Sudan — Government, Rebels Sign Peace Agreement

• The document agreed on covers key issues such as security, land ownership, justice, power-sharing, and the return of people who fled their homes.
• As per the agreement, the irregular armed forces shall be dismantled and their fighters be integrated into Sudan's national army.
• According to the United Nations, some 300,000 people have so far been killed in Darfur since the rebels started an uprising against the central government in 2003.

The government of Sudan and Darfur’s main rebel alliance, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), on Tuesday signed a peace agreement to end 17 years of conflict. The two sides signed the agreement in a ceremony organized in Juba, the capital city of neighboring South Sudan.

The SRF is a coalition of rebel groups from Darfur, western Sudan, and the southern states of South Kordofan and the Blue Nile. The document agreed on covers key issues such as security, land ownership, justice, power-sharing, and the return of people who fled their homes due to the long war that engulfed the country.

As per the agreement, the irregular armed forces shall be dismantled and their fighters be integrated into Sudan’s national army. Notably, however, two rebel factions refused to be a part of the deal.

The Sudanese premier, Abdalla Hamdok, and a group of ministers flew to Juba on August 30, where they met with their host, the president of South Sudan, Salva Kiir prior to the deal’s signing.

The agreement is a significant step towards Sudan’s transitional government’s goal of resolving civil conflicts in the country. According to the United Nations, some 300,000 people have so far been killed in Darfur since the rebels started an uprising against the central government in 2003. The conflict in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile broke out in 2011, however.

The rebel forces are largely made up of non-Arab minority groups who have opposed the Arab domination of the Khartoum governments, including that of the recently deposed former president, Omar al-Bashir.

Following the toppling of the nation’s former president, Omar Al Bashir, the peace agreement between civilians and military was signed on July 17. Under the terms of the treaty, the new government, with a mixed composition of the military and civilians, is supposed to lead the peaceful transition to democracy by putting an end to the ongoing conflicts and seeking to satisfy citizens’ quest of political stability after many years of authoritarian rule.

The new Prime Minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok, took the oath Wednesday, August 21, as the leader of the transitional government, promising to restore national stability, resolve the economic crisis, and to ensure lasting peace in the country.

The head of the deposed Military Council, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, has instead assumed the role of President of the Sovereign Council, the body that will manage the country for 3 years and 3 months, until new elections. This body is composed of 10 members: 5 appointed by the military and 5 by civilians, plus 1 who is designated by mutual agreement between the parties.

Currently, in remote areas of Sudan, such as Darfur, most people live in camps for displaced persons and refugees. In addition, internal disputes remain unresolved because the Arab militias are still present and have control over the lands they managed to seize.

The transitional civilian government, on April 11, 2019, promised to end the conflict, carrying on discussions with some of the rebel groups that had fought against the central Government.