
opinion
In response to Mahmood Mamdani's article 'Beware of human rights fundamentalism', Kwesi Kwaa Prah questions Mamdani's grasp of history. Taking issue with Mamdani's contention that 'Arabs never constituted a single racial group' in Sudan, Prah argues for the people of Southern Sudan's self-rule and a halt to the 'Arabisation' of Africans.
Mahmood Mamdani's recent article Beware of human rights fundamentalism substantively goes through the reasoning the author has repeatedly made over the past few years regarding the Darfur imbroglio. This time he is offering gratuitous advice to former South African President Thabo Mbeki about the arguments he should make to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and interested parties on how to deal with the African Union's (AU) call for him to negotiate a postponement of the ICC's indictment of Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir.
Leading a panel and mandated by the AU, Mbeki has started work on a possible African-led resolution of the crisis in Darfur. The panel has been advised by AU members to call for a year's deferment of the process of the ICC war crimes indictments against Sudan's president. The eight-member panel includes three former African heads of state: South Africa's Thabo Mbeki, Burundi's Pierre Buyoya and Nigeria's General Abdusalam Abubakar.
During the opening session of the exercise at AU headquarters in Addis Ababa various delegates argued that the ICC indictments against President al-Bashir will in effect undermine attempts to arrange peace in Darfur. The suggestion is that deferring the ICC indictments will allow time for African-led peace efforts in Darfur to take firm shape. Mbeki argued that the AU charter claims primary authority over African peace and security issues: 'The African Union has taken the clear and unequivocal decision the continent must act not only to end war and violent conflict in Africa, but also to ensure that where war does anyway break out, all belligerents must know that war crimes, crimes against humanity and other abuses will be punished resolutely, and that a culture of impunity will not be permitted to take root and entrench itself.'
There are certainly legions of problems with the self-appointment of the ICC to sit in judgment on all of us when we are neither all in agreement with the terms of the mandate or the moral credentials of the powers that be. These are general considerations. Its use cannot be ruled out however. Slobadan Milosevic, Charles Taylor and Thomas Lubanga are clear cases in point. In the specific instance of President Omar al-Bashir and his genocidal project in Darfur, is judgment day is near?
Taking a page from the book of the South African settlement which brought apartheid to a close, Mamdani's plea on behalf of al-Bashir is that, 'The rationale was simple: where there was no victor, one would need the cooperation of the very leaders who would otherwise be charged with war crimes to end the fighting and initiate political reforms. The essence of Kempton Park can be summed up in a single phrase: forgive but do not forget. Forgive all past crimes - in plain words, immunity from prosecution - provided both sides agree to change the rules to assure political justice for the living.' In other words, the recommended course of action should be based more on political expediency than justice. There are many who would swallow this suggestion, in spite of the bad taste it leaves in the mouth. Some will also argue that in light of the history of Arab-African agreements from time immemorial in the Sudan, the peace, if it is so loosely structured, will degenerate into a 'practico-inert'. We must remember that the Kempton Park meetings formally ended apartheid. Will al-Bashir end his brutal and genocidal policies in Darfur? Kicking out humanitarian NGOs does not speak well for magnanimity and reconciliation. As Abel Alier, the Southern Sudanese former vice-president under Muhammad Ja'far Numeiri, put the case in his book with the same title, there have been 'too many agreements dishonored'.
Mamdani argues that, '[W]hen the justices of the ICC granted the prosecutor's application for a warrant to arrest the president of Sudan, they were not issuing a verdict of guilty. The justices were not meant to assess the facts put before them by the prosecutor, but to ask a different question: if those facts were assumed to be true, would the president of Sudan have a case to answer? Unlike court, which took the facts for granted at the pre-trial stage, we need to ask: to what extent are these facts true? And, to the extent they are true, are they the whole truth?' He then proceeds to present supposed historical facts, but which are in fact of impeachable standing. Mamdani writes that, 'The racialisation of identities in Darfur had its roots in the British colonial period. As early as the late 1920s, the British tried to organise two confederations in Darfur: one "Arab", the other "Zurga" or black.' This is incorrect. Zurga is Arabic for blacks (plural) in Darfur. Its singular version Azarek means blue. 'Green Arabs' is another term used to describe the black but slightly lighter Arabs mainly of the Reizigat and Messariya ethnic groups. In the south, blacks are described as Aswad (blue) or Sudd. All these racially-loaded words are Arabic in origin, not English. They existed long before Darfur was incorporated into the Sudan in 1916. The British simply built on usages which were societally current.
To suggest that 'Arabs never constituted a single racial group. Contemporary scholarship has shown that the Arab tribes of Sudan were not migrants from the Middle East but indigenous groups that became Arabs starting in the 18th century' is misleading. Regarding the people of Darfur, P.M. Holt and M.W. Daly, in their A History of the Sudan write that, 'The Arabization of the Northern Sudan resulted from the penetration of the region by tribes who had already migrated from Arabia to Upper Egypt... the Fur... [a]lthough surrounded by a flood of immigrant Arab tribes, ... succeeded in establishing a dynastic Muslim state which was not finally extinguished until 1916.' In Darfur, as in other areas of Sudan, Arab and African cannot always be physically recognised. Most people are black, Arab or African. The difference is cultural and ethnic not racial, in much the same way as Jew and Arab, Pakistani and Indian, Protestant and Catholic in Ireland, and Japanese and Chinese are not visible differences. In Darfur both Arabs and Africans are overwhelmingly Muslims, but many Arabs regard the Africanist cultural influences in the Islam of the Africans as tainted. Furthermore, Africans have their own languages and do not have Arabic as a home-language or mother-tongue.
Much of the contestation is admittedly over resources. However, the use of rape, pillage, looting and scorched-earth policies to uproot the African ethnicities is now known to the whole world. The idea of lightening the colour of Africans through rape is common. Depopulated areas are then systematically resettled with Arab ethnicities, even non-Sudanese. The Sudan Tribune of 7 May 2008 reported that, 'There are around 120,000 of them who came from Niger to Wadi Saleh. This also occurred in north, west and south of Zalingi. They are building new villages for them in these areas. This is a serious matter. Khartoum clearly is continuing its policies of repopulating Darfur with tribes from other countries.' This is only the tip of the iceberg.
In the Wall Street Journal of 18 June 2008, Abdel Wahid al-Nur, leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), argued that, 'We must prevail to preserve the unity of Sudan. In a truly democratic and secular Sudan, neither the South, nor Darfur, nor any other region would be tempted to secede... We must prevail to stabilize the region and spread democracy. We must prevail to help Sudan return to its natural, legitimate geopolitical place - which is the African continent and not the Arab or Muslim world. At the same time, we must forge new alliances, no longer based upon race or religion, but upon shared values of freedom and democracy.' The sagacious course of action to right the wrongs wreaked on the people of Darfur is to give them back their dignity and a chance to shape and control their destiny. They must have regional autonomy and self-rule along the lines of the South and the Beja country. Most importantly the Arabisation of Africans must stop.
* Kwesi Kwaa Prah is the director of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS) based in Cape Town, South Africa.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.
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thank you for this clear message for those pretending to be the preachers of africa .the notion that darfurs problem is due to land issue alone produced by the colonial system is aboslutely false..the hakurasystem [ land ownership ] is before the annex of darfur to sudan.this occured during the king Musa bin suliman ...more than 150 years before English colonial conquer to darfur in 1916..it is true that in darfur there have been more than 40 tribal disputes in the period of 1932 ... to 1989 .60% of these were between arab tribes ..20% between arabs and africans and 205 between africans .but the conflict in 1987 was between 16 arab tribes and 11 chadian arabs against fur tribes . this was a systematic supported war by central government of Sadig elmahdi and the fur were verbally supported by Uniunist party.[ go to the minutes of negociation of 1989at Elfasher].the arabs were fighting under the slogan of ""Arab gathering ""and supported by government of sadig elmahdi.the same policy was adopted by ALbasheirs government when this slogan had changed to]ARABSUPREMACY ]called GOREISH 1 &2. this continued as disarment of fur tribes only and the arabs left withoutany disarment as in the peace accord or legal accountability to roam about killing ,looting raping and pillaging to fur ,which later extended to Massalit and ZAgawa starting by RAHAD ELGENEIKand becoming an overwhelming war to these african tribes ..there is aprevious intention and written plan as seen in documents of Goreish 1&2and arab gathering.and above that the systematic displcement of all these african tribes to be replaced by imported arabs from Chad,Niger.Mali and others .and not what professor mamdani and others are claming.this is only aniceberg and we will continue towriting.
thank you for this clear message for those pretending to be the preachers of africa .the notion that darfurs problem is due to land issue alone produced by the colonial system is aboslutely false..the hakurasystem [ land ownership ] is before the annex of darfur to sudan.this occured during the king Musa bin suliman ...more than 150 years before English colonial conquer to darfur in 1916..it is true that in darfur there have been more than 40 tribal disputes in the period of 1932 ... to 1989 .60% of these were between arab tribes ..20% between arabs and africans and 205 between africans .but the conflict in 1987 was between 16 arab tribes and 11 chadian arabs against fur tribes . this was a systematic supported war by central government of Sadig elmahdi and the fur were verbally supported by Uniunist party.[ go to the minutes of negociation of 1989at Elfasher].the arabs were fighting under the slogan of ""Arab gathering ""and supported by government of sadig elmahdi.the same policy was adopted by ALbasheirs government when this slogan had changed to]ARABSUPREMACY ]called GOREISH 1 &2. this continued as disarment of fur tribes only and the arabs left withoutany disarment as in the peace accord or legal accountability to roam about killing ,looting raping and pillaging to fur ,which later extended to Massalit and ZAgawa starting by RAHAD ELGENEIKand becoming an overwhelming war to these african tribes ..there is aprevious intention and written plan as seen in documents of Goreish 1&2and arab gathering.and above that the systematic displcement of all these african tribes to be replaced by imported arabs from Chad,Niger.Mali and others .and not what professor mamdani and others are claming.this is only aniceberg and we will continue towriting.
In his piece entitled “ White Collar War Crimes, Black African Fall Guys,”
investigative journalist Keith Snow writes:
First note that the ICC can now be viewed as a tool of hegemonic U.S. foreign policy,
where the weapons deployed by the U.S. and its allies include the accusations of, and
indictments for, human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
To understand this, we can ask WHY NO WHITE MAN HAS YET BEEN CHARGED
with these or other offenses at the ICC (International Criminal Court) which now holds
five black African warlords and seeks to incarcerate and bring to trial another black man,
also an Arab, Omar Bashir.
Why hasn’t George W. Bush been indicted ? Or what about Donald Rumsfeld ?
Dick Cheney? Henry Kissinger? Ehud Olmert? Tony Blair?
The sad fact is that the International Criminal Court has become terribly
politicized, as has the entire international justice apparatus.
The ICC has issued indictments, for the first time in history, against a sitting head of
state. Meanwhile, according to Snow, an Israeli weapons dealer, also a reputed Mossad
operative, is revealed to be shipping weapons into Sudan with Pentagon support.
And Belgium changed its law rather than prosecute Ariel Sharon for war crimes.
The double standard cries out to us.
One country in the West, however, increasingly stands out as a place where
justice can be found?and that is Spain. With its landmark indictment of
Pinochet and its current consideration of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and
U.S. torture in Guantanamo, we increasingly look to the Spanish Courts with
hope. It was the Spanish courts that returned indictments against Rwandan
soldiers for genocide even as the world coddles U.S. proxy Rwanda and its
leader, Paul Kagame.
[allthingscynthiamckinney.com]
[This inspiring poem was featuring in the movie “Coach Carter ”]
Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate, Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure. It Is Our Light , Not Our Darkness That Most Frightens Us.
We Ask Ourselves, Who Am I To Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, And Fabulous ?
Actually Who Are We Not To Be ? You Are A Child Of God.
Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World.
There Is Nothing Enlightened About Shrinking So That Other People Won’t Feel Insecure Around You.
We Are All Meant To Shine, As Children Do.
We Were Born To Make Manifest The Glory Of God That Is Within Us.
It’s Not Just In Some Of Us; It’s In Everyone.
And When We Let Our Own Light Shine We Unconsciously Give Other People Permission To Do The Same.
And As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others
- Marianne Williamson -
[NOTE – BEING AFRAID AND REFUSING TO GET INVOLVED WON’T STOP US FROM DYING. BUT BEING AFRAID CAN PREVENT US FROM LIVING]
(Nkosi Sikeleli Africa )
God bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions .
God bless us, Your children God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation.
From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer.
Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.
[Enoch Mankayi Sontonga]
WAKE UP !!! STAY UP !!!
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx] / [gcnlive.com] Life Is A Game. Have Fun . Luke 18:17 - Isaiah 11:6
I think M. Kwesi knowledge of Sudan is fairly limited.To which book of P.M.Holt is he referring if one may askk Secondly,it is a historical fact that it was the Sudanese Nationalist Movement that led the battle against identifying the people pf the Sudan according to their tribes,as was the practice in the colonial days,under British Rule.Under British Rule,birth certificates issued to all newborns carry the name of the tribe,Mr.Kwesi can easily verify that from the statics department and the these certifcate are written in English too,since he sounds too allergic to any thing arabic.It was under pressure from the Sudanese Nationalist Movement,that the practice was stopped,and birth certificates,since independence,carry the nationality Sudanese. Thirdly,Mr.Kwesi,a prominent African scholar.must have read what the late Dr.John Garang,who I am sure was more enilghtened and more concerned for the Southern Sudanese,the Sudan and indeed Africa,said about the arabic language in the Sudan. Fourthly,Mr.Kwesi is telling us that a word can denote one colour in it's plural form and another in it's singular form.This is certainly new to some of us.Note he says (zurga) plural mean black.and goes on to say(it's singular-azarek-means blue). Fifth the relations bewtween the Arabs and Africa do date to the pre-islamic era,i.e the 6th Century.Trade flourished across the Red Sea.The first country to grant political asylum to the Moslems from Arabia was Ethiopia.Trade between Jeddahin Saudi Arabia and Swakin in Sudan,across the Red Sea was known since that time. Fifthly the Scriptures talk of Haggar,wife of Abraham,mother of Ishmael,ancestor of the Arabs.This Haggar,according to history is from Nubia,now northern Sudan,is'nt this a special bond between the arabs and africans,can Mr Kwesi and his like sever this bond? Sixth,Mr.Kwesi wants the South Sudan,to stop the arabization of Africans,in Africa,well i wish to tell him that 80% of the arabs are in Africa,according to DR.BUTROS GHALI.From Mauritania to Sudan.Mr. Kwesi call is in fact to divide Africa not just the Sudan,and that is not what Dr.Garang fought for. I finally wish to appeal to MR.Kwesi and many others,who would want to benefit from the tragedy in Dar Fur,to please stop adding fuel to the fire,and if they must,please do your homeowrk well.
In his piece entitled “ White Collar War Crimes, Black African Fall Guys,”
investigative journalist Keith Snow writes:
First note that the ICC can now be viewed as a tool of hegemonic U.S. foreign policy,
where the weapons deployed by the U.S. and its allies include the accusations of, and
indictments for, human rights violations, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
To understand this, we can ask WHY NO WHITE MAN HAS YET BEEN CHARGED
with these or other offenses at the ICC (International Criminal Court) which now holds
five black African warlords and seeks to incarcerate and bring to trial another black man,
also an Arab, Omar Bashir.
Why hasn’t George W. Bush been indicted ? Or what about Donald Rumsfeld ?
Dick Cheney? Henry Kissinger? Ehud Olmert? Tony Blair?
The sad fact is that the International Criminal Court has become terribly
politicized, as has the entire international justice apparatus.
The ICC has issued indictments, for the first time in history, against a sitting head of
state. Meanwhile, according to Snow, an Israeli weapons dealer, also a reputed Mossad
operative, is revealed to be shipping weapons into Sudan with Pentagon support.
And Belgium changed its law rather than prosecute Ariel Sharon for war crimes.
The double standard cries out to us.
One country in the West, however, increasingly stands out as a place where
justice can be found?and that is Spain. With its landmark indictment of
Pinochet and its current consideration of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon and
U.S. torture in Guantanamo, we increasingly look to the Spanish Courts with
hope. It was the Spanish courts that returned indictments against Rwandan
soldiers for genocide even as the world coddles U.S. proxy Rwanda and its
leader, Paul Kagame.
[allthingscynthiamckinney.com]
[This inspiring poem was featuring in the movie “Coach Carter ”]
Our Deepest Fear Is Not That We Are Inadequate, Our Deepest Fear Is That We Are Powerful Beyond Measure. It Is Our Light , Not Our Darkness That Most Frightens Us.
We Ask Ourselves, Who Am I To Be Brilliant, Gorgeous, Talented, And Fabulous ?
Actually Who Are We Not To Be ? You Are A Child Of God.
Your Playing Small Doesn’t Serve The World.
There Is Nothing Enlightened About Shrinking So That Other People Won’t Feel Insecure Around You.
We Are All Meant To Shine, As Children Do.
We Were Born To Make Manifest The Glory Of God That Is Within Us.
It’s Not Just In Some Of Us; It’s In Everyone.
And When We Let Our Own Light Shine We Unconsciously Give Other People Permission To Do The Same.
And As We Are Liberated From Our Own Fear, Our Presence Automatically Liberates Others
- Marianne Williamson -
[NOTE – BEING AFRAID AND REFUSING TO GET INVOLVED WON’T STOP US FROM DYING. BUT BEING AFRAID CAN PREVENT US FROM LIVING]
(Nkosi Sikeleli Africa )
God bless Africa May her glory be lifted high Hear our petitions .
God bless us, Your children God we ask You to protect our nation Intervene and end all conflicts Protect us, protect our nation, our nation.
From the blue of our heaven, From the depths of our sea, Over our eternal mountain ranges, Where the cliffs give answer.
Sounds the call to come together, And united we shall stand, Let us live and strive for freedom, In South Africa our land.
[Enoch Mankayi Sontonga]
WAKE UP !!! STAY UP !!!
[http://www.infowars.com/infowars.asx] / [gcnlive.com] Life Is A Game. Have Fun . Luke 18:17 - Isaiah 11:6
For more coverage of the Save Darfur movement's advocacy efforts, please visit the Save Darfur Accountability Project at: http://savedarfuraccountabilityproject.wordpress.com/
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